Stuart is a leadership coach and ex-CFO who believes that we can create a better future for society and the planet, whilst also enabling organisational success.  He blends his CFO acumen and coaching expertise with 10+ years of researching and developing leadership of sustainability and social purpose. He gives his clients a supportive coaching experience with commercial focus and edge, and deep challenge of purpose and values, creating a practical roadmap towards truly transformational, regenerative leadership.

Coaching Philosophy & Approach

Regenerative leadership coach & influencer, Stuart coaches and develops leaders, combining psychological insight and human wisdom with strategic and commercial acumen. He enables leaders to clarify their purpose and values, bring their attention to people and nature as well as profit and cash, and develop pathways to a regenerative future for their organisations, society, and the planet. He does this through individual & team coaching, and leadership and culture transformation, working together with his colleagues and collaboration partners.

He works with leaders with an ambitious leadership agenda, who are looking to transform their leadership, their organisation and the wider system, in service of a sustainable and regenerative future. Leaders who may be thriving and looking to take their leadership to the next level of influence, and leaders who may be struggling with the overwhelm of everything, trying to balance the imperatives of profit, people and planet, and still find time to enjoy life.

Background

Stuart is an ex-CFO of 25 years standing in multinationals Unilever, Kraft and Foster’s.  He qualified as a coach 15 years ago and established and led the internal coaching practice at Foster’s.  He became a professional executive coach 12 years ago and has become recognised as a successful leadership coach working with a wide range of clients and sectors, operating at senior levels in several large blue-chip organisations. 

Stuart was deeply impacted by a leadership immersion experience in South Africa in 2012, where he was exposed for the first time both to issues of deep social injustice (spending time with community leaders in a township), and also the looming climate and environmental catastrophe facing mankind. As a result of this, he re-shaped his life purpose on these issues, which have been the focus of his coaching and leadership development work ever since.  

As well as being Founder and MD of Aim Higher Leadership Ltd, he is also global coordinator of the Climate Coaching Alliance (www.climatecoachingalliance.org), a global membership of approx. 3500+ coaches with the mission to develop the capability and confidence of coaches to enable their clients to accelerate the climate action.     He is also co-founder of his local “Green Town Movement” enabling and accelerating local action on sustainability in collaboration with local and regional politicians, business and charities.   He is an active learner and contributor in diversity and inclusion, and writes and speaks on social and environmental activism.

Client testimonials

Top 35 future board/exec level leaders of a major UK construction company

"12 month sustainability leadership development programme, with high impact sustainability innovation projects being implemented in service to "pushing the boundaries of what's possible, in service to humanity". “The AHL Sustainability Leadership Development and Coaching Programme was a truly transformational experience for me – I feel my leadership capacity has grown significantly as a result, and it has definitely emboldened me to raise my leadership ambitions for our organisation, and also for the greater good of society and the planet”. 

Lucy Kendall, Head of Resourcing, Diversity & Inclusion
– Europe Laing O’Rourke

Leadership team of a large engineering services business

“Stuart enabled us to transform our purpose and mission to being about "creating sustainable communities", and to develop a strategic framework and initiatives to achieve this”. 

Darren Jones, CFO, Amey Utilities

CEO, sustainability charity

“The challenge and support that Stuart has provided me and my leadership team over the past few years has been pivotal to our transformation and success as a charity – he enables me to step back, re-energise myself and then look at things from a fresh perspective in order to map a clear and positive path forward”. 

Sandy Luk, CEO, Marine Conservation Society

Qualifications / Other Credentials

• Cambridge Law Degree 2:1 and Qualified Accountant (CIMA).

• Qualified Coach with NLP accreditation, Member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), and has been coaching professionally for 12 years. 

• EMCC Accredited Senior Practitioner Coach and Coaching Supervisor.

• ICF Accredited Coaching Mastery Programme

• Regular Coaching Supervision