Services
Wickett Advisory was created to help clients - be they individuals or institutions - think through, define, explore, and then build strategies and plans to address their challenges and achieve their goals.
The first phase is to work with clients to separate out the important from the noise - to prioritise. I help leaders to define clearly and succinctly their true goal or challenge, a process that might require a new frame or reframing of their issue from a new perspective.
Phase two is to understand the underlying assumptions on which the client is building their thinking. To explore the relevant context in which they are working, both within themselves and their organisation, as well as their broader systems and/or industries and the wider world.
With the objective defined and the assumptions mapped, we conclude by partnering together to devise a strategy and plan to achieve success.
I draw upon my moderation expertise and my executive coaching to facilitate this process.
I particularly specialise in helping individuals, or institutions, as they think through and manage change and transition in their careers and their organisations.
Who are my clients?
My clients might be from the C-suite, governing boards or senior executives. Many are either going through a transition themselves or leading their organisations through change. They are based in locations from the UK to the US West Coast to Africa.
I've worked with CEO's of mid-sized organisations and with entrepreneurs. With senior executives from industries as diverse as defence, hospitality, energy, law and the NGO sector.
What brings my clients together is the desire to be the best version of themselves or to lead the best organisation they are able.
What makes Wickett Advisory different?
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I believe that the ‘how’ matters as much as the ‘what’. The best idea in the world can fail if it isn’t rooted in a permissive environment or doesn’t reach the right people in a way in which it can be engaged effectively.
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I bring a diverse and differentiated voice – and network – to the table, drawing upon my multi-sectoral (from government, NGOs, academia, think-tanks and business) and multi-geographic (having worked in the US, UK, Switzerland, India, Israel and Norway) background.
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I draw upon my experience, developed over many hundreds of occasions, in moderating and facilitating conversations ranging from small groups of 10 to larger groups of 300+.
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I utilize my executive coaching training to provide a sounding board and support clients in surfacing both the underlying issue that keeps them awake at night, as well as the solution that will help them move forward.
Projects
Advisory
Developing a business transition plan
The client wanted to mark an upcoming anniversary with a business pivot to expand its services and broaden its client base. Working with the President and CEO and his team, we explored the internal context, the challenges and opportunities in realising the objective, and developed a plan for 2022 to bring the organisation together around its strengths, to overcome the obstacles, and to deliver a solid foundation from which to push out its new service model.
Coaching
Business launch
Starting up a new business is a heady and often overwhelming process. The client, an entrepreneur, wanted to ensure that she was able to bring her best to the table at all times, had a confidante to better think through her daily challenges, could maintain her balance at difficult moments, and also keep an eye on the future, embedding early the kind of culture she believed was necessary for success. Through regular coaching sessions, I provided the space and a sounding board that supported her as she explored the most pressing challenges and identified paths forward to achieve her goals.
Advisory
Strengthening relationships
The client runs a successful annual industry event. They want to reengage with and energise their members, providing them greater value and building stronger relationships. Working with the client we explored the needs of the membership and how they could shape their upcoming conference agenda to deliver. We deliberated on who the best messengers were and how they might connect effectively with the audience, and then designed a moderation strategy to engage the audience, moving the conference discussion outcome from interesting to impactful.
Coaching
Career transition
Having spent two decades pursuing a certain lifestyle and career choices with success and contentment, Covid-19 changed the client's context leaving them with a question mark over whether that path was still viable. Should the client return to a type of work that she had rejected many decades earlier? Over a series of conversations, the client came to an awareness that the path she had chosen remained the right one, and one that she recommitted to, but that she needed to explore other ways to realise it. Once that decision was made, the strategy to move forward became readily apparent.