Stephen Lock Coaching

Working with me, you benefit from twenty years’ leadership experience in major organisations, including Hewlett-Packard (France), the National Health Service and the National Institute for Health Research. I have also studied improvement theory with Warwick University Business School, leadership with Ashridge Business School and innovation with INSEAD Business School (Paris). I have an ILM 7 (Institute of Leadership and Management) Certificate in Executive and Senior Leadership Coaching and Mentoring. 

Most recently I was an executive in the National Institute for Health Research during the Covid-19 pandemic. As interim CITO, I was part of the team that, under intense pressure, organised the UK government’s urgent research response, successfully recruiting more than one million participants to covid treatment and vaccine research. Throughout this time I retained my role as a voluntary wellbeing support leader, looking after my colleagues and the health of my organisation. 

​My approach to coaching is informed by more than just my professional life. I am known internationally for my writing on self-managing teams and progressive organisations. I have a life-long interest in philosophical enquiry and personal growth which has developed into a daily yoga and meditation practice. Born in the UK, I have travelled extensively in Latin America, lived in France and worked in corporate America. 

While achieving success at work, I’ve also gained knowledge variously as a single parent, adoptive parent, step-parent and a parent of a child with special needs. I’ve been an advocate for improved end of life care, which has led me to speak at the Houses of Parliament, and I have helped to build a library for disadvantaged children on the remote island of Anapia, Lake Titicaca, Peru. 

All of which has led me to a deep understanding of balance in life and in work.

Executive, Leadership and Career Coach 

mClub

Chair of mClub IT Leaders Group 

mClub is a private members platform for thought leaders and c-level executives to exchange insights, trends and professional challenges in real time. 

mClub offers senior professionals access to bespoke mastermind groups that facilitate targeted discussions with one goal in mind: helping you to achieve new heights.

The goal: to help leaders achieve new levels of extraordinary: their roles & companies.

The how: sharing experience and knowledge among carefully matched peers that help bring you out of your silo and encourage outside of the box thinking.

As the Chair of the IT Leaders Group, I facilitate two sessions a month with IT business leaders from across the world.

Chairperson

NIHR Clinical Research Network

Responsible for a nationwide transformation programme to link research activity to disease prevalence transforming research funding across the UK. 
National lead for business intelligence in the NIHR Clinical Research Network.
Responsible for organization-wide performance assurance to the Department of Health and Social Care. 
Responsible for a distributed core team and national network of BI specialists. 
Established a nationwide BI Maturity Improvement Programme.
Faculty of national Leadership Development programme with responsibility for network leadership. 


One of just 40 global leaders accepted onto the J&J Innovating Health for Tomorrow Programme run through INSEAD Business School. Graduated in May 2019. Now working to implement a progressive system of self-managing teams working cooperatively to deliver benefits to service users.

Head Of Business Intelligence

I was appointed interim CITO at the NIHR to take a lead on the UK Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this role I have led the Clinical Research Network’s Service Management, Technology and Business Intelligence Teams and taken the role of SIRO (Senior Information Risk Owner) for a national organisation. This includes working on multi-agency projects at rapid pace:

•	Led the development of a new IT system for applications to COVID-19 research that was delivered in four days.
•	Led the development of new dashboards used by the UK Government to monitor and plan the roll-out of COVID-19 research. These are used across government including by the Chief Medical Officer (Professor Chris Whitty).
•	Agreed arrangements with NHS England, Public Health England and the Devolved Administrations to incorporate daily feeds of data into a single national view.
•	Developed analysis that fed directly into the UK Government’s national daily briefings. 
•	Became national lead for Data and Information for the Research Resilience Programme.
•	Chaired the organisation’s Information Governance and Security Board.

Interim Chief Information and Technology Officer

NIHR Clinical Research Network: Yorkshire and Humber

Responsible for research delivery across 25 NHS organisations in Yorkshire.
Founder and head of the regional (virtual) Business Intelligence Unit (vBIU).
Regional lead for continuous improvement.
Member of national Accelerating Digital Operations Team.

Research Delivery Manager, Head of Business Intelligence Unit and Lead for Continuous Improvement

Yorkshire Stroke Research Network

Established and ran the YSRN until it was absorbed into the Clinical Research Network. 

(includes two major, additional turnaround positions, see below)
Sustained performance for 6 years with all national targets met. 
All budgets (~£1m pa) audited and approved with maximum 5% variance against plan.
Improved regulatory compliance from 17% to 90% (target 80%). 
Created a culture of improvement, efficient services and low staff turnover (<10% pa).
Led a formal bid to host the £150m regional clinical research network. Personally secured the formal backing of the majority of NHS CEOs in Yorkshire.

Sample Improvement Projects Led:

Formed Virtual Business Intelligence Unit (VBIU) for regional networks. Eight locations formed into one team. Created common data standards supporting 30+ organizations.
Founded a national collaboration between network and trial managers. Shared vision led to new quality standards. First joint trial hit setup target in 100% of sites.
Designed a cross-cover system. Reduced downtime by 13% with no additional investment.
Designed a collaboration portal, reducing travel costs by 24%.

Senior Manager

West Yorkshire Comprehensive Local Research Network

Invited to deliver a major, 6-month turnaround project before joining Executive.
Restructured the network’s £12m budget including a 10% cut. 
Improved performance by 21% year on year, sustained for 2 years after leaving.
Improved staff morale, stakeholder engagement and the national reputation of the network.
Established robust new structures that led to sustainable growth.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Short, urgent post to turn around this £1.5m collaborative systems development project.
Restructured core team, replacing key staff and refocusing project plan.
In two months, plan approved by 8 NHS CEOs (up from 1).

Project Manager, Clinical Information Management System for Stroke

York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Established one of the first regional research governance services in the UK.
Built systems to manage research governance across 6 trusts in North Yorkshire.

R&D Manager

Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust

Developed and implemented an innovative system to run cancer Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDT) by videoconference. This united cancer specialists from opposite sides of the city for the first time. Successfully researched and implemented strategies for the trust to meet the ten-day cancer standard. Developed databases and managed all information systems used to support the MDTs. Managed clinical data submissions to national databases.

Database Coordinator

Micromuse

Innovative leader of a Trans-Atlantic team producing time-critical technical guidance. 
Developed a system for delivering print-ready manuals at same time as software. Speeding time to market by 4 weeks per product.

Principal Technical Author

Service improvement specialist and executive coach with 18 years’ senior leadership in healthcare and IT. Expert in progressive organisations and self-organizing teams. Skilled at mobilizing people towards user-centred delivery. 

Able to achieve rapid results in turnaround projects. Proven ability to reduce expenditure while improving morale, stake-holder engagement and organizational reputation. 

Executive and Team Coaching
- Trained executive and senior management coach
- Skilled at team development and organisational development. 

Change management and Performance Improvement:
- Turns struggling organisations, teams and projects into success stories, repeatedly, demonstrably.
- Rapidly builds effective, sustainable organizations, networks and programmes.

Service Improvement: 
- Graduate of INSEAD Innovating Health for Tomorrow Programme
- Award winning expert in leading continuous improvement (Lean).
- Fellow of Y&H Improvement Academy.

Communication and Leadership: 
- International conference speaker. 
- Influences CEOs and Boards to get results. 
- Connects naturally with audiences at all levels.
- Uses communication and analytical skills to make complex ideas accessible. 

Project Management: 
- Proven success at regional and national level. 
- Experienced at Agile management in IT and non-IT settings
- Qualified PRINCE2 Practitioner.

Health Service Journal Awards 2018 Finalist. 


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