Why who’s in your corner in leadership matters

In leadership development, the team around you - not just in the practice, office or boardroom - matters. I’m talking about the team you intentionally curate to support your growth and development.

Many leaders already have some or all of the following in place:

• A mentor - someone who’s been where you want to get to.

• Expert advisors across areas of specialism relevant to the business and their role.

• A coach - someone who offers a different perspective and helps you think more deeply.

Yet there’s one area that is often overlooked.

One thing I've noticed is that many thoughtful and effective leaders I know have spent time in - or are actively in - therapy.

Therapy isn't just for working through problems.

It's about far more than that, and that is often overlooked because of outdated stigma and misunderstanding.

Of course, therapy can help us explore tender personal work. A good therapist creates space to unravel, examine and make sense of moments in our lives where there have been wounds, confusion and hurt.

Therapy gives us the opportunity to understand the stories we've inherited, the ways we've learned to protect ourselves, and the patterns we unknowingly repeat. As we become more aware of them, we gain more choice over how we respond.

This process of becoming allows us to move towards a fuller, more integrated expression of who we are.

It can also help us break cycles, preventing unexamined hurts and patterns from being passed from one generation to the next.

Why does it matter for leadership?

Therapy doesn't make someone a better leader because it teaches leadership.

It makes someone a better leader because it changes the relationship they have with themselves.

Leadership is relational

Every decision we make, every conversation we have and every reaction we display affects other people.

If we don't understand our own triggers, fears, assumptions and protective behaviours, they can end up leading us.

Effective therapy builds self-awareness, strengthens emotional insight, helps us understand our patterns, and develops a healthier relationship with ourselves and others.

These areas of development directly enhance a leader's ability to:

• Build stronger relationships.

• Make more ethical and balanced decisions.

• Consider the wider impact of their actions.

• Take responsibility and learn from setbacks.

• Develop others and build trust.

• Prioritise long-term value over personal gain.

• Pause and respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively.

Leadership always involves power

Whether we like it or not, leaders shape cultures, influence behaviour and affect people's wellbeing.

That's why self-awareness isn't a "nice to have". It's an ethical responsibility.

A leadership practice rooted in healthy relationships, ethical use of power and deep self-awareness enables leaders to act in service of others, rather than being driven by fear, ego or self-interest.

The quality of your leadership will never consistently exceed the quality of your relationship with yourself.

Who's helping you develop it?

I’m a leadership coach with over a decade of experience in personal therapy. I take a trauma-informed and psychologically informed approach to coaching, creating the safety needed for you to explore, reflect and be more honest with yourself.

Growth begins with honesty - the willingness to see ourselves clearly.

But it happens through compassion, reflection and intentional action.