Sort the people side of your business

Sound familiar?

Your business is growing, but more of it depends on you than it should.

You have capable people, but you’re still the one who notices when things go off track.

Your managers are technically strong. But the conversations they’re having aren’t changing how their teams actually work.

You’ve been clear about what’s expected. More than once. But the same issues keep coming back.

You want to focus on running the business. Not sorting out the same people issues week after week.

The longer this goes on, the more it costs you

It reduces your margin all over the business.

Your senior people are doing work below their pay level.

Your best people start thinking about leaving because their manager isn’t dealing with issues or noticing what they need.

Projects take more hours than you quoted to the client. Work gets done but doesn’t get invoiced.

And your clients notice that work isn’t delivered to the standard they’re expecting.

Not only does this cost you money but you’re having to step back in when something slips that shouldn’t have.

None of this is a crisis. Everyone’s busy. Revenue is still coming in. But the gap between what you’re paying for and what you could be delivering is widening.

Most MDs know something needs to change. The question is whether this is the year that you change it, or whether you’ll be having the same repeated issues twelve months from now.

It’s not your team. It’s how the work is set up

Most MDs I work with have already tried the obvious things.

They’ve been clear about what’s expected. Set targets. Run team meetings. Maybe brought in an HR person or an advisory service.

Some of it helped for a while. Then things drifted back.

That’s because the real issue isn’t systems or processes. And it isn’t HR.

HR covers compliance, contracts, and policy. That’s important, but it won’t tell you why your ops manager avoids difficult conversations or why your senior team agree things in meetings and then nothing changes.

The real issue is usually a combination of things: priorities that aren’t specific enough to change what people actually do, no rhythm for following up on what’s been agreed, conversations that aren’t landing in the way you need them to, and roles where the line between “your work” and “their work” hasn’t been properly drawn.

I work with you on all of it. The strategy, the structure, the operating rhythms, and the conversations that make them work.

That’s what I sort.

What’s different about working with me

Most MD support sits in one of two camps. Coaching gives you space to think. Consulting gives you frameworks. Both have their place but neither, on its own, changes how the business actually runs.

By session two or three, I’ll be naming patterns that have been lingering in the business for a while. The ones that don’t show up clearly from the inside. We’ll get to the specific conversation you need to have with a specific person, the structure that’s missing from how your team works, the reason a manager keeps doing the same thing despite agreeing not to.

Each session produces something built for your business. Not generic. Nothing for you to produce between sessions. By the time you’re using it, it’ll feel obvious.

WHAT CHANGES

What MDs notice within 12 weeks:

• Work gets done without you pushing it over the line.

• Fewer interruptions and “quick questions” during the day.

• Your managers start handling things you used to get pulled into.

• Decisions happen without waiting for you.

• You get time back to focus on the work that actually grows the business.

• Problems get dealt with earlier, before they land on your desk.

• Your senior team starts working more like a team that runs the business, not a team that reports to you.

HOW IT WORKS

Step 1: We map what’s actually going on

A conversation to understand your business, your team, and where things are getting stuck. We look at how work actually moves between people, where expectations are unclear, and what’s causing things to come back to you. No forms. No audits. Just a proper conversation about what’s really happening.

Most MDs I work with think they know what the problem is. And they’re right that something’s not quite working. But the real cause is almost always different from what they expect. One MD thought he needed to hire. He didn’t. He needed his existing team set up differently. Another thought the issue was around a specific person. It wasn’t. It was how the conversations were set up around them. 

Step 2: We work on what needs to change

Fortnightly one-to-one sessions where we work on the things that will make the biggest difference.

That might be getting priorities clearer so your team knows what to focus on. Setting up a simple weekly rhythm so things get followed through without you chasing. Working on how you have the conversations that actually change how your managers operate. Or sorting out where work is falling between roles.

Every session is built around whatever’s live in your business that week. The work goes further than the conversation. You’ll come away with substantial practical resources, tools and templates built specifically for your situation.

The conversation you need to have with the person who isn’t performing, the structure that’s missing from how your team works, and the planning and prioritising approaches that free up your time so you can focus on the work that really needs your attention. You don’t have to produce any of it. It comes out of our work. And by the end, you’ll have everything in place so the business runs without depending on you.

Step 3: Your team starts delivering differently

Within a few weeks, your managers start operating differently. Not because they went on a course. Because the way work is set up around them has changed. Expectations are clearer, follow-through is sharper, and the conversations you’re having are landing in a way that actually changes how they work.

ABOUT LEANNE

I’ve spent 27 years working in and around growing businesses and teams.

I’ve been inside businesses during periods of rapid growth. One tripled in headcount and grew profit c. seven times. I was responsible for building the people side that supported that growth. Over my career as People and Culture Director, I’ve restructured teams, redesigned roles, supported acquisitions and business expansions, and conducted over 3,000 interviews. Chartered MCIPD. Masters qualified.

I’ve sat in the room with MDs dealing with exactly the problems you’re dealing with now: managers who are stretched, teams that depend on the MD more than they should, and good people who haven’t been set up to perform at their best.

I’ve since worked with 152 MDs and owners across engineering, manufacturing, construction, tech, consultancy, and other growing firms.

But what actually matters is this: I understand how your business works because I’ve been inside businesses like yours. Not as a consultant looking in from the outside. As someone who was responsible for making the people side work.

I also bring a deep understanding of the behavioural and thinking patterns that drive how people operate. It’s what allows me to help you have the right conversation, in the right way, with the right person, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach that sounds good but doesn’t change anything.

TESTIMONIALS