Client Testimonials
“Overall the feedback was very positive – whilst some clearly found that it took them outside their comfort zone they agreed that was a good thing and that what they took from the session made the discomfort worthwhile. The key themes that you mentioned when we spoke (and in your summary) are clearly still front of mind amongst the team and there has been more and better interaction between the Senior Team.”
Luke Williams
Programme Director, HSBC
“Overall the feedback was very positive – whilst some clearly found that it took them outside their comfort zone they agreed that was a good thing and that what they took from the session made the discomfort worthwhile. The key themes that you mentioned when we spoke (and in your summary) are clearly still front of mind amongst the team and there has been more and better interaction between the Senior Team. “
Kevin Witts
Regional Head of Tax, Asia Pacific, HSBC, Hong Kong, Tax Team
“Will supported me facilitating a sensitive team conversation around trust. Will had run a team diagnostic and I had asked him to present the data to the team. I’m a conflict mediator by trade & had envisioned Will would talk through his findings then I’d need to step in to facilitate due to possible tensions in the team sparking. I had no need to lift a finger. Will’s facilitation was outstanding. Tensions certainly did spark – and Will handled the issues in the room with grace. He gave space to people to think and express their views, he challenged people to speak honestly, he listened without judgement and helped people get clear on their views, and he then went on to help the team build bridges with one another. Really skilled facilitation. I’d recommend Will without hesitation.”
Adie Shariff
Co-facilitator on the day, British Athletics
“My colleagues and I benefited from a variety of leadership development and management training sessions delivered by Will, whose ability to know when to ask searching questions and provide direction to a group is matched by an understanding of when best to stay silent and allow debates and discussions to naturally evolve. He has a calm, thoughtful and non-judgmental presence which invariably meant that working with him was thought-provoking, challenging and provided us with practical tools to take with us when we left the room and re-entered our workplace. “
Abi Carter
Former CEO, MCC Cricket Foundation
“I worked for two days with Will on Building and Maintaining Client Relationships and it is no exaggeration to say that they were some of the most memorable, enjoyable and informative days of my professional career. Prior to this course I had some apprehension about co-facilitating with someone who has built a career around providing top quality management and professional relationship support, but it became immediately apparent that Will’s approachable and supportive manner would put such apprehension to bed. Will allowed me the opportunity to take on the sections of the course I was comfortable with, providing necessary help and advice. Knowing that Will was there to assist was a great comfort, and actually meant I felt more comfortable pushing myself further as I knew that Will would support me if something did go wrong rather than criticise.
Will’s breadth of experience and knowledge was manifest throughout the duration of the course, and being able to bring some of the principles and content alive with examples not just set in the context of the accountancy profession was engaging and entertaining for the participants and me as a fellow facilitator. For me, the highest praise I can give Will is that I left having been noted as a co-facilitator, but undoubtedly having gained just as much as the participants in picking up the key skills and habits to form in order to build lasting, strong relationships.”
Stuart Holden
Manager, Audit & Assurance, Deloitte LLP
“Many thanks for your help on this and the general feedback in discussions after the session was that it was very helpful/thought provoking and has provided both individuals and the group with the stimulus to ongoing development. I have not seen levels of honesty within this group like during the conversations we had in the workshop. A very positive outcome from my side.”
Neil Black
Performance Director, British Athletics
“My employer offered senior management training over a three-year period and Will was one of our group facilitators.
His sessions were insightful, fun and thought-provoking. It was fascinating to delve into my personal Insights profile, my management style and find ways to improve my own and my teams performance.
He created a safe space, had a great understanding of group dynamics and definitely brought out the best in me. During his sessions, I bonded more than I expected with several colleagues and now have stronger and more successful working relationships with them. I also managed to overcome my fear of public speaking and in fact, my confidence grew so much that with Will’s support, including guidance on visualisation techniques, I agreed to become one of the companies ‘Train the Trainers’. Delivering these sessions has been incredibly rewarding and something I hope to continue to do. I am now a better informed, more open-minded manager who has the confidence to empower not only my team, but progress my career in exactly the direction I’d like.”
Tarah Cunynghame
Head of Retail and Tours, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)
“The combined team workshops coupled with PC’s simply brilliant coaches has brought new depth and stability to our senior teams at a time of significant change and uncertainty. The programme has allowed our senior managers to reflect, share and develop their thinking in a way we had not previously thought possible. At every step along the way Will & his team have supported all participants and assisted the company’s investment into the process to get the best and most fitting result for the organisation.”
James Brindle
CEO, Magna Vitae
“Will has developed his relationship with us by taking opportunities and then weaving them together with the needs that he uncovers. Everything that he has done for us flows and develops, it isn’t formulaic. I’ll happily recommend working with Will.”
Emma Beal,
Managing Director, WLWA
“Performance Catalyst was different to all the other consultants we spoke with. Fundamentally, they listened and were keen to understand us – as a team and as an organisation; what we had been through, where we were in that moment in time and what we thought we needed to do. It was only after having listened to us did they propose the next steps.”
Aeneas Richardson
Executive Director, Magna Vitae
“Our company has been lucky enough to engage the services of Will Jefferson from Performance Catalyst for three workshops, before and after the pandemic. We have focused our workshops around our team culture, core values and progressing the business from good to great. Will leads the sessions extremely well with a calm manner and allows everyone to have a voice. We will continue to use Will to further enhance our organisation and strengthen our culture and team ethos.”
James Cook
CEO, AEC
“Will was absolutely fantastic throughout our time at the milestone event. He gauged the temperature in the room expertly and helped all members of the team to engage and contribute during the process. He made the last few days a pleasure to be a part of.”
Participant
Senior Manager, Deloitte
“Will facilitated a strategy away day process for the Society of Occupational Medicine Board and Staff Team – this involved reviewing our strategy and business plan and providing sessions helping our team reflect as to SOM’s organisational effectiveness and future strategic options. Will skillfully helped us understand how we could move to the next level, backed up his in-depth knowledge from the sports world. I would highly recommend Will to organisations, wishing to build effective teams and plan future strategies.”
Nick Palh
CEO, Society of Occupational Medicine
“Thank you for facilitating the last couple of strategy planning days so well. Everyone has commented how useful they were. The stewarding of us and our thoughts was excellent!”
Peter Helps
Interim Chairman, Magna Vitae
“Just finished a 3-days insightful training led by Will Jefferson, a former professional cricketer turned into a leadership and business coach! His transition from the cricket field to the business world is nothing short of inspiring. Will’s unique blend of professional sports experience, business acumen, and a deep understanding of the human performance made the training session both enlightening and engaging. His journey is a reminder that it is never too late to reinvent ourselves and pursue new paths, mirroring my own career switch.”
Husam Demir
Innovation Strategist, Operation Management, Deloitte
“Will and Crista ran an excellent workshop to unite a previously disparate project team who were working in silos to unify them in a common challenging and highly technical objective. They mediated and used carefully chosen techniques articulating from their worlds of both business and sport to guide the discussions. There was a very relevant reflecting period on shared experiences, whereby they raised vulnerability (not discussed much in the business world) to prize out individual strengths and weaknesses. They demonstrated the impact that these have on relationships as a means to improve team performance. We have found their involvement incredibly beneficial and would recommend them for other businesses.”
Iain Mackinnon
Global Head of Treasury, HSBC, London
“Well prepared and fantastic facilitators who took the time to know us, read the room and push boundaries to bring the most learning from the session. Listened to everyone equally whilst maintaining brilliant energy and seemed to get us.”
Colin Breen
Head of HR, Finance & Legal, Radtac/Cprime
“Your session today was excellent and extremely valuable for how we build a team”
Alan Smith
Global Head of Risk Strategy and Senior Executive Officer of Group Risk, HSBC, London, Global Model Risk Management Team
“I was curious to find out more about the model and the insights it gives. It was very interesting to complete the questionnaire and go through the results with you – particularly looking at how I may show up at work versus what may be my natural preference… lots to chew on!”
Benjamin Graham
Psychotherapist, MUKCP
“I found it very interesting and I reckon I have learnt lots! I think it will be extremely valuable and hope that extra consideration and awareness of my personality traits and others will help me interact with people and work tasks in the future.”
Joshua Blake
Coachee, Surrey Cricket
“I was completely involved and didn’t realise where those 2 hours had gone! It was great to listen to your examples while you were discussing things. I can say it has given me a new vision, a different unique thought about people and their perceptions. Thank you once again.”
Sujal Anvekar
WLWA Insights Coachee
“Performance Catalyst worked with the Senior Leaders at Magna Vitae at every stage of the process from project inception to delivery and analysis. The Insights Discovery profiling has not only been personally insightful but has also formed the basis of ‘new’ conversations, relationships and behaviours within our teams. At every stage PC have been there to support, explain and interpret. This has been an incredibly valuable piece of work that has been expertly managed at all stages. This has benefited the company in further understanding its workforce and the staff understanding each other.”
James Brindle
CEO, Magna Vitae
“The Ivors Academy team had the delight of attending an Insights Discovery session with Will at Performance Catalyst. The team unitedly found it a great asset both in personal and professional development and as a bonding experience. The model was brought to life through the use of breakout rooms and short presentations outlining key points. Will was a fantastic trainer, keeping the conversation going at pace and even recommending further reading materials which team members have followed up on. Overall, Will was excellent in engaging team members, offering ample time for questions and answers throughout the morning. We would highly recommend this training.”
Graham Davies
CEO, Ivors Academy
“I love the make-up of the sessions ran by Performance Catalyst – the balance of team building, interaction and insightful information is a rock solid combination. I couldn’t recommend it enough.”
Maria McMillan
People & Admin Manager, Ivors Academy
“The term insights is bang on, I left the session with a deeper understanding on how we can identify people’s lead energies and connect with those we would potentially struggle with. As a team we all have a greater awareness and appreciation for each other’s personalities.”
Rob McGolpin
Client Success Manager, Radtac Cprime
“Insights Discovery gave us something we could not have otherwise accessed. The power from the team graphic was phenomenal. It created talking points, a shared language and encouraged openness and curiosity. Because it’s been immensely valuable, we’ve extended its use initially to our middle managers and, ultimately, across our entire permanently contracted workforce.”
Aeneas Richardson
Executive Director, Magna Vitae
“The workshop was really structured, interactive and insightful. Lindi was really knowledgeable, and had a solid and interesting response to all questions. I not only got some more personal insights about myself, but also it was helpful to get to know colleagues and how they work. There were real insights for all team members and, in my opinion, closer connections / trust formed as a result.”
Siobhan Canniffe,
UKGBC
“Will’s coaching helped enormously with a few particularly challenging scenarios. He has an excellent perspective, listens intently and has great understanding to help you draw out the next steps of your very own action plan. His style is clear, empathetic, respectful yet challenging. I always walk away from our conversations feeling empowered, enlightened and look forward to the next time we talk.”
Tarah Cunynghame
Head of Retail and Tours, Marylebone Cricket Club
“Will’s communication skills, passion and honesty create an extremely motivational environment. You must spend some time with him.”
Paul Tweddle
Assistant Coach
“Will is so refreshing to know. His zest to consistently improve as a well rounded human being – and help others do likewise – makes him someone I trust completely.”
Paul Nixon
Ex-England, Kent CCC and Leicestershire CCC player
“Will’s knowledge and guidance fill me with confidence, and I completely trusted him to help me clarify and pursue my career options. He genuinely cares about my development, and he instilled a sense of calm and reassurance.”
Holly Colvin
Ex-England player
“Will is a fantastic sounding board for me and offers a reassuring sense of guidance without it being intrusive. He has had a hugely positive impact on my career to date.”
Greg Smith
Ex-Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire CCC player
“Will’s approach was staggering. He listened with a lot of sensitivity and has enabled me to achieve my personal and professional goals. His experience and success in sport hit exactly the right buttons to give me the skills to get more done. He’s enabled me to follow my dreams, become more successful and, importantly, to enjoy the process.”
Sarah Castle
Director, Think Big Training Ltd
“Will is an excellent listener who speaks a lot of common sense. His air of calm authority instills confidence in those around him. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.”
Jerry Westmore
Head of Europe, Steamship International
“A fine example of character, intellectual and sporting pedigree that rubs off on people that join him.”
Seb Pollington
Colonel
“Will has that wonderfully creative skill of listening intently, then asking really challenging questions which lead me to think differently. Every time we meet I feel inspired and motivated to work even harder towards fulfilling my potential.”
Michael Thornley
Former Professional Cricketer
“Will finds a way to enable you to provide your own answers to the questions you’ve been asking yourself – and, all too often, other people want to answer for you. He strikes a balance between providing time for reflection with pertinent insights, to leave one with a greater sense of clarity and self-knowledge. He is not afraid to cite his own experiences or show his own vulnerabilities, which means sessions are rich, challenging and valuable.”
Abi Carter
Former CEO, MCC Cricket Foundation
“I can thoroughly recommend working with Will and @performancecatalyst. He has a wealth of experience to share both as a former professional sportsman and as someone who understands performance in business. I recently recommended him to a national recruitment organisation seeking a keynote speaker and they were blown away by him. Get in touch with him.”
Charlie Mulraine
Player Development Manager, PCA
“Nick’s coaching is precious when parents are at an impasse with their adolescents.
My son, Sébastien met Nick at a time when he had little confidence in himself and his capabilities. He was finishing school and was not sure what he wanted to do next. He had seen a career coach and I had spent much time discussing with him university options with not much success. Nick, with his vast professional experience working with adolescents/young adults and his ability to listen and give positive encouragement managed in just a few sessions to help Sebastien believe in himself and open up to exploring the next steps in his life. They together then worked on university options. Sebastien has appreciated Nick regularly asking for news and subsequently helped him with issues at university during the difficult COVID period. Nick’s success lies in his ability to not only listen but show respect and belief in people. He is discreet and kind but knows when to be demanding and frank and somehow this was accepted by Sébastien.
Sébastien’s father and I separated when he was just nine and his school years that followed were not easy. We did see therapists but with not much success. Nick is the only person who managed to get through to Sébastien. Thank you for your help, advice and support.”
Parent of Coachee
I find it incredibly helpful to meet with Nick to discuss specific issues/situations and he has been a great sounding board for me to talk things through with.
Given me more confidence to make decisions and to go on and build a strong team. I have always been very supportive but am now trying to focus on high challenge and high support. Empowerment has been a key word that Nick and I have used many times in our meetings and it’s something I have introduced as part of my leadership style with the team.
Coachee, James Hambro & Partners
I thought Anna was excellent – faultless.
Coachee, Senior Manager, James Hambro & Partners
“I’ve only had 3 sessions with Anna and I can confidently say that the personal and professional growth I’ve experienced have had an impact on my life. The best way to describe it: it feels to me like steering a big ship, where making a 1 degree change (small changes in perspective, choices or just becoming aware of the “inner critic”) will make a massive change in where my new destination will be in the long run.”
Risna Swart
Senior Team Leader
“I really enjoyed my sessions with Anna; she is a wonderful coach and human being; kind, considerate and gentle – Anna and I had some very deep conversations on a number of topics – she helped keep myself grounded, remember the aim of my journey and guided me softly through it. I’ve left with a sense of calmness but also determination to carry on this journey. I’ll always remember my sessions with Anna with fondness and take her words with me as a guide further.”
Mihaela Samak
Global Planning Executive
“Anna’s masterful facilitation is nothing short of revelatory. Through patient and diligent probing, Anna was able to ‘unlock’ in me several ‘hurdles’ with which I had unconsciously been grappling. Her careful steering of conversations during our fortnightly sessions enabled me to bring a significant amount of clarity and coherence to my professional trajectory and environment. I would recommend Anna’s coaching and methodology to anyone.”
Joe Duhan
Consultant, Deloitte
“Anna’s coaching sessions helped me identify challenges within and beyond my control. They provided an opportunity to think through coping mechanisms I’ve tried, failed, excelled at, and my role in each scenario. I was able to recognise existing internal resources and develop new ones to sustain a high level of resilience in my environment. I found reason to be optimistic at the bleakest experiences and embrace change however big or sudden. I have come out the other side understanding that my environment (people inclusive) may not change but I can focus on what should, my perspectives, decisions and response. I consider this a valuable outcome for the workplace and life in general.
The coaching sessions gave me a vital opportunity to properly define a specific issue that was causing me a lot of anxiety and put in place a plan to address it. The results were even better than expected and I’m now feeling a lot less anxious and more motivated.
It has made me realise that my leadership style is very effective and I should be confident to continue using it and ‘own it’. A coaching approach is key to my leadership style, so seeing how a professional approaches coaching was very helpful in itself and I’ll be using the techniques that I picked up.”
Tom Beagan
Head of Service Delivery, West London Waste Authority
“Really enjoyed this one. Alexander was very approachable and down to earth (for one who is at the top of his profession)
And admit I was a little star struck!”
Attendee
Magna Vitae
“Excellent workshop, brilliant format nice and relaxed Q&A. Fascinating insight into Alexander’s spiral / story. Big thumbs up.”
Attendee
Magna Vitae
“I really enjoyed this workshop and I think it was a good choice of guest speaker as you had someone who ticked both the culture and physical activity boxes.
Will leads it very well and his ability to ask questions and get us thinking is an important part of it all.
Mixing the breakout rooms up each time works well as it allows you to hear different ideas and learn more from more people.
At the beginning I thought it seemed a long time at 3 hours, but it actually went much quicker than I had thought and seemed the right amount of time.
I liked hearing about the tools such as the spiral and thought it would have been good maybe to have gone through some other similar tools and perhaps give an actual written example of how Alexander used the spiral.
Overall, I thought it was really good”
Attendee
Magna Vitae
“Lindi manages to combine great heart with superb clarity of thought and vision.”
Steve Rollnick
Honorary Professor of Psychology
I thought the workshop was a wonderful idea. Not only was the topic interesting, but more importantly, it created a wonderful atmosphere and opportunity to meet clients and have much more detailed conversations about themselves and about business. The environment provided an opportunity where the client representatives were very interested in sharing information. All in all, a great event.
Attendee
Kennedys Team, Kennedys
“Will came into Gresham’s to deliver a talk and Q & A. It proved to be stimulating for players and coaches alike, with Will offering fascinating insights into professional sport. He talked about his playing experiences and recent success in winning the T20 Trophy with Leicestershire CCC, as well as the psychological aspects of the game. Will is an excellent orator, and I am keen to get him back to Gresham’s to present further sessions to all our athletes – not just the cricketers.”
Steve Adams
Sports Development Director, Gresham’s School
“The King’s School elite development programme guides young elite athletes to learn, develop and implement skill sets that support their ambitions. We’ve worked with Will through a range of extremely informative workshops which he’s supported with a practical process encouraging the immediate implementation of new skills. I would not hesitate to recommend these – and Will’s expertise – to aspiring athletes of all standards.”
Jen Wilson
Head of Elite Development, The King’s School, Canterbury and South African Triple Olympian
“Will delivered an inspirational talk at the Young Leaders in Cricket Awards at Lords Cricket Ground about how leadership is not just about what you do in the sporting arena, but what you do out of it. Drawing upon his own learning experiences and values, Will inspired the young leaders to think about how respect is earned, and how leadership skills – once acquired – carry forward into any and every walk of life.”
Paul Daniels
Founder, Young Leaders in Cricket
“Will manages to engage with his audience not only through a mixture of experience and knowledge gained from his career, but also through an empathy that demonstrates an understanding of players’ individuality. He understands process as well as result, development as well as fruition, and explores the many factors that lead to success in both the short and the long term. His focus is on being the best you can be through understanding yourself and your environment – lessons for life, not just sport.”
Iain Simpson
Director of Sport, Oakhams School
“Will provided a platform for excellent conversations to take place around High Performance, Leadership and Maximising Potential. We would wholeheartedly recommend Will’s services”
Ben Adams
Director of Sport, Forest School
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