Executive & Senior Leadership Teams:

“In terms of performance 2005 was a phenomenal year for Innovene both in terms of financials (Innovene $1.7bn EBITDA versus $1.3bn plan and EBO $150m versus $84m plan) and in terms of personal growth of the leadership – You played an important role in facilitating this growth. This support continued the work with our Chemicals Team over the past few years.

Your facilitation was an excellent complement to sessions in which key leadership messages were to be delivered.  I certainly gained from my coaching through this period and this contributed to our performance in 2005.
DJ  Commercial Director, Innovene

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“My team was involved in a very high profile project during 2005 with what seemed, at times, to be an unachievable set of deliverables. From your first interaction with my immediate team, there was an increase in energy and commitment to objectives.  You provided insights on the team development life cycle, introduced team developmental interventions and matched interventions to the team’s situation and business context.  (This) action contributed, in no small way, to our ultimate success: we were the first amongst four global project teams to complete the project.
                                            
Following these team workshops I requested a personal coaching programme to further develop my leadership skills and ability to facilitate groups.  Your approach is a very practical and common sense approach to leadership development.  Without trying to impress with a lot of textbook jargon, you worked with me within the context of my own personal and career experiences.  This has  greatly improved my ability to influence individuals and teams at all levels in the organization.”
Jeff B, Head of Control, BP plc

High Performing Teams:

Functional Teams

“I have worked with Steve during the past 2 years being a senior lawyer in the Legal Department of Borealis. I have seen him in action both as a team coach and as a coach for individuals.  He has a truly deep understanding of how we function as individuals and in group interactions.  He is able to apply some simple and fundamental principles which help me and others understand our behaviours and how our lives are shaped.  In my mind there is no doubt that he has been, and still is, a strong contributor to the development of an efficient and powerful Legal Team in Borealis.” 
JOL, Sr. Legal Counsel, Borealis A/S Denmark

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Cross Functional / Supply Chain Teams

“I worked with you for over a year on building the Rhine Barge Operations Team. This was especially challenging due to remote location of many of the team members and the various nationalities and personalities involved. As I see it your role was threefold: facilitate the quarterly meetings; raise awareness of team interactions and improvements and leadership coaching for myself.

Your naturally calming and insightful style helped maintain a positive team spirit, identifying reasons for conflicts and explaining them with humour.  The impact on the team was extremely positive, accelerating the development of the team spirit and helping the team achieve results faster than anticipated”
RT, BP Europe & Africa Oil


“I benefited from your support in three key areas:
1. Coaching me how to prepare effectively for large team meetings - your challenges were always appropriate  to ensure I was clear on what I wanted to get out of each session. These challenges built on the strong process you brought. I found that, with your guidance, improved planning up front enabled me to have far more powerful meetings.
2. Coaching me how to read shifting dynamics of team meetings and take positive action to maintain focus and energy. This helped me to reach successful conclusions to meetings.
3. Having fun - I take forward many of your ideas on facilitation to future teams I will lead. Without fun, would it be worth it?”
PG, PP Business Manager, Ineos

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Leadership Programmes:

A great evidence of an excellent week is that I really enjoy talking about this to my colleagues  and trying to implement the principles we have learned.   More specific it is amazing how I can understand now the values of each one through his/her talking and give a relevant feedback which is highly appreciated by them.

What worked well (for me was) your commitment, professionalism and determination on what you had to do, I can highlight the following:

your words complied with actions, which means that you were a real leader and not a presenter of a leadership topic

you showed to us a great respect during the whole week, even when we were failing to meet the agreed timetable of our intervals

your presentations were crystal clear and transmitting the message to the audience. The one with the Mental Filters was the Best for me
V D, Lubricants S&M HSSE Mgr, BP Hellas SA

                                   
“You worked with myself and a colleague for six months as we worked to build a positive working relationship between our two European business function leadership teams.  This was a real challenge as the teams came from different company heritage backgrounds, had radically different views of how to make money in our businesses, and for the most part were physically separate.

You lead sessions in the first meetings which allowed the individuals in the 2 teams to develop stronger connections and increased trust, plus openness and a willingness to explore the different business models. This laid a great foundation for discussing the differences in business approach and then, through the formation of joint project teams, start to explore potential areas of synergy and commercial leverage.

In summary, my experience of working with you not only delivered on my business objectives but also proved to be a real learning experience for me as a leader."
MW, Vice President Solutions, Innovene

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Individual Coaching Clients

Senior Executives –

I have recently undertaken a series of executive coaching sessions with Steve Sharpley as my coach.  Altogether we had 6 sessions over a period of about 6 months. During this time I found Steve’s style to be both supportive and challenging.  During the sessions he provided a number of tools and techniques which we used to help me better build and maintain working relationships.

We also spent time looking at my personal values again from a perspective of developing strong working relationships. I found the sessions to be extremely thought provoking and on occasions very demanding, but I also have to say very enjoyable.

I would welcome the opportunity to work with Steve again at some time in the future and I would have no hesitation in recommending him as a coach.

PS he has also improved my golf!
Bill Shaw, Water Operations Director , United Utilities PLC,

“Working with Xcell Dynamics has allowed me to forge a high performing team from a group of individuals in different countries, some of whom have never worked in a team before. In addition, it has helped me to be more confident in my leadership abilities. Another benefit for the team has been to create an atmosphere and a vocabulary for dealing with difficult issues in a non confrontational, productive way.”
R S. General Counsel, Borealis A/S Denmark

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Middle Management

“I have motivated and provided greater support for others and developed a higher ability for people to find confidence in me and prove that I am not a maverick.   I have created a cohesive team.  The “desk” now has a feeling of togetherness and a common goal. We have increased communication with traders (direct and indirect business).  My optimistic mind draws others in.  I now move on and come back to things when I have a clear head.  My conflict management is much better.   I am now more focused through the work day with greater focus on things that matter.  I can think more about new ways to do things and am more flexible.  I am more inclusive with greater respect for others abilities and incorporate ideas of others more, overcoming differences.”
BER, Head of CEEMEA & Latin Equity Sales – Citigroup

“I have strong, consistent and improving results with clients and better team cohesion. generating a higher number of new high quality ideas for our clients. My motivation levels are higher. I am far less stressed and worried. I feel more in control of tasks and have a clearer view of my goals.

We have greater team leverage. My client load has increased 25% - I have no doubt that my greater focus and clarity have enabled me to service a wider number of clients more effectively in the same amount of time.”
R D-B, Dir European Equities Director, Citigroup


“I’m not joking when I say it’s been incredibly valuable to me, really valuable.  I just wish I’d found it 20 years ago.  Everything has slowed down. It's like I've gone from fifth gear to about second.  It's all still happening, but I'm not having to rush round in order to achieve the things I need to achieve.  I've become a lot happier with what I'm doing and am a lot more content with what I'm doing.”             
SB,  IT Manager,  Syngenta (Ex Astra –Zeneca)


“I’ve developed the ability to step back from difficult situations/conversations. I’m more relaxed.  Living with uncertainty seems easier. I now don’t lay awake anymore worrying about big decisions we need to make.”
GA, Quality Partner, Vodafone UK


“Commercially I tune into what is going on in meetings now and participate better.  I have learned how to coach my team effectively. Professionally I am more flexible in my leadership style vs. just delegate or direct.  Finally, and personally, I now have an awareness and appreciation for the impact of the thoughts “running through my head”.  I am able to listen better and now understand peoples needs better.”
RE. Trade Control Manager,  BP