You were promoted because
you were brilliant. Now it feels
harder than anyone warned you.
You were promoted because you were brilliant. Nobody warned you that brilliance at doing is a completely different skill to brilliance at leading. Here is what many early managers recognise in themselves:
None of this means you are not cut out for leadership. It means you have been given enormous responsibility without the inner tools to carry it sustainably. That is what The Energised Leader is for.
Six months.
Twelve sessions.
One real
shift.
A structured, evidence-based six-month journey that moves you from self-awareness through energy and resilience, into strengths-based leadership, purpose, and finally a sustainable way of working that does not depend on willpower.
This is not a quick fix. It is a genuine transformation — grounded in research, held in a relationship of deep trust, and designed to last well beyond our final session.
Months 1–2
Sessions 1–3
- — VIA Character Strengths debrief and PERMA wellbeing baseline
- — Values clarification — what matters most to you as a leader
- — Overwhelm audit — mapping the responsibilities that weigh heaviest
Month 2–3
Sessions 4–5
- — Self-determination theory needs audit — autonomy, competence and relatedness
- — Positive emotion portfolio and broaden-and-build theory in practice
- — Resilience tools, cognitive reappraisal and personalised recovery rhythm design
Month 3–4
Sessions 6–7
- — Flow theory and the challenge-skill balance — mapping your role against the flow channel
- — Job crafting canvas — task, relational and cognitive crafting applied to your role
- — Strengths-based delegation — building a team that operates from its best self too
Month 4–5
Sessions 8–9
- — ACT psychological flexibility — defusion, values-based action and committed change
- — Leadership meaning statement — why this role matters to you, not just your organisation
- — Personal management philosophy — a written declaration of who you are as a leader
Month 5–6
Sessions 10–11
- — Values-based boundaries — setting limits as an act of integrity, not self-protection
- — High-quality connections — Dutton’s framework for workplace relationships that energise
- — PERMA optimisation plan and personal flourishing architecture
Month 6
Session 12
- — Best possible self exercise — vivid, values-aligned vision of the leader you are becoming
- — PERMA final review — comparing all three data points across the six months
- — Management philosophy read aloud — a formal, celebratory close to the coaching relationship
By the end of the programme,
you will lead differently.
Built on science.
Not intuition alone.
Every tool and coaching question in The Energised Leader has a peer-reviewed evidence base. Participants complete validated assessments at the start, midpoint and close — giving you measurable evidence of progress, not just a feeling that things have improved.
Seligman’s validated wellbeing framework — Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment — provides the backbone of the programme and the primary measure of progress.
Peterson & Seligman’s classification of 24 universal human strengths gives you a precise, evidence-based language for what you do naturally well — and how to use it more deliberately.
Deci & Ryan’s research explains why early managers become depleted — and prescribes exactly what needs to change for genuine, sustainable engagement to return.
ACT’s six core processes — including psychological flexibility, defusion and values-based committed action — equip managers to stay grounded and effective under significant pressure.
Csikszentmihalyi’s challenge-skill balance research underpins the job crafting and strengths deployment work — creating conditions for optimal performance and deep satisfaction.
Fredrickson’s research demonstrates that positive emotions actively expand cognitive resources, build resilience and create the upward spiral that makes sustainable high performance possible.
“I came into this programme feeling like I was failing at something everyone else seemed to find easy. Six months later I have a management philosophy, a way of working that actually sustains me, and — for the first time — I am genuinely proud of how I lead.”
Senior Manager, Financial Services · Programme graduate
Academic rigour.
Real-world experience.
I know what it feels like to carry serious leadership responsibility under real pressure. I spent over 20 years in senior leadership roles in finance and investment management — at institutions including the Church Commissioners of England, Millennium Global Investments and the Qatar Investment Authority.
That experience is why I became a coach — and why my approach is different to most. I do not just understand the theory of leadership under pressure. I have lived it at the highest levels.
My coaching draws on the most robust frameworks in positive psychology and applies them to the real challenges that early managers face in demanding organisations. Every session is both deeply personal and scientifically grounded.
More about me →Transparent pricing.
No surprises.
Two options — individual self-funding or corporate sponsorship for one or more managers in your organisation.
Not sure which option is right for you? A free discovery call will help us work that out together.
The right moment
is now.
Every month you spend in survival mode is a month you are not leading at your best — or feeling your best. A free 30-minute discovery call is the best place to start. No obligation — just a conversation.
Or email directly: eddie@eqcoaching.uk · +44 7722 926545