Does the word ‘coach’ give you hives?

You wouldn’t be the first.

For many senior leaders, the word coach lands awkwardly. It can conjure images of someone on the sidelines, clipboard in hand, shouting instructions without having played the game themselves. Or worse - someone offering generic advice wrapped in buzzwords and borrowed inspiration.

I get it. I’ve felt that resistance too.

In fact, when I first began working with coaches myself, I found I needed to get past the word before I could engage with the value. That resistance is part of the reason I now do what I do differently.

The truth is, the best work I do often doesn’t look like what most people think of when they hear the word coach. It’s quieter. It’s more strategic. It’s rooted in trust, timing, and depth - not performance metrics or personality profiling. It’s less about fixing something, and more about unlocking something.

That’s why, under Clear Cut Leadership, I tend to avoid putting myself in a box. I’m a coach, yes - but also a strategic adviser, a guide, a thinking partner. My clients often describe me as the person they can talk to when they can’t talk to anyone else. There’s power in that.

This work is not therapy, and it’s not consultancy in the traditional sense. It lives in the space in between - where personal and professional converge, and where the most meaningful breakthroughs happen.

And while titles matter less than outcomes, what matters most is that you feel able to bring the whole of yourself to our work. Not just the polished public version, but the real version - the one carrying doubts, hopes, pressures, and questions.

That’s the version I’m interested in.

You may still bristle at the word coach, and that’s fine. You don’t have to call it that. You don’t need to call it anything. You don’t even need to tell anyone, if you’re not comfortable yet.

What matters is that the work gets done - and that it works for you.

→ Schedule a call with me to explore this further.

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