Currently Accepting New 1:1 Coaching Clients
coach@paulmcdermottcoaching.comSheffield · Coaching Globally
Coaching Support

Practical coaching for the pressure behind technical leadership.

This is a thinking partnership for professionals who are carrying complexity: leadership pressure, burnout risk, career uncertainty, difficult decisions and the constant demand to perform.

Leadership clarityBurnout preventionCareer directionDecision architecture
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The approach

Not advice from a distance. A structured space to think.

Paul’s coaching blends professional coaching practice with 28 years of IT and operations experience. That means sessions stay human, confidential and client-led — while still feeling practical enough for people who live in complex systems.

You bring the real context: the leadership tension, the decision, the overwhelm, the transition or the confidence gap. The work is to slow the system down, see it clearly, and design a better next move.

ConfidentialNon-judgementalPracticalOutcome-led
Four Focus Areas

Where coaching creates the most leverage.

Each engagement is tailored, but these are the situations professionals most often bring into the room.

01

Technical Expert to People Leader

For professionals who have been promoted because of technical excellence, but now need to influence, delegate, communicate and lead through others.

  • Leadership identity and confidence
  • Delegation without guilt or micromanagement
  • Managing upward and difficult conversations
02

Bandwidth, Boundaries & Burnout Prevention

For people who are always switched on, always needed, and starting to feel the cost of being the reliable one.

  • Energy audit and workload redesign
  • Boundary setting in high-pressure roles
  • Recovery habits that protect performance
03

Career Change & Transition Navigation

For moments where the old path no longer fits: a promotion, pivot, redundancy, reinvention or a deeper question about what comes next.

  • Clarifying values and direction
  • Mapping options without rushing
  • Turning uncertainty into a practical plan
04

Decision Architecture & Thinking Partnership

For complex decisions where the stakes are high, the signals are noisy, and it helps to think with someone objective.

  • Separating facts, fears and assumptions
  • Creating decision criteria
  • Finding the next clean action
How it works

A calm process for complex situations.

The sessions are flexible, but the rhythm stays clear: understand the system, identify the leverage, move with intention.

01

Clarify the real problem

We move beyond surface symptoms and identify what is actually draining energy, blocking progress or creating pressure.

02

Map the system around you

We look at expectations, habits, relationships, assumptions and constraints so the challenge becomes visible and workable.

03

Design the next sprint

You leave with practical actions, experiments and conversations to test in the real world between sessions.

04

Embed what works

We review, refine and turn insight into a more sustainable way of operating.

Ways to work together

Flexible formats, same confidential space.

A

Discovery Call

A low-pressure first conversation to understand what you need, whether coaching is right, and what a useful next step could look like.

B

1:1 Coaching Programme

Ongoing support for leadership, resilience, transition or decision-making. Designed around your goals and reviewed as you progress.

C

Focused Strategy Session

A concentrated session for one specific challenge, decision or transition point where you need structured thinking and clarity.

Start here

Bring the challenge. Leave with a clearer operating system.

The first step is a confidential conversation. No pressure, no hard sell — just a chance to see whether this support fits what you need.