As Natural Talent Bristol celebrates 21 years in business by launching its new website, their CEO, Jill Maidment, reflects on how the Coaching and Training sector has changed, and what leaders can do to thrive in an increasingly VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world.

“When I founded Natural Talent in 2003, I could not have imagined the major change that would take place in the Coaching and Training sector, let alone in the wider world! Ahead of Leadership and Management Training Programmes or Executive Coaching sessions, usually we would meet UK-based clients face to face for lengthy discussions of their key issues and requirements.  Often proposals would be long too!  And mostly, even though we were dealing with large global companies, we didn’t even sign any contracts – sometimes work was commissioned and delivered based on a handshake and mutual trust!”

says Jill

How times have changed! Fast forward over 20 years and since the pandemic and the shift to hybrid and remote working, many initial meetings, and even Coaching and Training Programmes, now take place online, often following a short and time-sensitive enquiry from the website! Working with large global clients also means more online meetings and addressing diverse requirements.  Mutual contracts are now always in place as procurement and project management teams are often involved in commissioning learning and development programmes.

20 years ago, much of the content for Leadership and Management Training and Development or Executive or Career Coaching Programmes would be to develop soft skills.  This remains the case, however, nowadays leaders and organisations are dealing with a whole new range of challenges with which they need support, such as the impact of technology, making cost savings and mass redundancies, as well as the emphasis on equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Jill adds:

“In today’s challenging economic and geopolitical environments, leaders, managers, and organisations need to be agile to identify opportunities and threats to stay ahead of the competition, as well as being adept at managing change and uncertainty. At Natural Talent Bristol our Executive Business and Career Coaching, and Leadership and Management Development Training Programmes reflect this, and of course, we’ve had to do the same - be innovative, and move with the times.”

Today’s leaders and managers need to be visionary, transformative, and authentic to deal with so many complex issues.  Natural Talent assists their clients in addressing challenges such as micromanagement, silo working, interpersonal conflict, poor Sales figures, restructures, major change programmes, or even a toxic culture.  Natural Talent’s Executive Coaching and Leadership and Management Development Programmes are often required to achieve significant measurable outcomes, such as improving levels of employee engagement, attraction, and retention, as well as aligning people with the organisation’s vision and strategic objectives in the hybrid working environment.

As one of their clients said:

“We wanted our 360 Feedback Review, Executive Business Coaching, and Leadership Development Programmes to achieve major impact and change, and ROI – you delivered, thank you!.” CEO

 
Additional Information:

Local clients have included: Bristol Zoo, Bristol Airport, Clifton College, G Plan, Matthew Clark, Mendip District Council, National Composites Centre, the University of Exeter, UWE, Wiltshire Council. 

International clients have included: Amazon Ads, AXA, Eset, OCS Group, Stef Langdon, Twitter, Zurich, and many others.

Twenty one years ago, Natural Talent was one of the first Consultancies to provide Executive and Career Coaching in Bristol.  Since then, Jill Maidment and Natural Talent have survived the many diverse challenges and changes within the workplace, as well as the wider world in general, to achieve the following:

• Delivered over 12,000 hours of Coaching for 100s of individual clients in approximately 100 organisations to upskill managers, address key issues, and create sustainable change
• Administered and fed back results from 100s of psychometric tests and 360 Feedback Reviews to improve performance
• Produced 18 audio-books on key leadership and management topics, and 3 e-books on Hybrid Leadership, Resilience, and Soft Skills to support managers and leaders globally
• Advised and supported organisations across many countries including the UK, USA, Australia, Europe and Scandinavia with extensive international and commercial expertise
• Jill’s Blogs have appeared in the top 10 most downloaded articles by many of the largest global organisations, providing helpful tips and tricks
• Metrics have shown that when combined with 360 Feedback Sessions, Natural Talent’s Executive Coaching and Mentoring Sessions can achieve dramatic individual, team, and business transformation, with ROI in excess of 7,000% due to increased levels of productivity, engagement, and retention, in particular of senior executives
• Other metrics demonstrate that 94% of Natural Talent’s clients have been promoted to senior positions following Executive Coaching and Mentoring
• Natural Talent’s Career and Outplacement Coaching have resulted in 98% of clients securing a new role within 2 months
• Natural Talent has delivered training in over 30 key topics during leadership and management development programmes, with 20 new titles being added to celebrate 21 years in business

https://www.natural-talent.com/