Helping Adults Become Better Adults
A couple of months back, I was at an event hosted by Ivy House London on leading and managing change. I wrote a post at the time. But something that one of the speakers said keeps popping up into my head.
Andrew Shorter from Jaguar Land Rover was describing his role at JLR, and he said: "I help adults become better adults."
Simple language and we all knew what he meant.
I borrow his phrase with pride, because that's exactly what I do too. (Thank you Andrew).
I've written recently about the dysfunctional behaviours at the top of organisations. In that post I mentioned the phrase "children with power" when talking about some senior executives.
Pretty harsh. But honestly, it spoke to the mindset I was stuck in when I was doing work that just frustrated me, and didn't give me joy.
Now - I do the kind of work that makes me thrive. And I think about it very differently.
I'm not fixing broken people. I'm helping adults become better adults.
That doesn't mean people are bad adults to start with. Far from it. But we all face challenges that make it harder to show up as our best selves:
Making decisions when you feel trapped by circumstances or others' expectations
Breaking patterns of behaviour that don't serve you (or anyone else) well
Understanding what your role actually is as a leader - and how you get the best out of others
Finding ways to develop your people whilst you're still figuring things out yourself
How we behave in those circumstances don't make us good or bad adults - just humans.
This is the work I do. Whether I'm coaching a senior executive one-to-one, helping them navigate difficult relationships and environments so they can thrive in their role, or running development programmes for people newly promoted into leadership who are trying to understand what they've actually signed up for.
It's about helping people become better adults. Better at handling complexity. Better at understanding themselves. Better at leading others.
Not perfect. Just better.
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As we start to wind down toward Christmas, maybe now's the time to think about what you want to focus on in 2026.
What would it mean for you to become a better adult in your leadership role?
Where are you feeling stuck, or stretched, or uncertain about how to move forward?
If any of this resonates - if you're carrying questions about what's next or how to lead differently - drop me a line. We can catch up for a call, no obligation, just to chat. Let's see where you're at and whether there's any way I can help you really kickstart 2026.
