Who this is for

If you are a newly appointed CEO or Business Head — or about to become one

You are stepping into the biggest role of your career. The capability that got you here is not in question. What changes now is everything else — the scope, the complexity, the expectations, the pace.

And there is something nobody tells you before you get there. You can't show uncertainty to the people above you. You can't show it to the people beneath you. For the first time in your career, there is nobody to think things through with openly and honestly — without consequence.

Most leaders who struggle in the first two years do not fail because they lack talent. They fail because they are navigating the hardest transition of their career completely alone. That is where I come in.

When I get involved

People come to me at four different points in that journey.

Before you start. The promotion is confirmed. You have a few months before you step in. We use that window deliberately — so that when you walk in on day one, you are already thinking and operating like the leader this role needs, not the one you were in your last job.

On day one. Sometimes things move a little faster. You start the role and within days the scale of what you have taken on is clear. You realise you need support from the beginning rather than waiting until the cracks appear. You typically have a window of three months before anyone starts to look and ask "Did we get that right?" So I have a structured approach to get you up to speed.

Six to nine months in. You are in the role. Reality has set in. It is more complex, more demanding, and lonelier than you expected. You need help now — and you are right to ask for it.

Going into year three. The most common scenario. Year one: you took your time, looked around, decided what needed to change. Year two: you tried to implement it — and hit resistance. What you did not realise is that twelve months of careful observation taught everyone around you that nothing was actually going to change. Now you need year three to be different. This is where you need some very practical approaches to overcome obstacles and get the organisation lined up behind you. Rapid change is required.

If you are the CHRO or HR Director

Your most senior appointments carry the most risk. A leadership transition that goes wrong is expensive, disruptive, and visible at board level. When you look at the recruitments cost for this level, you can provide a full business cycle of coaching to ensure the success of the appointment for less than 50% of that.

Tony works with a small number of organisations to provide executive coaching for their most critical senior appointments — newly appointed CEOs and Business Heads stepping into full P&L responsibility for the first time.

In either case — the next step is a conversation.