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Executive Performance Coaching

I Get Leaders
Unstuck

You're a senior leader who's stuck. Not failing. Not underperforming. Just stuck. In reactive mode when you should be strategic. Going blank under pressure when you need to stay sharp. Trapped in patterns you know aren't serving you.

90%of Fortune 500s use CliftonStrengths
3 Monthsto measurable shift
Neurosciencebacked protocols

Most Senior Leaders Are Stuck
in Ways They Won't Admit

You're not failing. But you're not moving forward either. And here's what most people don't understand: being stuck isn't a motivation problem. It's a brain pattern problem.

When you're stuck in reactive leadership, your amygdala — your brain's threat detector — is overwhelming your prefrontal cortex, the centre responsible for strategic thinking and decision-making.

When you go blank under pressure, stress hormones are shutting down your working memory and verbal fluency. When you're stuck in perfectionism, chronic amygdala activation around mistakes creates ongoing threat sensitivity.

Different stuck states come from different broken brain patterns. You don't need motivation. You need someone who can identify which pattern is keeping you stuck and retrain it.

Stuck in a job too long
Your brain defaults to familiar patterns because uncertainty triggers your threat response.
Team dynamics won't shift
You're operating from a stressed prefrontal cortex that can't access the strategic thinking you need.
Performance mode on autopilot
Your brain is in energy-conservation mode, degrading decision quality before you even notice.
Burnout at the brain level
Chronic stress has changed your brain structure — enlarged amygdala, impaired frontal regions.
The Cost

What's It Costing You to Stay
at Your Current Stress Level?

Your brain has learned to handle a certain level of stress. When pressure exceeds that level, you go blank, make poor decisions, or react emotionally.

Credibility

Stakeholders see you falter under pressure when it matters most.

Opportunities

High-stakes moments you can't capitalise on because your brain goes offline.

Mental Energy

Hours spent recovering from each stress spike instead of leading forward.

Team Confidence

Your team mirrors your stress response. Your state becomes their ceiling.

Four Ways Leaders Get Stuck

Pattern 01

Stuck in Thinking

Analysis paralysis. Overthinking. Can't make decisions. Your mind loops without landing.

Brain pattern: Overactive PFC without executive control to close the loop.
Pattern 02

Stuck in Outputting

Can't execute. Hesitation. Knowing what to do but unable to act on it.

Brain pattern: Threat response blocking execution pathways.
Pattern 03

Stuck in Relating

Team dynamics. Conflict avoidance. Can't have the hard conversations.

Brain pattern: Amygdala activation around social evaluation and criticism.
Pattern 04

Stuck in Moving

Momentum loss. Stagnation. Can't build or maintain forward motion.

Brain pattern: Low agency, depleted motivation systems.
The Method

PAUSE → RESET → GO

I get leaders unstuck by retraining the brain patterns keeping them stuck — and I train your brain to handle higher levels of stress so you stay sharp when pressure peaks.

01
Phase One

Pause

Diagnose which brain pattern is keeping you stuck. Using CliftonStrengths, FITT16, and amygdala-PFC assessment, we map how you're wired, where you're misaligned, and what patterns keep repeating. This isn't abstract. It's diagnostic precision.

02
Phase Two

Reset

Retrain the specific brain pattern. Using targeted protocols that strengthen your prefrontal cortex and regulate your amygdala, matched to your specific stuck pattern. Simultaneously, we build your stress tolerance so you handle higher pressure without going offline.

03
Phase Three

Go

Your brain has new neural pathways. Your amygdala no longer hijacks your PFC under normal pressure. You default to strategic thinking instead of threat response. I don't create dependency. I get you unstuck and you go.

How We Work Together

1–3 Day Intensive

Cognitive Reset

Get unstuck and ready — fast
→ Cognitive depletion and decision fog → Burnout at the brain level → Preparing for high-stakes periods → Structured brain reset at Sopwell House
Ongoing Coaching

BuildStrong

For founders who get stuck repeatedly
→ Being owned by your business → Wearing too many hats → Strategic thinking that's gone narrow → Stress levels that limit your capacity
12-Week Team Programme

TeamStrong

Get your leadership team unstuck
→ Misalignment and friction between leaders → Silos and poor collaboration → Underperformance despite talent → CliftonStrengths team diagnostics
Client Results

What Leaders Say

"

I thought I just needed to push harder. John showed me I'd been operating with cognitive depletion for months without realising it. The shift was immediate.

VP, Tech Scale-Up
"

This wasn't feel-good coaching. It was rigorous, evidence-based work that actually restored my decision-making capacity.

Founder, Series B
"

Coaching with John has given me renewed focus and confidence at a point in my career when I really needed it.

Martin Malins
See All Results

Frameworks, Not Fluff

Frameworks, Not Fluff

Psychometrics, brain retraining protocols, and strategic models. Not motivational slogans or vague wellness practices.

Psychology, Not Platitudes

Performance coaching grounded in neuroscience. Not therapy. Not motivation. Structured work that creates measurable change.

Outside the System

I built my practice outside traditional coaching because burnt-out leaders don't trust the systems that exhausted them.

Your Starting Point

Every Engagement Begins With
Understanding Yourself

CliftonStrengths

Trusted by over 25 million individuals and 90% of Fortune 500 companies. Reveals how you're wired to lead and why certain challenges keep recurring.

FITT16

Reveals your personality whole and purpose. What gives you energy. Where misalignment creates friction. How you're designed to contribute.

Amygdala-PFC Assessment

Identifies when and why your brain gets stuck. What your current stress tolerance threshold is. Where we need to build capacity.

Ready?

The Question Isn't Whether
You're Stuck. It's Where.

Job Team Leadership Business Mind Energy Communication Thinking Outputting Relating Moving

If I could get you unstuck and train your brain to handle higher pressure, would that be worth paying for?

Tell Me Where You're Stuck