Mike Pearton

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge”

Stephen Hawking - English Theoretical Physicist (1942 to 2018)

“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got”

Popular saying variously attributed - Henry Ford (?) – Albert Einstein (?)

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• I have finally arrived at a time of life when I am free to focus on what fulfils me – and that thing is Business Coaching – and specifically the development of managers to the point where they rightfully perceive themselves as Professionals. These are the people that really make things happen in an organisation. You may develop the most advanced and profound Strategic Plan, but it is the effectiveness and efficiency of your key managers that will make the difference.
• To get them over this line, my coaching programme mainly aligns with The Leadership Pipeline model. The coaching methodology I employ, which is used extensively in the business arena, is known as the Solution Focused Approach and is very well suited for this purpose and fits in well with Ram Charan’s teaching philosophy.
• I have had an extensive corporate career and have run my own Coaching and Mentoring business for nearly twenty years. I meet at least five new businesses each month, and I continue to be shocked that the underlying prevailing view continues to be that managing people to get results is basically and fundamentally an intuitive process!
• While many, if not most, companies offer management training courses, the learning points covered are, almost always, left to the trainees to implement. If it was as simple as attending a course (or reading a book) then one would expect proficiency levels to be much higher.
• I have attended many management courses and read even more books on the subject over the years, but I always come back to one font of management knowledge i.e. Ram Charan (and his associates).
• He initially studied engineering and then went on to do an MBA and Doctorate at Harvard Business School before entering the world of consultancy.
• Ram Charan has worked with a wide range of international organisations including General Electric, DuPont, Novartis, Tata Group, Verizon, Procter and Gamble etc with a primary focus on strategy, leadership, and transformation.
• In his book, “The Leadership Pipeline” he clearly describes five levels of management:

1. Leading Others
2. Leading Leaders
3. Leading a Function
4. Leading a Business
5. Leading an Enterprise

• Charan emphasises that these “passages” as he calls them, “cannot be mastered in a day or by taking a course”. The core concepts of Skills, Time Applications, and Work Values are generically common to all levels, but have significantly different implications for each.
• His teaching philosophy focuses on Practicability, Incisive Questioning, Talent Development, and Disciplined Execution. Overall, his Leadership Model is ideally suited to underpinning a management / leadership coaching programme. In general, the coaching process is widely acknowledged to be highly effective with a significant ROI, far exceeding that of conventional training. With this as background, I invite you to consider the impact on your company if as little as 5% of your managers were to achieve Professional Manager status.
• NOTE: The first edition of “The Leadership Pipeline” was published in 2001. This was followed by the second edition in 2011 and the third edition in 2024. The third edition has the postscript “Developing Leaders in the Digital Age”. This latest version has been comprehensively revised to take due consideration of business trends up to and including 2024.
• Talk to me

General

• There is no specific duration attached to this programme. Experience to date shows that the process typically takes between four and seven months to be completed.
• The sixty-minute sessions are scheduled on a weekly basis at a rate of £75 per session.
• The client is invoiced for sessions completed on the last day of each month and payment is due on presentation of  invoice.

     NOTE: If you are living in Africa, you may be eligible for a discount for this programme.

“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution” - Aristotle – Ancient Greek Philosopher (384 BCE to 322 BCE)

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• Executive coaching is a strategic partnership.
• The engagement is highly personalised and involves identifying areas for improvement, goal and milestone setting, and the ongoing measure and review of progress.
• The purpose of the process can include growing the Coachee’s self-awareness, emotional intelligence, confidence, and strategic thinking capacity. This has the effect of improving leadership style, decision-making and problem-solving skills, innovation, productivity, and overall well-being.
• The initial focus is usually on clarifying and refining insight into Personal Values. Given that values are the single-most powerful drivers of positive behaviour, this process provides a solid foundation for realistic behaviour change.
• The coaching methodology that I employ emphasizes that the class of problems is distinct from the class of solutions, and this focus expedites and reinforces lasting change.
• One of the cornerstones of Leadership development is the ability to engage, facilitate and inspire subordinates. With this mind I share coaching techniques and skills with the Coachee wherever possible.
• Talk to me.

General

• There is no specific duration attached to this programme. Experience to date shows that the process typically takes between three and five months to be completed.
• The sixty-minute sessions are scheduled on a weekly basis at a rate of £75 per session.
• The client is invoiced for sessions completed on the last day of each month and payment is due on presentation of  invoice.

     NOTE: If you are living in Africa, you may be eligible for a discount for this programme.

“The first thing you have to know is yourself. A man who knows himself can step outside himself and watch his own reactions like an observer” --- Adam Smith – Scottish moral philosopher (1723 to 1790)

“The first sign of a settled mind is that it can stay in one place and spend time with itself” – Seneca – Ancient Roman philosopher – 4 BC to 65 SD

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• There are many views regarding what exactly Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests measure. These generally include reasoning ability | the efficient use of information and logic | cognitive abilities such as working memory, problem-solving, and logical reasoning.
• While a high (IQ), however, is certainly required for specialist positions such as senior positions in the sciences, medicine, and computer science arenas, i.e. academic performance, there are generally weaker links to human relationships and general quality of life.
• Numerous studies have demonstrated that individuals with high Emotional Intelligence (EQ) scores perform far better when it comes to getting results through others i.e. Management and Leadership.
• Emotional Intelligence (EQ) relates to the ability to understand and manage your own emotions and influence / guide / facilitate the emotions of others. The five key elements here are Self-awareness | Self-regulation | Motivation | Empathy | Social skills.
• The good news is that, unlike your IQ which remains relatively fixed throughout your adult life, EQ is comprised of skills and abilities that can be systematically improved.
• Talk to me.

General

• This Short Coaching Programme in Emotional Intelligence comprises six seventy-five-minute coaching sessions covering the key elements and, most importantly, the application and integration of this learning content into your everyday working life.
• The coaching sessions are scheduled on a weekly basis at a rate of £85 per session.
• The client is invoiced on the last day of each month for sessions completed and payment is due on presentation of  invoice.

     NOTE: If you are living in Africa, you may be eligible for a discount for this programme.

“The nearer a person comes to a calm mind, the closer they are to strength” - Marcus Aurelius – Roman Emperor | Philosopher – 121 AD to 180 AD

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• I have had consistent positive feedback from Clients about this Short Coaching Programme and the benefits it has had for refreshing job focus and commitment and particularly for staff retention.
• When work pressure becomes and remains apparently relentless, management churn can seriously sap job satisfaction and efficiency.
• Under these circumstances the opportunity to reset in a safe environment with a seasoned coaching partner can mean the difference between winning through and moving on.
• When pressure persists, the mind can be inclined, over a period of time, to reflect on apparently greener pastures rather than pushing back, refocusing, and building on the sunk investment made to date in the current company.
• While each of these programmes is distinctly different, the type of topics often covered include Personal Values | Personal SWOT | Personal objectives | stress management | the defined scope, accountability, and responsibility of the Coachee’s position | the current reality | development and facilitated implementation of a Recovery Plan | the vital process of securing commitment and buy-in from the Coachee's superior for this plan and it's implementation.
• Talk to me.

General

• This Short Coaching Programme comprises eight sixty-minute coaching sessions.
• Sessions are scheduled on a weekly basis at a rate of £90 per session.
• The client is invoiced for sessions completed on the last day of each month.

NOTE: If you are living in Africa, you may be eligible for a discount for this programme.

“Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored” – Socrates – 470 BC to 399 BC

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• On offer here is a Business Process Mentoring programme for SMEs (businesses typically employing up to about 100 people).
• The core of this product was developed by the founders of the Institute for Independent Business International (London) i.e. the body by which I was accredited in 2004. The institute was founded in 1984 and each subsequent (at one time monthly) intake of Associates continued the tradition of adding additional value to this assessment tool.
• In order to be considered for accreditation applicants were required to prove that they had 20 years of senior management business experience, attend a ten-day training and assessment programme at the Head Office in London, and pass muster with their course peers. Sadly, this organisation is no longer active (although there is still a website IIB | Home ) being an early victim of COVID.
• While large businesses have experts in all of the seven functional areas, Strategic Focus | Management | Marketing | Sales | Value-Add | Human Resources | Finance, SME’s typically only fully cover one or two of these disciplines in depth.
• This programme takes you through all seven elements and the multiple sub-elements, in a structured manner, working through the key concepts, in detail as necessary, assessing how your business rates against each, and assisting you in developing a plan to close the gaps in a prioritized manner.
• Visit my mentoring website at ( https://www.my-coach-and-mentor.com ) for a more comprehensive insight into the topics covered.

General

• This Short Coaching and Mentoring Programme comprises eight seventy-five-minute coaching sessions.
• The seventy-five-minute sessions are scheduled on a weekly basis at a rate of R1,450 per session.
• The client is invoiced for sessions completed on the last day of each month and payment is due on presentation of such invoice.

NOTE: If you are living in Africa, you may be eligible for a discount for this programme.

“There is but one thing of real value – to cultivate truth and justice, and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men” - Marcus Aurelius – Roman Emperor | Philosopher – 121 AD to 180 AD

“We are like books. Most people only see our cover, the minority read only the introduction, many people believe the critics. Few will know our content” – Emile Zola – French novelist and critic – 1840 to 1902

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” – Plato – 428 BC to 348 BC

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• If you are a successful leader and your mind is now starting to turn to thinking about the legacy you will leave behind you, then this may be the programme for you.
• Authentic Leadership has been described as a calling rather than a management proficiency tool. To interact with your organisation / subordinates in a mode of open and distinct transparency requires a high level of self-awareness and confidence.
• Depending on the breadth and depth of your personal insight you may benefit from completing one or more psychometric tests. While I am not a Psychometrist, I have worked with assessments for a good number of years. I have an affiliation with an international practice and can arrange for you to do any tests needed online.
• By way of considering your appetite for this type of coaching programme you may want to complete the Life Values Inventory online at  Life Values Inventory — Values Clarification Program . This will give you a useful idea of the process. This free tool has been used by a wide range of businesses and institutions for a number of years and will provide a valid and useful insight into your core behaviour drivers.
• If this is of interest then we will need to set up a short call with a view to me learning about you, your challenges, your motivation to change and grow, and an initial identification of your coaching needs. We would also cover what you’re looking for in a coaching relationship, and my coaching approach and beliefs.

General

• There is no specific duration for this programme. Experience to date shows that the process usually takes not less than four months. Given that there is study material for the Coachee’s attention, there has been a tendency to handle content in blocks with gaps in between. This allows you, the Coachee to embed learnt behaviours and adjust the programme around your personal agenda.
• While my preference is for weekly sixty-minute sessions (to ensure project momentum) there is flexibility here, if for example, a two-weekly meeting better suits your agenda. My rate is £125 per session.
• The client is invoiced for sessions completed on the last day of each month and payment is due on presentation of invoice.
• Continued support has been a feature of this programme and a number of my clients continue to engage periodically with me after the completion of the base programme.