HELPING LEADERS EXECUTE In a complex world

As a Partner in an Executive Search firm, the pressure to deliver can be relentless. Working with Roderic has been invaluable. His outstanding listening skills and thoughtful questions have not only helped clarify my challenges but also opened new perspectives for me which change the way I view my challenges. Roderic's talent in creating a space for deep thinking is exceptional, and his ability to hold me accountable for my own commitments has been fundamental to my growth. His unique approach combines support and firm accountability, which have propelled both my personal and professional development. I wholeheartedly recommend him to anyone who is under pressure and having to drive performance through other people.

I am a Consultant within the BioTech and Pharmaceutical industry. Roderic was engaged to support me with my ability to deal with conflict, handle complexity and lead my team more effectively. My experience with Roderic has been nothing short of transformative. His coaching has significantly enhanced my ability to deal with conflicts within my team, fostering a more collaborative and understanding environment. He has helped me to understand complexity using the Cynefin Framework which has improved the quality of my decision-making and how I support my clients. Roderic's coaching has been a crucial element in my professional growth, and I highly recommend him to any leader looking to elevate their capability in managing conflict, complexity, and develop their leadership skills.

STEP is a global professional body, comprising lawyers, accountants, trustees and other practitioners that help families plan for their futures. As CEO I have engaged Roderic to support us for two recent off-site meetings. The first one involved the translation of our strategy into tangible milestones that would be delivered over the course of the following year. Working with my Executive team to design the agenda, he created the room for us to debate, make decisions and align what we planned to do over the course of the year. He is very good at challenging people’s natural inclination to try and do too much and encouraged us to do the few important things that would have the most significant impact. Most recently, he facilitated our annual strategic board day with our Chairman and NEDs. This off-site required him to balance the need to create space for a conversation whilst moving us through an agenda so that we made the most effective us of our time. He demonstrated the ability to quickly understand the context and challenges facing our organisation despite having little industry knowledge. Roderic comes with my strongest recommendation and we will be using him in the future.

Roderic was first introduced to me in 2020 during my time at Merck when I was looking for someone to help facilitate and deliver the annual Global Process and Analytical Development Science Symposium of our Custom Manufacturing Services Division. The primary purpose of the symposium was to share information and learnings across teams based in the US, Germany and Switzerland. We also used the symposium to build strong relationships across geographies and help continue to develop the culture of the global teams within the division. Rod did an excellent job of designing and running the symposium. He worked with the organizing committee helping them to design the event and then facilitated it effectively so that we achieved the objectives we’d set. The team’s work was highly technical and involved lots of experimentation and related scientific data. It can be easy for them to forget the impact that their work has on people’s lives as a different but equally important dimension. Rod did a brilliant job of finding and sharing stories that helped the team understand the impact that their work had on patients. These stories inspired the team and helped them to remember why their work is so important by bringing to life the impact it has on people around the world. An empathetic and pragmatic leader, we have asked Rod to deliver all of our symposiums since 2020 and I look forward to continuing our professional relationship together in the future.

We have been working with Leadership Capital since 2020. Rod initially delivered a one-day session with my Executive Team on Resilience which received some excellent feedback. We subsequently invited him to support us on our Intermediary roadshow where he talked to our clients and partners about ‘Managing Uncertainty’ which was very well received. I recently asked for Rod to support us in running a High Performing Team’s workshop. I wanted him to help me clarify the type of culture and people I wanted in my team. We settled on a ‘high freedom – high responsibility’ culture which I reinforce whenever I am talking to my executive team. Rod helped me articulate the type of environment I want to create which has allowed me to communicate my expectations to my team. Whilst only a relatively small piece of work, he has delivered significant impact into clarifying what we do and how we do it.

We asked Roderic to come and deliver a speech at our internal leadership conference in 2022. We wanted someone who could talk about Leadership, creating a High Performing Culture and decision-making under pressure because these are all themes that face the leaders of a fast-growing tech business. Roderic delivered an excellent speech bringing to life some of the principles he’s learnt over the course of his varied career. We asked him to follow up by designing a leadership development course which was delivered online. Inspiring and authoritative, I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone looking to further their understanding of leadership.

I attended a Leadership Development programme that was delivered by Rod over the course of 2022. Working with our Head of HR, he co-designed a series of modules and workshops that we believed to be most relevant to leading in the private equity sector. These included the following;

• The Fundamentals of Leadership and Management
• Emotional Intelligence
• Effective Communication
• Decision-making under pressure
• Managing Difficult Conversations
• Delegation and Empowerment
• Creating High Performing Teams

I really enjoyed the sessions led by Rod. He helped us to understand that leadership is about how you behave and the impact you have on the people around you. He made the point that great leaders are able to behave in a way that generates the best possible outcome for the stakeholders involved and the business over the long-term. This programme has had a profound impact on how I interact with my team and peers, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone keen to develop their understanding of how to effectively lead and influence people.

I was first introduced to Roderic Yapp through a mutual contact with a background in the Royal Marines. We were initially looking for someone to teach the Operational Excellence module of our Executive Management Programme. Rod was asked to take some of our training materials and teach a group of senior leaders some of the principles of operational excellence so that they could improve the performance of their businesses. We have high expectations of our trainer-facilitators and Rod has met that consistently. Earlier this year, he started to lead one of our leadership programmes. The feedback has been excellent, so we’ve asked him to lead a further four programmes over the course of the next eighteen months.

As the founder of an angel-backed enterprise focused on pioneering massive IoT SMART security locking solutions for outdoor high-value items, my journey has been shaped by a series of pivotal experiences. At the age of 17, I joined and served with the Royal Marines from 2004 to 2009, before embarking on a path toward a career in medicine. These experiences have instilled in me a profound appreciation for leadership, teamwork and innovation, laying the groundwork for my entrepreneurial pursuits. Seeking to further hone my leadership skills and entrepreneurial acumen, I reached out to Rod via LinkedIn. We had a brief conversation where I outlined what I was looking for in terms of help and support. Rod, an advocate for veterans through the Heropreneurs program, graciously extended his mentorship, one of three mentees spaces. This collaboration has proven invaluable, providing me with invaluable insights into effective leadership and entrepreneurial strategy. Under Rod's guidance, I've undergone a profound transformation, gaining newfound clarity in my capabilities and a deeper understanding of my intrinsic values. Crucially, I've come to appreciate the nuanced dynamics of team dynamics, recognising the importance of individual personalities and effective communication in fostering collective success. This paradigm shift has reshaped my conception of leadership, emphasising empathy, collaboration, clarity and a commitment to collective growth over traditional notions of hierarchical authority.

I was matched with Roderic through the Heropreneurs Mentoring programme. Rod and I have had a series of conversations that have helped me understand what I need to do to set up my own consulting business. He has listened carefully and provided thoughtful advice and guidance based on a good understanding of my situation. One of the things he does that has been really helpful is his willingness to share his mistakes and the lessons he’s learnt along the way. This has given me the sense that whilst the road to achieving my goal might be a bit bumpy, I too can do it. I am really grateful for his time and help and would recommend him to anyone who is looking for some support in starting a business.

I have known Rod since 2017 when we invited him to run a two day offsite for our CEO and the four Business Unit Leaders. I believe that one of the things that bonds teams is a shared experience so we commissioned Rod and his colleague Tim to design something that the leaders would remember. Rod and Tim took the team to the Royal Navy School of Firefighting in Portsmouth and put them through a series of tests designed to test and expose them to ‘decision-making under pressure’. It was a brilliant event which they still talk about today. We have continued to work with Rod to help support our ambitious growth plans. Most recently, we have partnered with Leadership Capital specifically to help develop our people and teams. He has implemented an appraisal system, delivered leadership and management training, coached a number of our senior leaders and started to build a Sales Programme to help us develop the next generation of talent. We value his insight and support enormously and will be continuing this partnership into the next year.

Clear, articulate, and thoughtful. Roderic shared some of his insights from his experience in Afghanistan. He was asked to share some insights on navigating through complexity which he did extremely well, would strongly recommend him to anyone considering an external speaker.

Roderic has a very interesting background and delivered a brilliant keynote on Adaptive Leadership at our conference in Rome. He took the time to understand the audience and share practical takeaways that people are still using on a day to day basis within our Organisation.

We are lucky to benefit from lots of external speakers at Salesforce. Roderic has been amongst the very best we’ve had. He strikes a good balance of confidence and humility. He captured the attention of the audience quickly and managed to hold it throughout his speech. When people aren’t looking at their phones, you know the speaker is doing a good job!

When I was first introduced to Roderic Yapp in 2019, I was looking for someone that could help me deliver front-line performance. boatfolk had been created by merging two mid-sized regional marina businesses to create one of the largest national businesses across the whole of the UK. We have grown quickly, expanding our number of locations, and the services we offer beyond berthing to include brokerage and boat maintenance and most recently restaurants and accommodation. One of the challenges we face is that we have 11 sites based all over the UK with slightly different ways of doing things led by people who have mixed experience of leading and growing a business, and a team that has tripled in size over the last few years, diluting some of the core cultures, values and behaviours Rod has supported us with coaching engagements, off-sites and a leadership development programme all of which have added value to our Organisation and helped us to grow but I think the most outstanding contribution has been the implementation of his Operational Excellence model across the business. This model has enabled us to translate our strategic goals into practical activity that our frontline managers must deliver. Pragmatic and approachable, he’s built excellent relationships across our business and I am delighted to have his support as we continue to grow our organisation.

As the Engineering Director at a rapidly growing technology company, I spearhead the development of new products designed to rival existing products in the market. Rod and I convene bi-weekly sessions to support me to balance the challenges of our rapidly growing organisation. Our discussions encompass a spectrum of topics, from cultivating high-performing teams to effectively engaging stakeholders across the organisation. The regularity of these sessions prompts me to reflect, enabling me to assess what's effective and what requires adjustment, thereby facilitating a critical review of my leadership impact. Our coaching dynamic functions as a partnership. Rod's attentive listening and incisive inquiries give me insights I might not otherwise uncover independently. The invaluable support and guidance I've received have significantly contributed to my growth, and I wholeheartedly endorse him to any senior leader seeking a pragmatic coach capable of addressing the demands inherent in executive roles.

I first met Rod when he interviewed me along with the rest of the Executive Team in preparation for our strategic off-site in January 2023. As Director of Operations, I lead the scale-up and technology transfer initiatives at our company, ensuring seamless integration and adaptation of our processes. I focus on identifying and mitigating risks in manufacturing, utilizing tools like PFMEA, while also overseeing global equipment selection trials. Collaborating closely with our parent company, I ensure alignment on manufacturing processes and operational readiness, serving as the technical authority on build design. My role is complex and challenging, but I have found Roderic’s support and guidance to be invaluable. He is particularly good at helping me to clarify the most important things I need to be targeting whilst helping me to manage my work-life balance. I feel that I have significantly expanded my leadership skill set and would strongly recommend him to anyone else seeking to develop their leadership potential.