Coaching is the main thing I do. These are the four ways I work, and which one you need usually comes down to a single question: how much of the outcome do you want me holding?
Four ways to work
The difference is how close I sit to the work
These aren’t four businesses. They’re four distances from the same centre. Most people start on the outside and move in.
Outside the operation, looking at the person running it. Regular sessions, honest ones, over a long enough run to change something.
Advisory and boardAlongsideA view of the whole business without hands on the controls. Board seats and advisory retainers where you need judgement, not capacity.
Consulting projectsInsideA named problem with a deadline on it. Scoped up front, worked with your team, and handed over so it keeps running without me.
Fractional and interimIn the seatOn the org chart, accountable for the outcome. For when the role genuinely needs filling and the right permanent hire is months away.
How it’s priced
The same in every arm
A small amount up front, then a fair share of the value once you’ve seen it. You decide what that’s worth. Never hourly, because an hourly rate rewards me for taking longer and turns the work into exactly the scoreboard I’d rather help you put down.
Fractional and interim is the one honest exception. A seat you hold two or three days a week is a commitment of time as much as outcome, so that runs on a retainer against agreed days. Everything else works the way described above.
If you’re a smaller business, the practical version is this: you can start without agreeing to a number you’d have to defend to a partner or a board.
Not sure which
Most people pick the wrong one first
That’s fine, and it’s usually informative. A conversation sorts it out faster than a website can. Tell me what’s actually going on and I’ll tell you which of the four fits, and I’ll tell you if it’s none of them.
They also feed each other more than they look like they should. Coaching clients are often founders and directors. Founders I mentor eventually need a board. Boards I work with need someone who has actually run something. It tends to be one relationship that changes shape.