The Six. One-to-one coaching for senior leaders
I help senior leaders become who they're capable of being, without sacrificing themselves to succeed.
Six months of one-to-one coaching built for an already full diary. Six months, six hours, six actions.
A 30 minute call, online. No slides and no pitch. We work out together whether The Six is right for you.
Six places, starting October
I cap this at eight live coaching clients at any one time, because six months of anyone's attention is worth having properly.
Two versions of next year
If nothing changes
This time next year you'll still be the bottleneck, same issues filling your inbox, still deciding to have those conversations next week. And you'll have got very good at describing the problem to people who can't do anything about it.
The one you want instead
A year where the thing you were avoiding in March got sorted in March, and where most Fridays finish without a list of conversations you swerved.
If any of that landed uncomfortably, the rest of this page is worth four minutes.
Why listen to me
I've spent eight years in rooms with people who were promoted because they were excellent at the job below the one they're now doing, and were then handed a folder and wished luck. Over 700 hours of coaching so far, with 100+ leaders, many of them feeling just like you do now.
On evaluation, my client satisfaction rate is 4.9 out of 5, and everyone who filled it in said it made a positive difference to the way they work. I coach the way I facilitate, which is alongside you rather than above you.
Client results
"As someone thrust into the deep end suddenly, David's sessions were transformational for me, and for my team."
"Coaching helped me see that there was so much skill and drive within me and that, just as I am, I have so much to bring to the space. I had mega imposter syndrome and it's still there but the voice is much quieter."
"I am now equipped to operate at a higher level in my organisation as well as building my own self confidence."
If that sounds like the year you want, the next step is a conversation.
30 minutes, online. No slides and no pitch.
I help senior leaders get better at the parts of the job nobody trained them for, without turning into someone they're not.
An hour a month, and one real thing tried in between each one. Not a case study, not a role play with a stranger on a course, the actual conversation with the actual person on the actual Tuesday. Then we sit down and take it apart.
The problem
Sunday night
Sunday evening, looking at the week ahead, and you already know which two conversations you'll find a reason not to have. You've known for a while. There's a version of you that has the first one on Tuesday morning, and you've been waiting to become that person for about eight months.
What you're told to do about it
Go on a course. Read the book. Listen to the podcast on the drive in. All of which is genuinely useful, and none of which survives contact with a real person having a bad week.
You can read about lifting weights all you want, watch every video on technique, listen to every coach going. You don't know anything until you get under the bar and find out how heavy it actually is.
Why it isn't your fault
Nobody gets promoted into senior leadership on the strength of their coaching skills. You got here because you were excellent at the job underneath this one, and the reward for that was a job made almost entirely of the things it never asked you to practise. That isn't a character flaw, it's just how promotion works nearly everywhere.
The old way and the new way
The old way
The two-day programme. It's good while you're in the room, you leave with a folder and some genuine intent, and then Monday happens. Most of us have three or four of those folders. The problem isn't the content, which is usually fine. It's that all the money went on the learning and none of it went on the doing.
The new way
You leave every session with one thing you've committed to trying, and you start the next one telling me how it went. That accountability is the entire difference. Six conversations without it is a pleasant six months. Six conversations with it is where people actually change what they do.
The Six
Six months of coaching built around whatever you're actually dealing with that month, rather than a curriculum I decided in advance that you needed.
The standard answer to all of that is another course, and learning matters, I would say that, it's in my company's name. But the leaders I work with rarely need more input. They need the headspace to think, someone to support and challenge them while they do, and then to actually do something with it.
An hour a month, one commitment in between, and the next session starts with what happened. Usually the commitment is putting something down rather than picking something up: the conversation you keep deferring, or the work you're carrying that was never yours.
There is no set curriculum. You bring whatever is actually on top that month: that conversation, the decision, the challenge, the opportunity. We work through it, and things get done because you decide what, when and how.
That's the method. Whether it fits you is a different question, and half an hour will answer it.
If I don't think I'm the right person, I'll say so on the call.
Who this isn't for, and who it is for
This is not for you if
- Box tickers. If you're only here because you feel you have to be, it won't make it past month two. Come back when you actually want to.
- Passengers. We work in partnership, but you're the one in the driving seat.
- Finger pointers. If the problem is always your team, your Board, or someone else, we'll struggle, because the only part we can work on is yours.
- "One day" loyalists. The Six asks for one action a month. If you already know that action is heading for the "one day" pile, wait until it isn't.
- Quick fixers. How you lead took years to develop. If you're looking to redevelop in the next couple of weeks, then this isn't for you.
This is for you if
- Good to great. You're already performing, but you didn't get here by settling. The gap between good and great is the whole point of The Six.
- In the deep end. You've stepped up into something bigger in the last few years, and you're working it out as you go.
- Coachable. You'd rather be told the honest thing than the flattering one, and you can hear it without holding a grudge.
- Ready now. You've read this far on a full diary. That tells us both something.
If you recognised yourself in the second list, book the half hour.
Six places, starting October.
The plan
- Months 1 and 2
Name it
Cuts through the noise and gets to the thing underneath the thing. We identify what matters most, what is keeping it stuck, and what you need to change.
You walk away with: a clear priority, an honest understanding of your part in it, and the first changes already under way.
- Months 3 and 4
Change it
Takes the insight into the moments that count: the conversation, decision, boundary or delegation you would usually delay. You try something different, see what happens and adjust.
You walk away with: tangible progress. Conversations had, decisions made, and real evidence that you can lead differently when the pressure is on.
- Months 5 and 6
Own it
Finds the changes worth keeping, strengthens them through real work, and makes sure your progress does not depend on having a coach beside you.
You walk away with: a more deliberate and sustainable way of leading, confidence built on evidence, and a clear plan for what comes next.
How it runs
| What is included | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Six sessions | Six 60 minute one-to-one sessions, online, one each month. Each session ends with one action you choose. The next begins with what happened. |
| The Leadership Diagnostic | Run before we start and again at the end, with a detailed debrief both times. |
| A short check-in | Halfway between sessions. No form to complete and no essay required: what did you do, what happened, and what needs your attention now? |
| WhatsApp support | Between sessions, to capture live issues, ask a question or get unstuck. Message whenever you need to and I'll reply within 24 hours, Monday to Friday. |
| Group coaching call | An optional monthly 60 minute call with the other members of The Six. What is said in the room stays in the room. |
| Community and portal | Early access to a private community and portal, with call dates, check-in prompts and resources. |
| If your organisation is paying | They get a conversation at the start about what success looks like and a conversation at the end about what changed, both agreed with you first and neither of them containing anything you said in a session. |
The guarantee
Come to the first two sessions and do the one thing you agreed to try in between, and if you still don't believe this will be worth it, say so and I'll refund the whole thing.
The investment
| The Six | Whole programme |
|---|---|
| Agreed before 30 September | £1,350 + VATfor the whole six months, including the diagnostic run twice, the check-ins and the WhatsApp support. |
| From 1 October | £1,500 + VATthe same programme, at the standard price. |
Agreeing and starting are two separate decisions, so if your budget frees up later in the year we can still fix the price now.
The price holds for anything agreed before 30 September.
Half an hour, online, and nothing is owed at the end of it.
Questions we get asked
My organisation is paying for this. What do they get told?
They get a conversation with both of us at the start about what success would look like, and another at the end about what's changed. You're in both, and we agree beforehand what's shared. What you say in our sessions stays between us, always.
Is this actually one-to-one?
Yes. Six sessions, just us, built around whatever you bring. The monthly group call is there if you want it, and entirely optional if you don't.
How much time does this really take?
About ninety minutes a month of diary time: the session, a short check-in, and whatever the month's action needs. And the action is rarely extra work. It's usually something already sitting on your list: the conversation, the decision, the handover.
Six months feels like a long commitment.
It's six hours, plus change. The length isn't about the sessions, it's about the gaps between them, because the gaps are where you try things in the real world. And the guarantee means you're only ever committing to the first two.
I've had coaching before. It was fine, but nothing changed.
That's usually structural: nothing was agreed between sessions, so nothing was tried, so nothing changed. Every session of The Six ends with one action you've chosen, and the next one starts with what happened.
What if we don't get on?
Then we shouldn't work together. That's why we have the discovery call: to find that out before anyone's spent anything. If I don't think I'm the right fit, I'll say so on the call and direct you to someone better suited.
Is this like therapy?
No. We stay anchored on you as a leader and the job in front of you. Life turns up in the room, because you're a person, but if I ever think you need something more than coaching, I'll say so directly.
What are your qualifications?
ILM Level 7 Diploma in Executive Coaching and Mentoring, ILM Level 5 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring, member of the Association for Coaching UK, member of the Institute of Leadership and Management, member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council. I undertake regular coaching supervision, which is the profession's way of making sure the coach has a coach.
More results
"The work I did with David was invaluable in realising my career ambition to become a Head Teacher."
"The sessions enabled me to be a more confident, effective senior manager, better able to make decisions and lead my team to deliver critical services through very challenging times."
"I can hand on heart say that I have learned something new in each of our sessions."
"I am more confident in addressing challenging situations, causing less distraction to my work and less stress during time off work."
"Coaching helped me build greater self-awareness, which I've found particularly helpful in navigating leadership and team dynamics more confidently."
Not ready to book?
Send me a question instead. I answer within one working day, and there is no follow-up sequence waiting for you.
Book the half hour, and we'll work out together whether The Six is right for you.
That's everything. If you'd rather sit on it for a fortnight, the only thing I'd say is that the price changes on 1 October and the six places go before that.
- Half an hour, online
- You talk, I ask questions
- I tell you honestly whether I'm the right person
Or email info@futureprooflearning.co.uk for a one-working-day response.
Six places, October
£1,350 + VAT until 30 Sept