I’m a coach, advisor, strategist and teacher.  I work with busy leaders in complex circumstances that have no easy answers. 

In the heat and pressure of the situation, we often get drawn in and focus on solving today's crisis and end up losing track of the big picture, our long-term goals and the way we want to lead.

Does that sound familiar to you?

If you've experienced this, you'll know that it doesn’t feel great, and frequently doesn’t work out very well either!

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way.  With a little time to explore, you can set forth on a fresh path that leads to very different outcomes. 

Richard Smith
 

In fact these situations often serve as catalysts for personal and professional growth.  And that’s what I get particularly excited about - supporting you to work on your greatest challenges in a way that delivers results AND supercharges your growth as a person and development as a leader.

Oh, and we’ll aim for fun and satisfying too… :-)

So how does this happen?  Well… the leaders I work with build great clarity around what REALLY matters to them and to their organisation.  And just as importantly, they develop their ability to hold onto this clarity as they navigate their day-to-day challenges (and there are normally plenty of those!).  They discover ways to use these challenges to nurture their organisations and build capability for the future.   

Above all, they start to act in a way that reflects their own values and which supports the growth and development of the unique human beings around them.  This means things like embracing and learning from failure, acknowledging our own limitations and those of others, creating an environment of trust, accountability and performance, and embracing creative dissent and conflict.  

 

And the specifics?

I don’t believe in “one-size fits all”.  Your approach to leadership is something for you to develop. My job is to massively accelerate this process!

  • Guide your attention to the most fruitful areas to explore

  • Capture your growing awareness, insight and clarity

  • Experience the changes you make (we actually feel these together) 

  • Design experiments to embed your learning into your day-to-day activity

  • Refine your leadership behaviours and mental habits to align with these changes and help them stick

 
 

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, yes, I’m a fully certified coach with more than 600 hrs of coaching (and I invest almost as much time in my own training and development!); I teach a reflection course to Executive MBA participants; I spent more than a decade as a strategy consultant advising major corporations in Europe and the Americas; and I earned an MBA and a degree in psychology from top institutions.  I live in the city of Puebla, Mexico with my wife and two school-aged children.  And I keep in shape by jogging, swimming and yoga.