The future of every organisation is in hands of their young talent. 

Yet, companies are struggling to retain the best talent for long enough to see a profit, the journey from onboarding to high performance is taking too long and young talent falls into the trap of doing just enough to get by.

Whilst our Education system is overwhelmed with Ofsted frameworks, a ridiculous teacher workload and declining engagement. 

So, I started Aim A Little Higher to fix that. We're on a mission to equip young people with the clarity, confidence and communication skills necessary to thrive in the real world and become an undeniable asset for their organisation.  

We've worked with amazing organisations such as HSBC, Siemens Energy, Goldman Sachs, Greenwood Dale Academies & The Sutton Trust to name a few. All working on the ground with their young talent and accelerate their journey from potential to high performance. 

Young talent should be excited to be part of the journey, contributing fresh ideas and become the largest asset in any organisation.

We help organisations in a number of ways
We put together programmes that increase employee engagement & company alignment.
Develop strategies that improve output and contribution from young talent by increasing confidence & skillset.
Build a road map that enables young talent to gain clarity, confidence and effective communication at an accelerated pace.

Ultimately, leading to a return on investment for employers, managers & educators alike.


I'm a Husband who married up, a Father figuring it out as I go and an Arsenal fan who has been convinced next year will be our year since I was 12. 
I went from coasting to 7A's & 2A*'s, crowned as Peter Jones' National Entrepreneur of The Year & was recently part of Lincolnshire's 30 under 30. 
Fresh Prince of Bel Air is my theme tune and if you borrowed my headphones you'd be met by Podcasts & Audiobooks.

Let's get your young people performing like the pro's!

Drop me a DM and we'll book a call to get started!

Kamal Ellis-Hyman

We joined force with HSBC to deliver a 5 hour, yes FIVE HOUR workshop to launch their Insights Programme... 

I know I know, 5 hours seems ridiculous. 
How can you keep this Generation focussed for five hours?!

It's simple.
This Generation, (despite popular belief) want certain things:

🔶 Challenge 
🔶 Growth
🔶 Confidence

Francis Reed, Elisha Kopec & Jack Oliver made the mission clear.

The session needed to be...
👉🏾 Engaging yet transformative
👉🏾 Feel personal even with a large audience
👉🏾 Set the tone for the rest of the programme

They took care of the rest! 
Company insights, relevant skill development and a pathway to genuine opportunity!


'Insights' is the PERFECT opportunity to show future talent what your company is all about and nobody can do that better than you!

But if you make it ALL about your company and not about them, there's no alignment and you become another 'option'. 

🎉 So our session allowed those young people to grow, develop & feel like they belong in the opportunity!

Huge shoutout to the team, an absolute dream to work with and the day was amazing. 

Every single young person played full out, made the day a pleasure and we look forward to seeing your growth & journey!

This is what we do best!

Developing Young Talent from Potential to High Performance 🚀 Founder of Aim A Little Higher

2026 has landed & our first day of coaching calls is complete!

Eliza and I took some time to reflect on the first 6 months of the HSBC Accelerator programme over the break! Filled with smiles, gratitude and excitement for the final 6 months!

This was only heightened after a catch up with Francis Reed, Elisha Kopec  & Emily Cowin!

I can't begin to tell you how proud I'm feeling of our HSBC Industrial Placements. From the moment we first met to this round of coaching calls, the difference is staggering. 

✅ Leading projects
✅ Being more active in role
✅ Openly exploring feedback
✅ Improved communication (literally mentioned in reports)

Not to mention the clarity on their challenges & areas to improve on. 

So many of us
👉🏾 Gas ourselves up, 
👉🏾 Stretch the truth about how well we're doing 
👉🏾 Only acknowledge the good. 

What makes coaching these IP's a real pleasure is:

🔥 Their honesty in identifying areas to improve
🔥 Curiosity to ask deeper questions and 
🔥 Willingness to be challenged. 

I'd love to say it's all smooth sailing from here!

But nope, half way is where it gets turned up!

The next in person sessions will be more challenging
The coaching sessions are going deeper
Expectations are rising 

The Potential to Performance journey is WELL underway. 

P.S

Slightly missing Jack but mainly because he couldn't see my Arsenal top in the meeting

undefined undefined

Developing Young Talent From Potential to High Performance 🚀 Director of Aim A Little Higher

HSBC

Emerging Talent Undergraduate Programmes & Skills Strategy Lead at HSBC

Emerging Talent Events and Projects Lead

Wealth and Personal Banking Degree Apprentice at HSBC

Premier Financial Consultant at HSBC

I spoke at No Fluff Fest 2026 yesterday!
From New York, Italy, German, UK & beyond, it was a packed out room with a simple goal...

Learn how to understand and effectively communicate with Gen Z & Alpha!

I shared the stage with a host of amazing speakers and my session took the audience on a journey:

🔶 Can you dance in the face of challenge 👀
🔶 Answering the question "What's with these kids?!"
🔶 Exploring the differences in upbringing
🔶 Are you talking 'Features' or 'Futures'

Thank you to Nicola who is always a pleasure to join forces with! 

Huge shoutout to every attendee that brought energy, enthusiasm and genuine reflection. 

What a way to wrap up the Fest!

Me: New year, fresh start, new me, all of that I am IN!
Friend: "F*** That Mate. Nothing wrong with this version"

Where do you stand?

I'm a proper sucker for a new year - I absolutely love it!

We countdown on the beach as a family, then run into the sea!

Notebooks are out, new goals are set & even our children write their vision for the year ahead!


My friend, lovingly disagrees and responded to my new years message explaining that it should be the same you as nothing's wrong with this version. 

Whilst I love the love - I disagree - there's always room for growth. 

We can of course, make a positive change at ANY given time, but why not choose a time when everything else around you has a restart. 

Fresh after the love & break of Christmas.
The calendar goes back to 1/1. 
Why not start too!

Wishing all of you LinkedIn'ers the best for 2026!


I'm curious, are you a New Year, New Me kinda person?

When I was 13 years old I dreamt of owning this car one day. 
Then just before Christmas..

It finally happened!

⭐ I received an email from Lara who I've had the pleasure of working with on awesome projects over the years, letting me know her car was for sale.

I got real excited, told my Wife but at the back of my mind made peace with it never happening because:

We have three children &
The car is not practical for a growing family

But to my surprise, she said go for it!

I learnt three things from the experience!

💡  Share your dreams with others 

Lara only knew this was my dream car because I acted like an excited 12 year old when she gave me a lift to one of our filming days

💡 Don't let the world talk you out of your dreams

So many people have laughed at my dream car, telling me to upgrade to a Lambo, Ferrari or GTR

💡 Be patient

It's taken from Year 8 to... a while after Year 8 👀🤣


It's so fun to drive and I love the simplicity of the car!

❌ No bluetoth
❌ No screens
❌ No DAB

Just a 2.5, 4 cylinder Lion under the bonnet!

Hold on to your dreams people!

This is one of my favourite photos of all time. 

As someone who really struggles to 'turn off', this is a photo that genuinely brings me peace. 

Every time I see it, I just smile. 

In such an over stimulated, mission driven and constantly moving world. 

I'm guilty of getting caught up in the noise. 

It takes a real, conscious effort to just turn off and be present & when I do, it feels bloody brilliant. 



I hope whilst you're running this mad race, you also find time to just be present and escape. 

As a family, water is the escape, the place that brings pure peace. 

Thank you for capturing this moment Eliza. 

What's your escape?

POV: You've started a new Early Careers role 🎉
But there's nobody else new in your team 🥴


The transition from Education into the world of work is tough enough; let alone feeling like you are on your own. 

Often, organisations will bring in a cohort of fresh talent, only to spread them far and wide around the company. 

This in itself is not a problem at all. 
In most cases it actually serves the business & young people well!

The issue is, if there's no chance for that cohort to collaborate, the Early Careers journey becomes isolating. 

😟 Nobody understands exactly what I'm going through
😟 Everybody in my team is far ahead of me
😟 I'm not sure if I'm progressing at a reasonable pace

We love providing sessions that bring cohorts together, to collaborate, grow & share as a real team. 

This young person agreed!

I gave a speech to leaders on how to get the best out of Gen Z!
This lesson was about how my parents forced me to develop initiative, or fail. 


Ah initiative. 👀

😁 All employers need it. 
🙂Some talent has it. 
😟Few apply it. 

BUT be careful, your job isn't to make life easier and simpler. It's to leave space for initiative to develop.

In a period of overcorrection (we're living through one now). 

We see problems being solved on behalf of young people & standards being reduced to make failure avoidable. 

That's not how young people develop initiative.

That's a recipe for passive instruction taking. 

In the good old Blockbuster days, I had a desire. 

Rent two videos rather than one. 

Rather than my parents saying "Oh go on then Son". 

They pointed out the problem... "You got no money Son" 

❌ Request Denied. 

But by pointing out the problem and not providing a solution, they left me to either fail or thrive. 

✅ I got creative, because there was room to get creative. 
✅ I showed initiative.

When we work with Early talent, we let them clearly see the problem. 
Then let them work out and act on a solution. 

It's the only way you'll grow in intiative!

People CLAIM to care about Early Talent development.👀

But do they truly trust the ability of young adults?

There's so much advocacy & shouting out about the importance of investing in the next generation. Giving high potential young talent the chance to thrive & perform. 

🤔But, how many are just playing lip service & not keeping that same energy in their own lives?

We are hired by some of the most exciting companies in and beyond the UK, to work directly with their young talent to get them performing!

But it's way deeper than a job.
I trust them in my own life too. 

🟠 My strength & conditioning coach? 23 years old

🟠 My business coach? 26 years old

🟠 My Barbers 22 & 24 years old 
(I know it sounds odd but, the shop has three barbers who are all brilliant)

🟠 Lads who come around and wash the car? 13 & 14 years old

Then we have our own company, where 6 out of our 8 person team are younger than me!

When I say we believe in young talent.

I mean it, I invest in it, I live it.

What was supposed to be an amazing moment with THE Premier League trophy, turned into a roasting session! 

As an Arsenal fan, I've spent years being laughed at when it comes to the Prem 😂 
(Not when it comes to Arsenal ladies though... dominant.)

This event was no different, but you know what. 

I believe. 

Let's see what happens, come on you Arsenal!


P.S

I know I should at least wait until Full Time before posting this, but my optimism for this year will not change either way😂

I just got an absolute rollocking from my 10 year old Daughter. 
A clear lesson on ownership...

Earlier this week, Eliza realigned the family chores. 

All roles were outlined & ownership was reassigned. 

❌ No swapping
❌ No bribing your Sister
❌ No paying your Sister

✅ Clear tasks
✅ Specific deadlines
✅ Quality score & feedback 

Instantly, ownership was taken. 

Our eldest decided to take initiative!

She went through every pair of shoes & trainers, tracking down the owner and forcing them to decide if the shoes stay or get placed in storage. 

I asked for my slippers to stay. 😀

This evening, walking around in my socks I was challenged by my eldest. 

💁🏽‍♀️ "Why aren't you wearing your slippers?"

🙍🏾‍♂️ "I've got socks on I'm good"

💁🏽‍♀️  "Well you've asked for the to be left out, what's the point if you're not going to wear them?"

🙍🏾‍♂️ "I just don't like socks and slippers at the same time"

💁🏽‍♀️  "That's weird" 

𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦

💁🏽‍♀️  "Put them on please"

🙍🏾‍♂️ "Ok 🙄"

𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯. 

Ownership.

It's her responsibility and she's now owning it. 


In a world where we are in danger of over correcting & over protecting. 

Far too often we take responsibility away, thinking we'll make life easier. 

👉🏾 Avoid conflict
👉🏾 Remove pressure from Young talent 
👉🏾 Create a team first culture

The reality is, you create a void. 

❌ Where nobody takes ownership, nobody feels important and nobody reaches high performance. 


Give ownership. Watch them flourish. 

(Or fail miserably, which let's be honest... way more useful)

Vulnerable share, but this rut in life has made me so much more effective in coaching young talent...


It’s easy to aim high when you’ve got nothing. 
Far harder to aim high when you’ve reached comfort and have responsibilities. 

When I first started in business I literally had nothing to lose. 

❌ No reputation for being great at business.

❌ No significant running costs & cashflow minimums.

❌ No mortgage, no taxman, no family depending on me. 

It was easy to take risks, to aim higher each day and to have the audacity to aim for goals I had no business aiming for. 

✅ It got hard to aim high once I’d developed the skills to grow a business. 

✅ The skills to actually produce results for the clients that bring me in

✅A Wife and Daughters whose smiling faces I see every morning. 

Now those things matter. So when faced with the choice of playing it safe and aim high. 

For years I chose to play it safe. 

Just maintain. Don’t grow. Don’t break this. Just maintain. 

The most dangerous, uninspiring and most stagnant time in my life so far!


Getting out of this place took work. Real work. 
Uncomfortable conversations with my Wife. 
Difficult conversations with my business coach. 
Horrible conversations with myself. 



So when I coach and ask whether talent wants to aim high or play it safe. 

It’s not a question I take lightly. 

It’s the toughest question one can answer.

We didn't want to reveal our whole 2026 AI Strategy. 

But, the AI opportunity at hand is too large so here we go...

The transformations we specialise in are clear:

🟠 Aimless early talent --> Driven performers on a mission
🟠 Mumblers & Ramblers  --> Confident, clear & engaging
🟠 Imposter syndrome sufferers --> Knowing they belong & are valued
🟠 Mediocre onboarding process --> Engaging, transformational & memorable experience

But 2026, is demanding more. 

It's demanding an AI enthused strategy, with microchips for lunch and a pinch of augmented reality. 

So our AI strategy is simple.

There isn't one. 👀

We're going to deliver high impact, engaging, entertaining, transformational programs. 

And we're going to do it, the old fashioned way. 

Let's go 2026!

I got cancelled.😶

Thought I was turning up for a normal podcast interview, but Mike Jones had other plans and threw me a career ending curveball.

👉🏾 It's the question on managers' minds,
👉🏾 The news stirs it up like playground gossip,
👉🏾 They make us say 'I was never like that'

Are the youth of today just lazy?

My answer. Yes.

❌ Instant cancellation.❌ 


Seriously though, it's just the same as it's always been.

Some are lazy, some are ambitious, some overwork, some never work. 🤷🏾‍♂️

I mean, isn't this just the standard story with every single Generation?

The difference here though is simply the rate of change. 

I'm a millennial (I know that will shock many of you who thought I was Gen Z)
but my upbringing is far different to that of Gen Z, let alone Gen Alpha!

So whilst, calling them all lazy is certainly the easy route. 


There's an element of understanding that's needed.

Question!

Would 21 year old you, be any different if you'd had the Gen Z childhood experience?

I Help Business Owners With 10-30 Employees Free Up 2+ Days A Week in 90 Days. Guaranteed. Fractional COO. Learn The Exact Process [Link In Bio 🔗] 👇

🤿 Diving into the weekend like...

Skills development is a lot like snorkelling (bare with..)


The family were preparing to visit one of my favourite places in the world, Malta 🇲🇹!

But for a proper snorkelling experience, we had to try these new full face Darth Vader style masks. 

I didn't want to chuck the kids in the Sea without testing it first. 

So I tested the mask...

In the middle of the lounge, with a full air swim. 😂

🤔 Skills development is the same. 

🔶 You have an end goal in mind (Snorkelling in Malta)
🔶You identify deficiencies  (Can't breathe underwater very well)
🔶Explore ways to improve (Researching masks)
🔶Commit to developing and learning the new skill in a safe environment away from the high pressure scenarios of work(Air swim in the lounge) 

Then go and put it into practise in the real world! (Snorkel in Malta)

P.S. 

💡This was a profound post. 

I hope it helped. 


P.P.S

You may have feeling that this post was the result of my Wife and Children being given the freedom to choose any photo to place on my next LinkedIn post. 

Ignore that feeling and enjoy the profound nature of the post 🧡

Young Talent, I got you!
Fading in was never your plan... so don't.

As you step into your Career you're looking to:
✅ Stand out, 
✅ Be remembered and 
✅ Build a personal brand that opens doors for you. 

I sat down with the legend that is Sophie Milliken MBE, on her podcast we spoke all things:

👉🏾 Personal branding
👉🏾 Stand out applications
👉🏾Unlocking your potential

I highly recomend checking out the full podcast, produced by Moja of course!

Link in comments👀

"But Kamal, I can't speak in front of people."

Communication is one of most common criticisms of this Generation. 

❌ They'd rather email me, than walk 3 desks across to speak to me
❌ They come across entitled when speaking about their journey
❌ They struggle to express themselves effectively 

We're living in a very different time, these young adults have grown up in a world that doesn't need them to be great communicators.

👉🏾 They can make money online, so less get part time jobs
👉🏾 Snap, Insta, Whats App, have made photo or GIF based conversations the norm
👉🏾 The house phone never rings (if there is one at all)
👉🏾 Food arrives at the door without a word being spoken
👉🏾 Taxi's can be summoned via app and you can click the 'no conversation' button

That 'no conversation' button made me laugh and cry inside when I saw it for the first time🤣😢

🥴 So are communication skills taking a little longer to develop? 

Of course.

🥴 Are they less likely to have spoken at length to different generations? 

Of course.

🥴 Should they all go and sort themselves out?

Well hold on just a second...

Sandbox. 

We create a sandbox. 

A space where practice is encouraged. 
Challenge is forced. 
Failure is accepted. 
Growth is inevitable. 

If you can give a true space to get the reps in, learn to improve and be openly challenged. 

Only then can we see real improvement and growth. 

This is why we do what we do. 

🧡 LOVE seeing the growth of those we work with!

In Education everybody wants YOU to win. In business, everybody wants to win. 🤨

The difference in attitude is staggering and school really didn't set me up for it. The length Educators will go to in order to see you win is crazy. 

I have seen Teachers:

✅ Give extra time at lunch to look over work to get into top set (Thanks)
✅ Sit and explain to students who frankly couldn't be bothered to try
✅ Bend the rules give extra time on coursework deadlines (Thanks again)
✅ Allow students to be damn right rude without serious consequences 

These were advantages that so many students benefited from and then grew to expect. It makes sense, teachers really do want the best for young people and will bend over backwards to see them succeed. 

However, drop that same young person into the world of work and it is a whole different experience!

❌ Nobody turns up to your house to ask you to come in 
❌ There are no detentions to reflect and assess your bad attitude
❌ The right way to think is not laid out in front of you to copy and paste
❌ Rude, abusive or cross the line, you'll be gone

I remember quickly realising, nobody wants ME to win, THEY want to win. 

I had to work out how to:

💡 Be of service to other people
💡 Become genuinely useful in the work place
💡 Take personal responsibility for my development

It's a big old shift but my gosh, once you make it YOU are in control!



What was your biggest shock when you left Education?

I am an interim and fractional executive working at the intersection of governance, transformation, and operational decision-making in complex, high-scrutiny environments.

I am most often engaged where clarity is low, pressure is high, and the cost of poor sequencing or weak judgement is material.  My role is to align intent at the top of the organisation with operational reality, calmly, quickly, and without theatrics.

I operate in Chief of Staff, COO-adjacent, and enterprise transformation leadership roles, supporting senior executives and boards to stabilise direction, restore decision quality, and bring coherence to mission-critical portfolios.

My work typically focuses on:
	•	Stabilising complex or distressed transformation and reform environments
	•	Establishing clear decision rights, governance structures, and financial transparency
	•	Reducing executive cognitive load through disciplined prioritisation and operating cadence
	•	Integrating strategy, risk, and delivery into a single, coherent operating rhythm
	•	Ensuring major reforms, programmes, and systems transition cleanly into sustainable operations

I am experienced in politically sensitive and high-visibility contexts, where discretion, timing, and emotional containment are as important as technical capability.  I am comfortable exercising authority behind the scenes and stepping forward only where it strengthens outcomes.

Alongside executive engagements, I write and publish on transformation, governance, and system behaviour through a structured body of work examining how complex change actually unfolds over time.  This writing reflects my approach to judgement: observing carefully, recognising patterns, and resisting premature certainty.

My leadership style is pragmatic and steady.  I am hands-on when required, unflappable under pressure, and focused on building governance and operating systems that continue to hold once I step away.

I currently serve as a Director-at-Large (NED) with the Project Management Institute, Queensland (PMIQ) and have previously held COO and Associate Director roles across transformation, consulting, and operational settings.  I am also the author of "Ensuring Business Resilience – A Guide for Beginners", a practical guide to building effective continuity capability.

I am available for interim and fractional appointments (typically 3–12 months) where organisations or portfolios require stabilisation, alignment, and disciplined execution at pace.

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The Battle

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