Jeff’s prime objective is to help business leaders build successful businesses and lead fulfilling lives. The focus is on performance – getting results. Making better decisions quicker.
He draws on his experience of growing and running a business. He knows first hand the joys of a successful business and has experienced the loneliness and exposure of top jobs. He will help you manage your risks and help increase your chances of success.
He focuses on three key areas:
How ambitious, realistic and clear is the overall objective?
What are your strengths as a leader and how good is the team around you? The focus is on using your strengths to optimum advantage, not over-using them and not trying to make you what you will never be. Does your team add to your strengths and is it fit for purpose – whatever might be thrown at you?
Are you up for this? Is something missing? Are you distracted? Are you balanced? You are who you are. Best to talk these over in a trusted place where you can remove the ‘mask’ of office, where there are no consequences other than what you decide you want them to be.
The mentoring/coaching has a beginning, a middle and an end. Jeff wishes to create independency NOT dependency.
Jeff actually wants to make a difference and see you achieve that too. Expect him to be challenging. Whilst he will try to answer your questions, he will also question your answers. The personal ‘chemistry’ has to be right. If he doesn’t feel he is right for you, expect him to say so and introduce you to others.
An action plan is created – typically three objectives to be achieved for you and your business. This is what you work on in the coming months. Mentoring does not run in parallel, it is not separate from your day job or something to think about at the weekend – it is right in the middle.
Jeff has been my mentor for nearly three years. In that time he has made a significant impact to the way I work, the way I lead and consequently to my effectiveness. My mentoring assignment began with Jeff just as I was promoted to the UK board of a major global company, leading a department of 110, spread across the country. At the outset Jeff helped shape the way I thought about the varied aspects of my role – as departmental head, as team leader, as director etc – and helped me clarify my approach to each element. He also gave me particular insight into my new-found leadership challenges and helped me convert competent team management into impactful departmental/business leadership. Once I was up and running, Jeff’s role subtly altered – he effectively became my conscience – meetings with Jeff were those valuable few hours of woods-for-trees thinking time, away from the hurly burly of operational life. And he very gently, very supportively, never let me off the hook once! I would leave my sessions with Jeff with renewed resolve and vigour. My mentoring assignment with Jeff has just finished – after all, his philosophy is to reach independence, not dependency – and I shall miss working with him enormously. Not just because he added huge value to my working life, but also because he was an inspiring force and a pleasure to work with.
- Marketing Director, Global Drinks Company
I found my work with Jeff Grout to be, without question, a transformative time in my career and moreover in my role as a leader. Jeff helped me by making me stand back and face the brutal facts of who I was and how others perceived me as well as how I perceived myself. Thereafter, Jeff provided a mixture of external best practice and insights to help me deal with issues and challenges – but most of all he gave me the insight that the solutions were actually already within me or my team. The challenge was to ask the right questions and listen. I cannot recommend Jeff Grout highly enough.
- Group MD, Foreign Exchange Business
Having worked with Jeff over the past eighteen months I have found him to be a great sounding board. Jeff is always well prepared and asks thoughtful and thought-provoking questions, which have proved useful to support some of the decisions made to influence my business.
- Managing Director, Recruitment Consultancy
Jeff has worked with us for the last five years and during that time has made a profound impact on our leadership team and the success of our business. He has carried out a variety of roles including presenter to our Leadership Academy, facilitator to our senior leadership team, adviser to the Board on succession and recruitment, and coach to myself as CEO. He has boundless energy and enthusiasm, great practical experience on which to draw, an understanding of what makes individuals tick and how good leaders work and draw the very best out of their teams.
- CEO, Housing Association
I have been very fortunate to spend the last year with Jeff Grout in the capacity as my mentor. His ability to encourage one to rethink about how you get the best out of your people and yourself has been invaluable. I know I am a much better manager for having had Jeff’s ability to make you question what you thought you already knew.
- General Manager, Luxury Hotel
When Jeff first started working with me 12 months ago I was transitioning from the role of Operations Director to MD – in fact I had to spin both plates for 9 months. Our discussions helped me consider the balance between my day to day involvement in the operation of the company versus leadership, longer term planning and a more strategic view. A year on and I am clear about how and where I focus my time and energy to impact the success of my business – inspiring and engaging teams, driving high performance and giving myself time in the diary for strategic planning which will ensure we can grasp future opportunities in the market. As well as inspiring me to change my behaviour, Jeff shared some useful practical tips on day to day tasks such as presentations, time planning and delegation. He helped me think things through and challenged me to push myself out of my comfort zone and as a result I have “ given myself permission” to let go of certain tasks and levels of detail and use the time I have saved on activities that add greater value. Without a doubt the coaching sessions have helped me to step up and understand how I can be a more effective leader with a clear focus on where we are going and how we will get there rather than getting consumed in the day to day operation of the business.
