For organisations

Working with HR and talent leaders on the development of senior executives and leadership teams.

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I work with HR and talent leaders when the development of a senior executive or a leadership team calls for an experienced, independent perspective. Engagements can combine executive coaching, systemic team coaching, advisory, workshops and facilitated work. Each one starts with HR, to understand the context and agree the scope, and is then shaped with the leaders involved.

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When organisations call me

Individual transitions

• A newly appointed executive, or one who has moved to a new geography.

• An executive preparing for the CEO role, or for another role of greater responsibility, as part of succession planning.

• A leader whose role has changed after a merger, acquisition or restructuring, often with new reporting lines.

• An executive recruited from outside, who needs to build credibility and relationships in a new organisation.

• A return after a long leave, or a move from executive to non-executive and board roles.

Development and retention

• A high-potential leader the organisation wants to develop and retain.

• A capable leader whose pattern of behaviour is creating costs for the team or the organisation.

Requests and programmes

• An executive has asked HR to recommend a coach and arrange the engagement.

• An executive programme already combines assessments and coaching, and needs a coach who can connect the two.

• The organisation wants to design coaching programmes for its executives. I design them together with the internal learning and talent team, and then work as one of the coaches.

Teams and transformation

• A leadership team whose relationships or performance are affecting its work.

• A team about to lead a significant transformation, which needs to work as a team and not only as a group of capable individuals.

HR leaders also ask me to work with them directly, or with senior members of their own team.

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Programme types

Individual coaching is organised in four types. The choice depends on how clear the objectives are and how much time the work needs.

Exploratory. For situations where objectives and duration are not yet clear. Sessions and assessments are agreed as the work progresses, with regular reviews to decide whether to move to a structured programme.

Focus programme. A defined programme of three to four months, usually six coaching sessions and debriefs of pre-agreed assessments.

Six-month and Twelve-month programmes. Structured programmes with a fixed fee for the period. The number of sessions starts from an initial estimate and follows what the work requires, without changing the fee. They can include three-way meetings with the sponsor at agreed points, conversations with stakeholders chosen by the executive, and shadowing (attending meetings as an observer, with the executive’s agreement).

Longer programmes can be paid as a package or monthly.

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Teams and transformation

Systemic team coaching, and support for leadership teams leading transformation, are designed for each situation. The work usually begins with individual conversations with each member of the team and with some of its stakeholders. Team sessions then follow over several months, with periodic reviews with the sponsor. On the organisation’s side, it requires the team’s time and a sponsor who stays involved.

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Sponsorship and confidentiality

Coaching conversations are confidential. What the sponsor receives is agreed at the start with each executive, usually whether objectives have been set and how the executive sees progress. I share nothing beyond that; executives decide whether to share more. Three-way meetings at agreed points keep the sponsor involved without exposing the content of sessions. My practice follows the ICF Code of Ethics.

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Working across locations

I prefer to work in person. When that is not possible, programmes run online or in a hybrid format, and many do. When several leaders in the same city take part, I coordinate visits so that their sessions happen during the same trip, in Portugal and abroad. Fixing dates and times in advance, at a regular rhythm, allows me to plan travel and arrange a suitable venue: outside the workplace, close enough to limit travel time, and private enough to protect confidentiality. I work in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

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Examples

Client names are not disclosed.

A global multinational. Before coaching began, I worked with the HR and Talent team to understand the company’s values, objectives, development planning and its own assessment tools, and trained to debrief them. Since late 2024 I have run six-month programmes for more than 25 executives based at headquarters and in regional offices, in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Several programmes were extended, and the work continues.

A large Portuguese group. Together with the group’s Learning and Talent Development team, I designed the coaching programmes for the executive committees of the group’s companies, after working to understand the organisation’s objectives, values and culture. I took part in the pilots in early 2023 and have been one of the coaches delivering the programmes since the rollout. Each programme combines a Hogan debrief, a CCL 360 debrief and six coaching sessions.

A family-owned industrial group. Since 2026 I have worked with the group on a programme supporting the succession of the group CEO and of the CEOs of two of its main companies. The assignment combines central coordination (design and follow-up), an individual coaching programme with relevant assessments for each of the three leaders, and group coaching that brings them together with other CEOs in the group to reflect on shared questions.

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Background

In my executive career I held COO and CEO roles and led companies in Europe and Africa. I am an International Partner at TRANSEARCH, focused on Leadership Consulting, and an Associate Coach with the Center for Creative Leadership. I hold ICF PCC and EMCC Senior Practitioner accreditations, and teach leadership, culture and change management at Católica Business School, Porto Business School and INA.

More about my background →