Offer 3: Scaling Smart: The Startup Manager Programme

• Founders, CEOs and COOs whose managers were promoted for being great ICs, but not yet trained as managers.

• Startups where too many people issues still escalate to the founder or the exec team.

• Companies with 5–40 managers who want a common, practical standard for “how we manage here”.

• Anyone who wants to be a better manager and leader.

• “We promoted strong ICs into management, but we never really taught them how to manage.”

• “Our managers are good people, but they avoid tough conversations and underperformance.”

• “Everyone manages differently – there’s no consistency.”

• “Too many people issues still end up on my plate.”

You don’t have a “bad managers” problem. You have “unsupported first-time managers”.

They were promoted because they’re smart, trusted and good at the work – but they’ve never been clearly shown:

• What “good management” looks like in a scaling startup

• How to set expectations and follow through

• How to run effective 1:1s and give clear feedback

• How to handle underperformance without causing chaos

So they improvise. And when things get messy, it bounces up to you.

• Issues that could be handled early and locally are escalated upwards.

• Some teams get clear expectations; others get mixed signals.

• Strong performers leave quietly because of manager behaviour, not the work.

• The founder and COO spend time mediating tensions instead of driving strategy.

You become the only "real manager" in the organisation - and may need help with these skills yourself.

1. Hope managers grow into it – let them keep learning only through painful mistakes and escalation.

2. Buy a generic corporate leadership course – lots of theory, little relevance to scrappy startups.

3. Run a startup-specific manager programme – that focuses on building high-performing teams, fostering a strong leadership culture, and embedding key management practices.

Scaling Smart is option 3.

We focus on:

• Clear expectations of what it means to manage in your company.

• Practical skills: 1:1s, setting expectations, giving feedback, handling underperformance.

• Real scenarios from their work, not abstract case studies.

• Coaching people to own more, so less lands on you.

• A shared, simple language for management across teams.

If you leave managers to improvise:

• Escalations keep landing on you.

• Culture and performance become manager-dependent and uneven.

• You quietly lose good people for avoidable reasons.

If you invest in Scaling Smart:

• Managers understand exactly what’s expected of them.

• They hold clearer lines on performance and behaviour, without losing humanity.

• More issues are resolved at the right level; fewer land on your desk.

• Your team experiences more consistent, confident leadership across the company.

Sessions, objectives and learning outcomes

1. Self-leadership and managing up
Equip managers with the skills to lead themselves effectively and manage stakeholders above them.

1. Distinguish leadership from management to better balance both.

2. Build self-awareness to lead with strengths and address blind spots.

3. Prioritise time and energy on what drives real impact.

4. Manage up by influencing with clarity, trust, and intention.

2: Creating a high-trust team environment
Teach managers to create an environment of trust, vulnerability, and psychological safety.

1. Foster trust and psychological safety as foundations for performance.

2. Model vulnerability in ways that build connection and credibility.

3. Delegate effectively based on team readiness, not just workload.

3: Building strong 1:1 relationships
Equip managers to have effective 1:1s that drive engagement and career growth.

1. Uncover what motivates your team using meaningful conversations.

2. Run impactful 1:1s that balance performance, trust, and wellbeing.

3. Hold career conversations that support growth and retention.

4: Setting clear expectations, goals, and performance metrics
Teach managers to set crystal-clear expectations and link them to startup goals.

1. Define and communicate expectations that reduce ambiguity and misalignment.

2. Set meaningful goals that align individual work with business impact.

3. Create accountability systems that empower without micromanaging.

5: Giving and receiving feedback
Help managers develop a feedback culture that promotes continuous learning and performance.

1. Give feedback regularly to drive learning and alignment.

2. Use a structured feedback model to deliver feedback with clarity and care.

3. Approach difficult conversations with courage and preparation.

4. Receive feedback with openness to build trust and resilience.

6: Coaching for performance and change management
Develop coaching skills and help managers lead teams through change and uncertainty.

1. Coach with clarity using the GROW model to unlock performance.

2. Replace advice-giving with curiosity to build team ownership.

3. Support your team through change with calm, clarity, and empathy.

1. Open, mixed-company cohorts (for smaller companies with only 1–2 managers).

£1,750 + VAT per person

2. Company-specific cohorts (cohorts of up to 6 attendees)

Supporting manager development is an ongoing journey, which is why I offer a significant discount when companies schedule 2 or more cohorts.

1 cohort: £10,500

2 cohorts: £18,000 (14% DISCOUNT)

3+ cohorts: £22,500 (29% DISCOUNT)

(All prices + VAT where applicable)

Say you have 6 managers, each spending 1 hour/week on avoidable escalations to a founder valued at £300/hour—that's ~£1,800/month in lost executive time. Add one regretted leaver at £70k base: a conservative cost of 1.5× salary for replacement and lost productivity is ~£105k. Factor in uneven standards that push course-corrections later, morale dips and repeated escalations, and the price of avoided conversations quickly adds up to tens of thousands per quarter.

The Scaling Smart Manager Programme gives your managers practical routines that stick-shared habits for difficult conversations, clearer expectations and early course-corrections. You prevent escalations within weeks, tighten standards across teams and dramatically reduce the risk of regretted attrition costing £105k. For a £10,500 investment in a cohort of 6, the return is time back, steadier delivery and fewer expensive people mistakes. The ROI is clear and compounding.