Hector

Fix Inconsistent Performance and Build a Team You Can Rely On to Grow.

For growing recruitment companies with 10+ recruiters who want consistent billings from a reliable, high-performing team.

Hector gives your recruiters the skills to succeed in today’s market with 120+ actionable courses taught by today’s top billers—backed by hands-on implementation support.

Founder

Vertical Drop

Strategic Advisor

The Recruitment Mentors Podcast 

The most practical podcast in recruitment, listened to by 80,000+ ambitious recruiters a month around the world 🌍

Podcast Host 

Azzouz Branding

Hoxo Media

Sales Consultant

Pavilion Recruitment Solutions

Insurance Recruitment Consultant

One Answer Insurance

Sales Executive

Hastings Direct

Sales Adviser

I’m on a mission to help recruiters build the skills they need to succeed in today’s ever-changing market.

To do that, I focus on two things:

🎙️ Hosting the most practical podcast in recruitment: The Recruitment Mentors Podcast - Listened to by 80,000+ ambitious recruiters a month

📈 Building the world’s best training platform for the recruitment industry — Hector.

Safe to say, we’ve still got work to do 💪🏻

I’m at max connections — hit follow to stay connected and follow along the journey 👊🏻

Hishem Azzouz

The non-billing manager era is fading.

For years, being "off the tools" was something people celebrated.

A badge of honour.

A signal that you were progressing quickly in your recruitment career.

But there's a trend I've seen consistently this year across some of the most successful recruitment companies I've met:

They have fewer and fewer managers without a personal billing or contribution target.

Not more.

And honestly… I'm not surprised.

Here's why:

1️⃣ The knowledge gap has never been bigger.

What it takes to succeed in today's market is so different to what worked even 2–3 years ago.

If you're not close to the market, close to customer expectations, and close to today's market nuances, your ability to coach effectively drops fast.

2️⃣ "Do as I say, not as I do" doesn't work anymore.

Most recruiters don't respond to that style of leadership.

They want leaders who can model the behaviours they're being asked to adopt.

People who still feel the rhythm of the market, not just talk about it.

3️⃣ The best companies are shifting the model.

Nearly every high-performing business I've spent time with this year has a management layer full of people who are still contributing.

Not necessarily full desks.

But still revenue-generating.

Still proving they can lead from the front.

The non-billing manager will always exist, and some are incredible.

But I'm seeing fewer of them every year.

4️⃣ The new career pathway looks different.

I don't see more and more recruiters stepping away from the tools early.

I see the opposite.

Those who want to lead are realising:

To lead well in this market… you need to stay closer to the market.

This isn't a criticism.

It's just the direction things are heading.

The best recruitment companies today?

They're building teams where leaders still contribute, still obsessed with understanding their market, and still operate in the same reality as the people they manage.

#Recruitment

Helping Recruitment Leaders Build Consistent, High-Performing Teams | Founder @ Hector | Host of The Recruitment Mentors Podcast (80K+ Monthly Listeners)

If I was a recruiter making one big bet for next year, it would be this.

The more people I meet in person in my industry… the more successful my year will be.

Clients.
Candidates.
People of influence.
Anyone who matters in your ecosystem.

Every time I look at the data, the stories, the behind-the-scenes conversations on the pod… 

It all points in the same direction.

If you get to the end of next year and correlate the people you met with the business you did, the graph will only go one way.

Up and to the right.

In-person interaction is about to become a competitive advantage again.

Because while most recruiters hide behind emails, video calls and AI…

The ones who put themselves in the room will win the relationships and the revenue everyone else misses.

#Recruitment

There will be fewer and fewer stories like this over the next five years in our industry.

Which is why sitting down with Benjamin Richardson & Mike Bott, Co-CEOs of LHi Group, was a real privilege this morning.

How often do you get to unpack a recruitment story that includes:

🏆 Circa £45M+ in gross profit across 300 people, 9 offices and 5 recruitment brands over the last two years.

🏆 A landmark financial event in 2022, in which the business was valued at ~£80M and 80% of the company became employee-owned through an EOT.

🏆 A leadership transition with Jim Denning after five years as CEO, handing over the reins to a brand-new Co-CEO structure.

We did our very best to dig into exactly what they believe has enabled the business to reach this point.

And the first thing we unpacked the foundation of their entire journey was their People Strategy.

They’ve made a huge, consistent investment in entry-level talent for years.

And the impact?

80%+ of all leadership roles have been homegrown.

The majority of the board started their careers inside the business.

Along with this, we really got stuck into what they believe has helped them retain their best people, so you will learn all about Jim Denning's 'Younger You & Future You' Concept - I thought this was absolutely brilliant!

We then dug into how diversification has been one of their biggest unlocks:

Multiple brands.

Multiple geographies.

Multiple ways of working with customers.

This approach has been fundamental to their resilience and long-term success.

There was so much gold in this conversation.

If you’re a recruitment leader in the trenches, building and growing your business, we did everything we could to make this episode as useful, insightful, and practical as possible.

Can’t wait to drop this one 🔥

#Recruitment

To the 1,300 of you who listened to the podcast so much this year that it was your #1 show…

I appreciate the hell out of you.

There are so many unbelievable podcasts you could give your attention to.

So to have 1,300 people choose The Recruitment Mentors Podcast as their number one, week in, week out…

Thank you ❤️

I hope you’ve felt the show improve this year, with better guests, better questions, better conversations.

And I’ll do everything I can in 2026 to keep pushing the standard.

For the 5,500 of you where we were a Top 10 show, and the 3,900 of you who had us in your Top 5…

Let’s see how many of you we can move to the Top 1 next year 🫶🏻

#Recruitment #Podcast

Sat down in the studio with Jack Cole today. 

The first time since 2019 when I rocked up to his old office with a backpack, two tripods and my phone to record a podcast along with Thomas Hurley  

Whole different chapter now.

And it hasn’t been easy.

This was another really honest founder conversation.

Impact of stress, ego, scaling too fast, getting things wrong, getting things right, and rebuilding with intention.

Zero sugar-coating.

Just the real journey not the Linkedin highlight reel. 

If you’re a founder (or want to be one) and you’ve ever thought:

“Is it supposed to be this hard?”

…this episode is going to hit home.

Can’t wait to share it with you all 🔥🙏🏻

#Recruitment

No alternative text description for this image

If you’re planning to hire entry-level talent into your recruitment business next year…

Do it with one rule in place.

It will massively increase your chances of success and give you far more future leaders in years to come.

The rule:

Never hire entry-level talent into a cold market.

Only place them into markets where you already have traction, job flow, and proof of success.

Don’t expect a brand-new recruiter to build a market from scratch.

Set them up to win.

This came straight from my chat this week with Mike Bott from LHi Group.

They’ve hired their fair share of entry-level consultants over the last 5+ years, tested everything, and this is now their non-negotiable.

It’s massively increased their success rate and it might be worth adding to your entry-level hiring strategy next year.

#Recruitment

Over the last five years, I haven’t partnered with many companies on my podcast.

I REALLY care about who we align with and the impact we deliver for them.

Not just taking whatever ££ comes our way.

Which is why one of the biggest buzzes I get in this business is hearing the results we’ve been able to generate for the partners who trust us.

And this year has been insane.

Here’s how we’ve got on YTD:

🚀 SourceWhale 

575% ROI from their podcast marketing spend this year.

Year 3 incoming…

🚀 Raise Year 1 Partnership

 A qualified lead every single week.
 50% close rate.
 400%+ ROI in year one.

Bonkers results.

This is the stuff that gets me fired up.

So I’m buzzing to say that our 2026 Podcast Partners will be.

🔥 SourceWhale (Year 3 together!)

🔥 Raise (Year 2 incoming!)

Let’s goooooo!!!!

P.S. We do have one more partner to announce for 2026… More on that soon 😉

#Recruitment #Podcast

What will recruitment look like in 2026?

I don’t usually like making predictions.

But after dozens of interviews, hundreds of conversations, and a ridiculous amount of data from this year and being asked this question a few times recently.

These are two trends I can’t ignore heading into 2026 

#1 - Trust will be the new battleground.

Trust has always mattered in recruitment.

But in 2026?

It becomes everything.

We’re heading into a world where trust is being eroded from every angle:

Was that video real or AI-generated?

Was that email written by a recruiter or ChatGPT?

Is this DM from a person or a bot?

Is that “market insight” actually true?

And that’s just the surface.

From a client or candidate’s perspective:

“Can I trust this recruiter with my career?”

“Can I trust them with our brand?”

“Can I trust they’re even who they say they are?”

“Is this candidate / person real that I am interviewing?”

As tech gets louder, and automation accelerates, human trust becomes the differentiator.

Everyone wants to be the “go-to recruiter” in their niche.

But here’s the truth:

You’ll never be the most in-demand recruiter, until you’re the most trusted one first.

Recruitment businesses need a deliberate trust-building strategy now, not in two years’ time.

#2 - The market is splitting: more small agencies, fewer big ones

I don’t think recruitment is slowing down.

I think it’s splintering even further.

And the biggest shift?

More lean, high-margin agencies and fewer traditional “scale to 100 people” plays.

Nearly every market report shows ~80% of UK recruitment agencies have under 10 employees.

I genuinely wouldn’t be shocked if that pushes closer to 90% in the next 2+ years.

Founders have real options now to grow profit in their business.

AI, Automation, Outsourcing.

Not the traditional add 2-3 £250K billers to my business this year which will mean X to the bottom line.

Plus… a lot of founders simply don’t want the stress of 30–100 people anymore.

And let’s be honest:

The economics of UK-only recruitment have got harder.

Lower average fees.

Higher operating costs.

Harder margins.

Which is why so many UK recruitment companies I’ve spoken with this year do 90%+ of their revenue in the US. (There’s a reason for that…)

So if you are trying to scale:

You need to be absolutely dead-set on it.

Clear on the path.

Clear on the sacrifices.

Clear on the long-term plan.

Because the alternative small team, high leverage, tech + outsourcing heavy is becoming more attractive than ever for founders.

Those are my two takes for 2026.

I might be completely off 🤣

But it’s what the conversations, insights, and patterns are pointing toward right now from my point of view.

If you had a take for 2026 and the recruitment industry what do you think it would be?

#Recruitment

Everyone’s been talking about the US market this year.

But what about leading recruiters in Europe?

Different rules. Different challenges. Different playbook.

Especially if you're in the Renewables or Energy industry.

This week, I sat down with Matthew Sykes from JD Ross Energy, and we broke down what it really takes to succeed in the EU markets.

Because leading recruitment teams across Europe?

It demands nuance, cultural intelligence, and serious skill.

In this episode, we get into:

🇪🇺 The biggest cultural mistakes UK recruiters make in Europe.

⚡️ Why renewables is both a goldmine and a trap.

📉 The red herrings, false signals & fragile markets to watch out for.

 🧠 How to lead, coach & stay relevant, even when you're no longer billing

We also geeked out on market strategy because in this space, it's everything.

And Matt opened up about his unique coaching philosophy that’s helped keep him close to the front line for nearly a decade.

🎬 Trailer below. Full episode out now.

As always, a huge thanks to our podcast partners who continue to support our mission with the pod - SourceWhale | Raise 🔥

#Recruitment #Podcast

Last time I talked about Metaview's new AI Sourcing Agent, a bunch of recruiters messaged me saying the same thing.

“I found candidates I never would’ve spotted on LinkedIn.”

That's what this tool is all about.

Because if you think about it, most recruiters still rely on the same LinkedIn filters and Boolean searches everyone else is using.

And that’s the problem.

Filters don’t just filter results.

They filter out excellent talent.

They can’t understand intent.

They can’t pick up on what your version of great really looks like.

That’s exactly the problem Metaview set out to solve.

Their AI Sourcing Agent doesn’t need you to write another Boolean string, it learns directly from you.

From your calls, your notes, your decisions.

It understands how you think about talent, then proactively surfaces candidates that fit your intent, not just your keywords.

After sitting down with Siadhal Magos, Metaview’s CEO, it’s clear that this isn’t just another sourcing tool; it’s the start of truly autonomous recruiting.

And right now, they’re running their best offer yet.

🔥 Sign up in November, and Metaview will double your seat count for six months.

If sourcing still eats hours of your week, it’s time to see what a genuine AI recruiter teammate can do.

You can get this offer & try it out here: https://lnkd.in/ebzn98nM

Because the future of sourcing isn’t about writing better Boolean.

It’s about removing the filters altogether.

#Recruitment

Stealth Startup

West Peak - BCorp

The Summit Leaders Club™ is the world’s fastest-growing community of Leaders from across industries. It's where the Leaders of today are developing the skills needed for tomorrow.

Summit Leaders Club™ - Founding Member

We create the leaders of today with the skills for tomorrow. 

West Peak was born out of our love of solving business growth problems through people development. For us, the best element of partnering with customers is always the legacy and results we leave with you. Our mission is to deliver solutions that provide rapid enhancements in your performance at work, and personal flourishing that continues long after training.​

We deliver best in class face-to-face and virtual leadership, personal, and team development training solutions. Our methods are rooted in science and presented ready for real-world application. We create a safe yet challenging learning environment that's optimised for rapid, fun, and embedded learning. Whether we're delivering for you via Zoom, in the classroom, at a mountain refuge, or on a yacht, we're convinced we all learn best when we're having serious fun.

Founder & CEO

Harvard Business Review

As an advisory council member of the research community, I provide insight to shape the content HBR develops and help enrich through my perspective the understanding of these ideas from HBR across the wider world of management and leadership.

Advisor

Helm (formerly The Supper Club)

"Helm is a membership community for established founders to achieve personal and business growth, that creates positive impact and delivers more than it takes."

Member

Dartmouth Partners

"Recruiting Excellence from Classroom to Boardroom"

Dartmouth Partners work with leading firms and outstanding individuals who understand that the value of human talent makes the difference to any business. 

Our business focuses on finding the best talent on campus and advising them as their career advances. As they progress, our network matures and in turn so does our supply capability on the experienced side of the business.

We recruit individuals with an outstanding academic or professional background into firms who recognise that a competitive edge is gained by finding and hiring the best human capital available.

Sectors covered include: Investment Banking, Private Equity, Asset Management, Consulting, and Corporates.

www.joindartmouth.com

Head of Talent & Performance

reinvest recruit

- ATTRACT -
Strategic retained recruitment assignments to identify, engage and secure the best talent for your business.

- DEVELOP -
Training for the Sales, Operations and Management teams.

- RETAIN -
Consultancy to identify pathways to business growth supporting the development and retention of your team.

Chief Reinvestor

ATI (Global Technical Recruitment Services)

ATI is a global specialist recruitment consultancy priding ourselves on placing exceptional candidates into technical & professional roles across energy and industry sectors, over the last 15 years. 

Our sector-experienced candidates complement our clients’ environments and hit the ground running – providing the knowledge and skill to deliver their projects successfully.

Our focus sectors include:
•	Oil, Gas and Petrochemical
•	Nuclear Energy and Renewables
•	Cement & Mining
•	Civil works and Infrastructure
•	Construction

We are currently actively recruiting across the UK, EU, Africa and the ME on specific projects for a number of global companies.

Successfully exited the business.

Senior Director

Hydrogen Group

Hydrogen Group is a global specialist recruitment business placing mid to senior level individuals in over 70 countries. Key practice specialisms include: IT, Project Management, Pharmaceutical/Life Sciences, Legal, Oil and Gas, Power, Mining and Financial Services Inc. Banking. We have also recently won the Global Recruiter Industry Award for 'Best In-house Training'.

Learning & Development Consultant/Coach

England Rugby

A training and development role on behalf of the RFU and the IRB that is continuing to focus on ensuring that the workforce has the correct support and development opportunities to excel.

•Delivering Award and Non-Award courses on behalf of the RFU and the IRB
•Ensuring the quality of delivery in Coach Educator staff
•Assessing and mentoring Coach Educators to ensure RFU workforce is fit for purpose

National Trainer

The remit of this role was to manage the growth and sustainability of Rugby Union across the region whilst operating at a national level to impact current and future programmes. 

•Developed and grew Rugby Union across London & SE
•Managed and deployed a regional team of rugby development professionals 
•Serviced and troubleshot the needs of member clubs and rugby organisations
•Developed and delivered training to workforce as part of on going development

Professional Coach / Rugby Development Officer

Badenoch & Clark

Recruiter and part of the successful Project/Programme Management team. Established and managed relationships with large corporate accounts and specific assignments with SME's. A focus on securing the right talent for the right organisations.

Recruiter

Delivering people development with real world results 🚀📈 | Mt. Blanc & Mt. Cotopaxi Summiteer 🏔️ | IRONMAN 70.3 finisher 🏊‍♂️🚴🏃🏻| IRONMAN in training

⏩ You know how to lead people and teams, right? But you struggle as your business grows and you need other people who may have been excellent individual contributors to now lead growing teams at scale. 

The problem is they don't have the skills or approach to succeed and it's costing you time (firefighting) and profitability. Well, that’s what I help with...👇

I help C-suite leaders create more growth and profit by rapidly up-skilling their managers. 

Need proof? The featured links on this profile and my website are packed with testimonials sharing the experiences others have had.

The Triple-A way I help C-suite leaders like you get these results:

👉🏽Analyse your needs to focus on achieving objectives that matter
👉🏽Accelerate learning through fully customised experiences
👉🏽Apply results directly to lift your culture and bottom line

When it comes to investing in upskilling your managers, I know you want to get the return on investment as fast as possible to fuel the growth and profitability of your business. You also don't have time for your managers to be in endless workshops or want to waste money on e-learning solutions that nobody uses. You need rapidly upskilled managers who create leverage by unlocking more performance and well-being in your employees.

To do that, you need an engaging and powerful solution that creates a quick impact. But also someone who understands how to embed results for the long term. So, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁? I'll show you.

✅ I’m proud to have helped businesses from start-ups to 9 figure brands create better performing managers. I've also taught hundreds of C-suite leaders all over the world how to get more out of their teams through my coaching, courses and keynotes. 

✅ You deserve for your business to achieve the growth and profit goals you've visualised. Contact me to find out about the Summit Leadership Programme™ and Summit Leaders Club™.

Send a message and we can discuss how to fix the all important incompetent manager issue for you.
__

www.thewestpeak.com
Email: benstocken@thewestpeak.com
Or message me on LinkedIn

__

Need me to speak?
I've lectured and provided impactful keynotes on "Unlocking Performance" for businesses including Amazon, DHL, Coke, British Triathlon, British Canoeing and Comparethemarket.

Ben Stocken

This clip gives me goosebumps! In 1983, Steve Jobs stood on stage and described a computer you could carry like a book and learn in 20 minutes.
At the time, it was technically impossible. 

So he had 3 options: 

1. Do nothing 
2. Build a piece of crap like his competitors were doing 
3. Design the computer he actually wanted to put in a book, even though it wouldn't fit for years.

He chose option 3. 

First, it fit in a breadbox and cost $10,000 (the Lisa). 
Then a shoebox for $2,500 (the early Mac). 
Finally, a book you could carry, the MacBook millions of students use today.

40 years from vision to reality. 

And it's exactly how I think about building Atherio. 

99% of traditional leadership development is Option 2: putting "a crap" solution out there because everyone else is doing off the shelf workshops and e-learning, even though we know they don't change behaviour.

Option 1 is to do nothing, accept that 82% of managers lack leadership capability and hope someone else solves it.

Option 3 is what we're doing: designing the leadership development system we actually need; real-time AI coaching embedded in workflow that closes the knowing-doing gap, even though it's technically hard and takes years to build right.

Jobs wasn't solving for the next quarter. He was solving for the next generation. 

That's the difference between building something incremental and building something that redefines what's possible.

Most founders optimise for speed to market. Jobs optimised for vision of where the market was going.

I'd rather spend 3 years building the right thing than 3 months building something mediocre just to ship.

This is the mindset we need more of. Not faster MVPs. Not more customer surveys asking people what they want when they don't know what's possible yet.

That's what made Jobs different. And it's what I think about every single day building Atherio.

Do you optimise for speed or for vision?

#Leadership #Product #BillGates #BuildingInPublic #Atherio #AILeadership

Ex England Rugby | Spent 20 years in leadership development. Now replacing what doesn’t work | Founder & CEO, Atherio 🚀

I’m 41, on my second startup, and this year I finally put myself first.
Before I start, I almost didn't post this because...

we're pretty crap at celebrating wins in the UK and my internal voice expects many to scoff at this post and dismiss it as a brag. But if we don't share we can't help, so here goes...

1st picture: January this year? I wasn’t in a great place.
Bloated. Self-conscious. Honestly I'd distracted myself by overeating after a tough end to 2024. Energy low. Confidence lower.

Fast forward 10 months…
2nd picture: The difference is night and day.

Here’s what changed:

I made myself the priority.

No excuses. No shortcuts. No waiting for “the right time.”

Instead:

✅ 0400 starts to put in the hours for Atherio before my family wakes up.
✅ Blocking time for fitness during my day (non-negotiable).
✅ Clean eating (most of the time).
✅ Big focus on sleep quality.
✅ Almost zero alcohol.

All while leading West Peak - BCorp and building Atherio.

It’s been a grind-and I’ve loved every bloody minute of it.

This isn’t a brag. It’s a reminder.

You don’t have to accept the status quo.

I’m a 41 year-old man, a husband, a dad to two incredible kids, and a founder on my second startup.

And it's taken too long for me to realise this simple truth:

If I don’t look after me, who will look after them?

You can’t show up for your family, your team, or your mission if you’re running on empty.

Next year I’m levelling up again and committing to working with Garry Banford from Duratus to ensure I progress again.

Hope this helps a few people out there today to put their own oxygen mask on first. Maybe for the first time.

🙏

2025 Transformation

Yesterday was a lesson in how boring Rugby’s values really are…

But also, why everyone needs to understand just how powerful they are!

If you follow me you’ll know by now that my eldest is a bit of a ledge and mad about rugby. It’s not uncommon for him to throw a Marcus Smith goose step in a match and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pollock lip licking doesn’t catch on.

Yesterday we were treated to some tickets to the Exeter Chiefs vs. Bristol Bears game.

Austin was super keen to get down to the pitch side and see if we could get a signature from one of the players (heroes), so off we go down to the warm up area for the Chiefs. 

Now I know from my time in Rugby that this is not the time for us to get a signature, but we try out luck! 🍀

Up steps Charlie Chapman (Exeter Chiefs, Scum Half) and does something incredible…

Austin catches his eye and ask him to sign his new Chiefs shirt (you can imagine the hopeful eye’s can’t you).

Charlie jogs over from his warm up. Austin hands him the only pen we have which is a biro 😩 and guess what? It doesn’t work. 

Sh*t I’m thinking this is a bit of an anti climax for my little dude. 

Charlie, cool as a cucumber looks up and says hang on a minute, I’ll be back. 

He turns and runs 50m to the halfway line, into the tunnel and comes back a few mins later with a sharpie. Signs the shirt, chats to Austin, poses for a picture, says he hopes austin has a great day and then is back 100% focused on preparing for the game. 😎

He comes on in the 2nd half, makes a huge impact and Exeter win. 

But that’s not the point…

Rugby teaches what world needs most right now:

Teamwork
Respect
Enjoyment
Discipline 
Sportsmanship

Charlie demonstrated that to his core in one small act yesterday and do you know what, it stayed with Austin. 

Role-modelling is a superpower!

Let’s all be more like Charlie.

I dragged heavy Mitre boots as a kid. But my son laces up tech-driven boots built to win…

Back then, those chunky Mitre hi-tops were the gold standard. Elite players swore by them. I dragged my feet across muddy pitches, dreaming of rugby greatness.

Fast forward to last night, I’m fitting lightweight studs into my son’s aero, position-specific boots. They’re engineered for speed, precision, and performance.

Everyone loves NEW BOOT DAY, right?

But as I held those boots, a thought hit me…

In sports, the pursuit of an edge is relentless. Every detail is scrutinised. Every innovation embraced. All because winning demands it.

Yet in business?

We’re still dragging our feet.

❌82% of managers haven’t been trained to lead another human. 

For the lucky few, it’s often outdated workshops that barely scratch the surface (unless they are fortunate enough to work with West Peak - BCorp🫡) 

Decades of stagnation.

That’s why I’m building Atherio.

Leadership doesn’t happen in classrooms. It happens in real moments:

- Difficult conversations
- Delegation decisions
- Team conflicts

Atherio delivers intelligent, context-relevant leadership development-embedded in the flow of work, every day.

✅ Real-time support
✅ Habit-building, not one-off training
✅ A fraction of the cost, all of the ROI

The old boots won’t cut it anymore. It’s time to tool up managers to win the game-every day.

DM me to learn more about how today.

P.S. not an AD but adidas boots are 🔥

#Leadership #FounderJourney #AI #Managers

The day I quit England Rugby, I thought I'd failed…

Here's the honest bit: I wasn't patient enough (or probably good enough) to move to the next level. So I moved into corporate leadership development thinking I'd help companies avoid mistakes in people development.

What I found? 

Companies making the same mistakes across every industry…

Managers promoted with zero support. Smart people suddenly terrible at leading. Teams burning out because nobody taught their boss how to actually delegate.

And the "solution"? £366 billion spent globally on leadership training. With 10% ROI. That's a tax on incompetence.

So I built West Peak - BCorp. Proved better worked. Made good money. Helped good people. But I hit the same wall: consulting can help hundreds when I believed there’s a way to help millions. 

Then 250km into the Sahara whilst completing the MDS, it clicked:

Knowing what to do isn't the problem. Doing it under pressure is. 

Your manager knows delegation matters. Until they're stressed, then they just do it themselves. Old pattern kicks in.

You need to remove friction in the moment that it matters. That’s where ultimate value is. 

J.P. Morgan embedded AI into workflow. Got 44% productivity gains. Most companies get nothing because they relied on just training to change behavior.

And I'm not solving this with consulting or courses. AI finally makes it possible to coach behavior at scale.

That's Atherio. Not another workshop. Real-time nudges embedded when managers face real decisions.

✅Before they do it (instead of delegate).
✅Before they avoid conversations (instead of having them).
✅Before they burn out their people (instead of developing them).

So yeah, quitting rugby seemed like failure at the time.

Turned out it was just the beginning. 🚀

#Leadership #EnterpriseValue #Atherio

80%+ of employees would quit because of a bad manager. And replacing that departing talent costs 50-200% of their annual salary...​

The mistake is simple: We confuse excellence in a role with readiness for leadership.

Being exceptional at sales doesn't make you a great sales manager.
Being brilliant at engineering doesn't make you a great engineering leader.
Being the best performer on the team doesn't mean you can develop others.

Those are different skillsets entirely.

Yet 82% of organizations promote people based on past performance, not leadership capability.​ So what happens?

The brilliant individual contributor becomes a drowning manager who:

❌ Can't delegate (they're used to doing it all)
❌ Can't coach (they never learned how)
❌ Can't make tough decisions (they avoid conflict)
❌ Can't inspire teams (they're focused on tasks, not people)

And because they're now under water, they don't invest in their team. They micromanage. They create chaos.

Your best people see that and leave.

82% of first-time managers receive ZERO formal training when promoted. We put people in the hardest job in the company - managing human beings - with zero support system.​ Then we're shocked when they fail and their teams leave.

And when they fail, they don't fail alone. They take their teams with them.​

The companies that don't lose their best people when promoting do one thing differently:

They invest in real-time management coaching before and after the promotion. Continuous behavioral support at the moment the manager needs it.

And that's how elite teams develop leaders at scale, without losing their top performers in the process.

Managers who receive regular coaching stay 68% longer and their teams experience significantly higher retention.​

Let's do the math on one bad promotion:

You promote someone without development support.
Their manager rating drops within 6 months.
Your 3 best performers: the ones who made that team effective all leave within a year.

Cost of replacing those 3 people at 100% of annual salary? ~$450K+ just in recruitment, training, and ramp-up time.​

Plus: Lost institutional knowledge, team morale hit, customer relationships disrupted, innovation stalled.

So, if you're serious about keeping your best people when promoting someone to management:

1. Assess for leadership capability BEFORE promoting
2. Provide immediate, real-time coaching AFTER promoting
3. Measure what matters
4. Create accountability

This is exactly why Atherio exists. That's the gap we're closing: Real-time behavioural coaching embedded in the workflow.

No losing your best people while hoping your newly promoted manager figures it out. When you promote someone, they need real-time support at the moment of performance. That's the only way to actually change behavior and keep your teams intact.

The alternative is watching your best people leave.
#teambuilding #leadershiptraining #management #retention

Private equity just had its biggest quarter in history - six deals exceeded $10 billion, including the largest LBO ever recorded.

But here's the problem no one's talking about:

No matter how big the check, incompetent managers are destroying $95M to $435M in enterprise value per portfolio company (RHR International).

Leadership capability just became the most important valuation lever in PE. Let me show you what I mean:

53% of PE returns now come from leadership capability. Not from financial engineering. Not from bolt-on acquisitions. From whether leaders execute under pressure.

And the harsh truth: 82% of managers in portfolio companies lack the leadership talent to deliver the value creation plan (Gallup).

What This Costs:

Scenario 1: Competent CEO
→ Revenue targets hit consistently
→ EBITDA margins expand 3-5% annually
→ Exit at 8-10x EBITDA = £400M-£500M

Scenario 2: Incompetent manager
→ Best VP quits (£2M-£5M replacement cost per role)
→ CEO defaults to firefighting, strategic initiatives stall
→ Revenue misses by 7%, EBITDA margin drops 4%
→ Exit at 6-7x EBITDA = £300M-£350M

Value destroyed: £100M-£150M

That's the difference between a fund-returner and explaining a write-off to your LPs.

When a CEO exits unplanned, it delays your investment timeline by 18 months on average (Leadership Dynamics). In PE terms, that's an IRR death sentence.

Sophisticated Firms treat leadership like infrastructure:

1. Pre-deal: Behavioural assessments of CEO + C-suite before the deal closes. Not just "can they run a P&L" but "can they make decisions under pressure and retain top talent during transformation?"

2. Post-deal: Real-time AI-powered coaching embedded in daily execution. Not off the shelf workshops managers forget by Monday. Behavioural nudges before difficult conversations, during delegation breakdowns, when accountability slips.

3. Continuous monitoring: Live dashboards tracking manager effectiveness and flight risk. You wouldn't run a portfolio company without real-time financial dashboards, why develop leaders with annual surveys that arrive 6 months too late?

This is why we're building Atherio.

PE timelines don't always allow 6-12 month leadership programs. You need managers executing flawlessly starting Monday, not Q3 next year.

Real-time AI coaching delivers behavioural nudges exactly when needed, before the tough VP conversation, when the CEO reverts to doing instead of leading, when team performance drifts.

Leadership assessment is moving from "nice-to-have" to mandatory due diligence. Leadership quality is now a valuation multiple.

If you're evaluating deals: Can this management team execute at the speed and scale we need, or are we hoping they figure it out?

If you're building for PE exit: Would a sophisticated PE firm see your leadership team as a premium asset or a liability to fix post-close?

The market is pricing leadership capability into every deal now.

#PrivateEquity #Leadership #ValueCreation #EnterpreValue

Replacing one A-player costs £100K-£300K (half to 4x their annual salary)! A 100-person company loses £2M+ annually to turnover costs.​

But the real cost isn't the replacement. It's the collapse that follows. When your best people leave, the entire system stutters. Here's what most companies do:

They hire an L&D consultant. Run a "retention" workshop. Measure completion rates. Then wonder why nothing changes.

The problem: these are behavioral problems, not knowledge problems.

Your manager doesn't lack understanding that they should celebrate excellence. They lack behavioral support in the moment when it matters.

Your CEO lacks real-time accountability for it. This is exactly why we're building Atherio.

Real-time nudges for managers:

→ Before they overlook their best person's contribution
→ When they're tempted to let an underperformer slide
→ When burnout signals hit (behavioral patterns, withdrawal)
→ During career conversations where clarity matters

Not quarterly workshops or annual training. Real-time behavioral coaching that catches problems before A-players become ex-players. 

And that's exactly what we're making possible with Atherio!

Companies don't lose A-players to competitors. They lose them to bad management.

And bad management is fixed with better behavior in real moments.

Which of these 10 is costing you the most right now? And more importantly, how are you actually intervening, not just measuring?


#Leadership #Retention #EnterpriseValue #Management

I've been thinking about something all week…

One of my friends who's a global HR Director told me they spent £480K on leadership coaching last year for 80 managers. Feedback scores were great. Managers loved the coaches. But when they looked at actual behavior change 6 months later, almost nothing stuck.

That conversation has been rattling around because it's exactly what the research shows. The global coaching market hit $7.3 billion in 2025 (PwC). Coaching delivers £5-£7 ROI for every £1 spent (ICF 2025). So coaching works…as long as you don’t stop investing in it!

But traditional coaching can't scale without breaking the bank and it's too slow for how companies move.

One coach can work with 20-30 people maximum per year. Quarterly sessions mean managers wait weeks. Traditional e-learning has 15% completion rates (LinkedIn Learning). Coaching 500 managers costs £3-£7.5 million annually. 

Most companies can't justify that, so:

❌ managers get a two-day workshop, 
❌ forget 90% of the lecture they’ve had by Monday, 
❌ and hope they figure it out (unless they get to work with West Peak - BCorp, which many can't).

And that's exactly where AI changes the game - not as hype, but as a practical solution.

✅ 84% of managers report higher confidence after AI coaching (Tenor AI Oct 2025). 
✅ Gen AI adopters see £3.71 return for every £1 spent. 
✅ MIT research shows AI role-play works from day one because managers practice before high-stakes moments.

Managers don't need more knowledge. They know what good delegation looks like. The problem is in the moment when they're stressed, three things are on fire, they revert to old patterns. They micromanage. They avoid the conversation.

AI can be there in that exact moment. Not three weeks later. Right before the 1:1 with the underperforming VP. During the delegation conversation when they're tempted to just do it themselves.

Now let me be honest about what AI can't do. Complex ethical dilemmas requiring human judgment. Deep emotional processing. Strategic career pivots need human wisdom. Building trust in sensitive situations requires a real person.

That's why I'm building Atherio with a hybrid model, AI handles 90% of coaching moments, human coaches focus on the genuinely complex 10%. Not replacing coaches. Giving them leverage.

I keep coming back to that HR Director conversation. 

Traditional coaching transformed me. I'm not dismissing it. But it's economically impossible at scale and too slow.

AI coaching isn't perfect. But for 90% of leadership moments: delegation, feedback, accountability; it delivers faster, more consistently, at a fraction of the cost.

📊 That's not hype. That's the actual data. 

Follow me as I build the solution we all need that nobody else did, at Atherio!

#Leadership #AICoaching #LeadershipDevelopment

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