1. Leadership from the inside out
Character, self-awareness and the daily habits that turn influence into something your team can feel.
Leadership Guide
The Leadership Guide
For CEOs, C-suite leaders and senior teams who already hold a heavy seat and want the work to land in the working week, not in a document nobody opens.
Download the 30 key focus areas (PDF, 16 pages, about 0.9 MB)
Leadership coaching is personalised. These are the thirty places I return to with senior leaders — the same list in the focus areas overview — when the week is already full and the live problem has a name.
The work starts inside-out, then with the things you cannot see, then vision, then the stall that follows a win. Become the leader you would choose to follow, and build a culture that can follow you back.
When one live problem has a name this week, start there. Take it into the next meeting.
Executive Coaching Methodology - Linus Murphy
My Executive Coaching Methodology is the thirty focus areas of this guide worked as one sequence in five clusters: know yourself first, see what you cannot see, set direction, build the side that can win, and lead when it gets hard. It is the order I use with CEOs and senior teams.
How does the methodology work in sequence?
Each cluster rests on the one before it. Self-knowledge comes first, because blind spots are hard to see without it; direction comes next; then the team that carries it; then the hard moments that test all of it.
The clusters are the coaching journey. The chapters below are the same work, written so you can take one live problem into the meeting.
How does it connect to my seven-step coaching process?
The clusters are what we work on; the seven-step Impactful Leadership process is how we work: Vision, Awareness, Challenges, Influence, Improvement, Impact and Results.
Vision, the first step, defines the destination, which is where the third cluster lives. Awareness surfaces blind spots through a confidential feedback loop, which is the work of the first two clusters. Influence is about leading through others, the ground of the fourth and fifth. Improvement, Impact and Results then turn whichever clusters matter most into habits, measures and a playbook that scales.
Do I have to work through all five clusters in order?
No. Coaching is personalised, so we start where the live problem is. The order is the default arc, and the place I return to when a leader is unsure what to fix first.
Cluster 1 of 5
What is “Know yourself first”?
Character, awareness and the habits you rehearse before the room.
- Self and team awareness: clean data on how you actually land · Part 2
- Leadership from the inside out: write the rules you already live by · Part 6
- Winning is an inside job: rehearse the room before you walk into it · Part 7
- The price tag of leadership: agree the price before the seat sends the invoice · Part 11
- Deal with discouragement: a 24-hour reset so a setback does not become a spiral · Part 20
- Your personal development plan: run it like the R&D budget for your leadership · Part 27
Cluster 2 of 5
What is “See what you cannot see”?
Blind spots, the temptations after a win, and the flaws that end careers.
- Define leadership blind spots: find the point where a strength tips over · Part 3
- Common leadership blind spots: selective listening, silo loyalty and hero syndrome · Part 4
- Remove leadership blind spots: a weekly loop, a small test and a scoreboard · Part 5
- Temptations of successful leaders: audit the win before it audits you · Part 8
- Fatal flaws of leaders: ego, shortcuts and exhaustion, caught early · Part 9
- Leadership pitfalls: isolation, signal overload and short-term tunnel vision · Part 26
Cluster 3 of 5
What is “Set direction and keep it moving”?
Vision, pillars, goals, momentum and change that sticks.
- Transfer vision effectively: the real test happens two levels below you · Part 1
- The leadership landscape: four pillars, and the one you are not paying for · Part 10
- Goal setting successfully: hard goals, short horizons and the side effects nobody mentions · Part 12
- Momentum breakers vs. makers: audit the rituals, not the mood · Part 13
- Creating change: a roadmap that lines up head, heart and habit · Part 18
- Handle resistance: treat pushback as unpaid design work · Part 19
Cluster 4 of 5
What is “Build the side that can win”?
Hiring, ownership, values, attitude, loyalty and team rhythm.
- Get good people around you: a scorecard, a real interview and a 30-day sprint · Part 14
- Players vs. pretenders: make ownership visible, and the performance fades · Part 15
- Core values of winning teams: a value only counts once it has cost you something · Part 16
- Attitude: what difference does it make? Less than the posters claim, more than the cynics think · Part 17
- Build high-performance teams: safety and clarity, run as a weekly rhythm · Part 25
- Create loyalty in your organisation: a path, a thank-you and a share · Part 29
Cluster 5 of 5
What is “Lead when it gets hard”?
Trust, tough talk, tough calls, difficult people and feedback that lands.
- Earning trust: the three proofs people check before they back you under stress · Part 21
- Have tough conversations: hard truth, delivered well, deepens respect · Part 22
- Lead difficult personalities: contract the behaviour, not the person · Part 23
- Give and receive praise and feedback: one card for good news and bad · Part 24
- Why feedback may fail: it usually breaks before you open your mouth · Part 28
- Make tough decisions: sort the door before you walk through it · Part 30
The chapters
2. Leadership blind spots
What a leadership blind spot is, the patterns that show up most often, and how to take them off the road.
3. From vision to execution
How to transfer a vision people can repeat, lead through four pillars, and set goals that survive contact with Monday.
4. Why successful leaders stall
The comfort that follows a win, the flaws that derail careers, and the pitfalls that tax culture after the applause.
5. The price tag of leadership
What the seat costs, how to move through discouragement, and a personal development plan you will actually keep.
6. Leading change
What builds and breaks momentum, a practical change roadmap, and how to meet resistance without theatre.
7. Getting good people around you
How to attract people who raise the standard, tell players from pretenders, and build loyalty that is earned.
8. Building winning teams
Values that cost something, what attitude can and cannot do, and how high-performing teams hold morale when it is tight.
9. Trust under pressure
How trust is earned, how to lean into the conversation you have been postponing, and how to make the hard call.
10. Feedback and difficult personalities
Praise and feedback that change behaviour, why feedback fails, and how to lead personalities that drain the room.
The 30-part series
Thirty conversations I return to with senior leaders. Take the one that matches this week’s live problem into the meeting.
Chapter 1 · Leadership from the inside out
- Part 2 of 30Self and team awareness
- Part 6 of 30Leadership from the inside out
- Part 7 of 30Winning is an inside job
Chapter 2 · Leadership blind spots
- Part 3 of 30Define leadership blind spots
- Part 4 of 30Common leadership blind spots
- Part 5 of 30Remove leadership blind spots
Chapter 3 · From vision to execution
- Part 1 of 30Transfer vision effectively
- Part 10 of 30The leadership landscape
- Part 12 of 30Goal setting successfully
Chapter 4 · Why successful leaders stall
- Part 8 of 30Temptations of successful leaders
- Part 9 of 30Fatal flaws of leaders
- Part 26 of 30Leadership pitfalls
Chapter 5 · The price tag of leadership
- Part 11 of 30The price tag of leadership
- Part 20 of 30Deal with discouragement
- Part 27 of 30Your personal development plan
- Part 13 of 30Momentum breakers vs. makers
- Part 18 of 30Creating change: a roadmap
- Part 19 of 30Handle resistance
Chapter 7 · Getting good people around you
- Part 14 of 30Get good people around you
- Part 15 of 30Players vs. pretenders
- Part 29 of 30Create loyalty in your organisation
Chapter 8 · Building winning teams
- Part 16 of 30Core values of winning teams
- Part 17 of 30Attitude: what difference does it make?
- Part 25 of 30Build high-performance teams
Chapter 9 · Trust under pressure
- Part 21 of 30Earning trust
- Part 22 of 30Have tough conversations
- Part 30 of 30Make tough decisions
Chapter 10 · Feedback and difficult personalities
- Part 23 of 30Lead difficult personalities
- Part 24 of 30Give and receive praise and feedback
- Part 28 of 30Why feedback may fail
Thirty focus areas, mapped to chapters
Thirty focus areas. Find the one that matches this quarter.
Questions I am asked
What is the Executive Coaching Methodology?
The thirty focus areas of this guide worked as one sequence in five clusters: know yourself first, see what you cannot see, set direction, build the side that can win, and lead when it gets hard.
Where do I start?
With the live problem. If the seat itself is the issue, start inside-out. If the company cannot execute, start with vision. If last year’s win has gone stale, start with the stall.
Who is the Leadership Guide for?
CEOs, C-suite leaders and senior teams who already hold a heavy seat and want the work to land in the working week, not in a document nobody opens.
Is this a course I have to finish?
No. These are the thirty conversations I return to with senior leaders when the week is already full, not modules to complete because a curriculum said so.
Can I start with one live problem?
Yes. Start with the live problem that has a name this quarter. The rest will still be there when you need it.
Is the guide a course with modules?
No. Leadership coaching is personalised, so these are the thirty places I return to with senior leaders, not modules to complete because a curriculum said so.