ABOUT ME
HELLO, I'M NIKOLAI.
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HELLO
, I'm
NIKOLAI
Great to meet you. Thanks for visiting my site.
If you're here, chances are something is stirring in you. Perhaps you're curious about coaching? Or maybe you have a nagging feeling that something important is missing? Perhaps you're out of balance. Or maybe just a bit 'stuck'. You may even be at the top of your game - and you want to stay there. Maybe just you want 'more'...
If any of these are true, I want to congratulate you. Taking steps towards a better career or better life is no small thing. It requires self knowledge, self compassion, courage, curiosity and ownership. If you're here, you've already started the important work of unlocking your brilliance and wholeness.
This is what gets me out of bed as your coach. Your innate brilliance and wholeness. Your desire to find it, live it, reap it and share the rewards. A desire for a life truly worth living. For me, this is the only work that truly matters.
BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE
What's my background?
My professional background is in Learning, Leadership & Transformation, where I've supported leaders of big blue-chip corporations and government departments to get the most from themselves and their people. After graduating near the top of my class at Cambridge I started my career advising Executives on best practice in Strategy and Functional Management. I then moved into the world of behavioural science and psychology, where over the subsequent 15 years I instigated, designed and delivered major transformation and training programmes for companies like McKinsey, Morgan Stanley, Accenture, Walmart, Versace and Harrods.
I've had the privilege of working directly with around 5000 Leaders & their Teams, many thousands of Managers and countless individual contributors. Indirectly, my work has impacted over 100,000 people, some securing awards with with Learning & Performance Institute, ISE and Recruiter Magazine.
Whilst I've sat on Executive Teams and now run two of my own businesses, I spend 90% of my time doing what I love: being on the front line Facilitating and Coaching. I help people grow, inside and out, one 'ah-ha' at a time.
suzy kassem
"The number of ways you can live in one lifetime is limitless. So why limit yourself? The sky is not the limit. Beyond the universe is."
APPROACH, TRAINING & CREDENTIALS
Good coaching helps you achieve more in the world. It invites you to consider new perspectives, learn new skills, change habits, unlock new options and supports you taking courageous action. We're putting more stuff in the box - and using it.
The best coaching, on the other hand, grows the box. It's about increasing your attunement to yourself and others, increasing your depth, range, ambition, resource and resilience. This means you can do more but also be more. It's what makes dreams possible.
I'm trained in a number of coaching methodologies (and even created a few myself) but my principal approach is Co-Active. In Co-Active coaching, we take our clients to be creative, resourceful and whole. We also coach the whole person, not their problem or opportunity. In practice, this means my coaching is practical and outcome-based but it is also deep, profound and transformative. Expect to be changed, permanently.
What is my approach?
What brought me to coaching?
My fire as a coach was lit in a period of extreme disillusionment. I'd been giving 110% for many years, at the time as a commercial leader of one of the top 100 fastest growing companies in the UK. Right before we went for IPO and I could release my shares, I hit crisis point. I was highly successful, extremely fortunate and yet I was completely miserable. Something was missing.
What I came to realise, through the support of an amazing coach, was that I wasn't being myself. I was pursuing someone else's vision of success, not listening to my emotions, my body or the wise voice of my leader within. I was on autopilot.
This experience of extreme dissonance made me wake up. And waking up led me to make some courageous choices. I've been flourishing as a coach, facilitator and leadership developer ever since.
In order to feel successful, most of us need to achieve a modicum of mastery when it comes to the 'outer game' of KPIs, career, money, tasks, teams, projects and deliverables. You want more. I get it! When we get the most from ourselves and those we lead, consistently, we're winning. This is what I mean by brilliance. It is the domain of productivity and performance. Its fruits are typically material wealth, status and worldly abundance.
For most however, this usually isn't enough. Sooner or later, those who win in the 'outer game' are ultimately forced to contend with the 'inner game'. This often begins with the creeping sensation that something is missing, life lacks meaning or we're not being true to ourselves.
BRILLIANCE
The 'inner game' begins with dramatically raising awareness, identifying and re-aligning with core values and understanding your true character. It involves embracing your 'bright side' but it also requires managing and eventually integrating your 'shadow'. Once you're more whole inside, you can turn outwards and relate to individuals, communities and the entire planet system with far greater wisdom and compassion. This paves the way for truly living your life's purpose - probably pursuing something greater than personal power and profit.
This is what I mean by 'wholeness'.
It is the domain of identity, relationships and developmental maturity. Its fruits are typically happiness, harmony and belonging - and a sense
of gratitude, clarity and grace.
WHOLENESS
What do I mean by 'brilliance' and 'wholeness'?
Nikolai Koval-Radley
"I believe it's only when we step into our wholeness that our real brilliance IS able to shine."
EDUCATION & ACCREDITATION
I'VE BEEN EDUCATED BY THESE ORGANISATIONS:
I hold the following certifications:
DAVID BOWIE
"I'm not a prophet or a stone age man, just a mortal with the potential of a superman. I'm living on."
MY CLIENTS
Who do I typically coach?
I coach a diverse range of people, but my clients tend to fall into three categories.
You're likely a CEO, Founder, CXO, VP or Senior Manager with a top University degree, a long list of achievements and a nagging sensation that your leadership isn't quite cutting it. I help people like you from a wide range of industries, including startups, not for profits and government.
EXECUTIVES & BUSINESS LEADERS
Executives & business leaders
COMMERCIAL DIRECTORS & SALES LEADERS
If you're facing the market and have responsibility for revenue or clients, and feeling the weight it brings, I know your world intimately and can probably help. I spend about 50% of my time partnering closely with Commercial Leaders, from Chief Sales/Revenue Officers to Senior Sales Managers and Client Directors.
COMMERCIAL DIRECTORS & SALES LEADERS
You're likely a precocious future leader currently at the top of your game as a senior individual contributor or new Manager. You know you don't need to be on the C suite to benefit from coaching - and you're right. Research says the earlier you invest in yourself, the higher and further you'll likely go.
emerging leaders
EMERGING LEADERS
WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW BUT ARE NOT READY TO ADMIT?
TESTIMONIALS
“Nikolai holds a safe place to help you explore options or to get comfortable in the fog. His encouragement and challenge have crystalised new perspectives, opened more ideas whilst cheerleading me towards successful outcomes. He has helped me get ‘unstuck’, held me to account and celebrated with me during a very important chapter in my career. He’s a trusted voice in a rapidly moving world and I couldn’t recommend his support more.”
Jacqueline Corbett - Head of Commercial Training
"Nikolai has helped me enormously on a wide range of topics starting with helping me to determine my values, selecting my next career move and land a job, right through to helping me overcome significant personal issues. Nikolai draws on his vast experience, wisdom and use of appropriate, powerful tools and techniques – including many which are quite unconventional and new to me, but very effective."
Paul Ruggier - FTSE 100 Co-Founder
“I came to Nikolai looking to level up at work as I started a new role, but I got way more than I expected! He’s great at quickly reading my behaviours and noticing blind spots I didn’t even see. He’s helped me get unstuck in areas of life I wasn’t even planning to work on. Nikolai’s approach is very down-to-earth, and he’s really pushed me in all the right ways these past few months. I love that he’s direct, speaks his mind, but also manages to balance being professional and friendly. I can honestly say this experience has brought a whole new perspective, it’s totally elevated my thinking in and out of work.”
Rachel Conroy - Client Director
“I have done coaching before and always benefited from it. But Nikolai’s approach is different: the way he is able to explain how body and mind are connected is an eye-opener. I fully trust him and the no-nonsense approach he brings to our sessions. I feel I am getting closer to self-actualization through exploring how to fully live my values – in work and my private life.”
Pieter Meulendijk-de Mol - Co-Founder
"I feel very blessed to have had Nikolai as my thinking partner and coach over the past 6 months. He has a very unique skill of being able to hold space for you to think and reflect and has an almost magical way of evoking awareness. He challenges you to stretch and grow, often forcing you to question assumptions and self limiting beliefs. Nikolai continues to help me work through sticky challenges, figure things out and become more aware of who I really am to live a more energised, balanced and fulfilled life."
Nicola Amiss - Senior Vice President of Sales
"Nikolai is a naturally gifted coach, very empathetic and inquisitive and yet also results driven. During our sessions, his patient yet no-nonsense approach expedited a critical decision in my life and I felt clearer and more empowered as a result. I highly recommend his services."
Laura Bridge - Celebrity and Private Chef
“Nikolai is a naturally talented coach with wisdom way beyond his years. His unique approach blends a variety of techniques drawing from the sciences, logic, emotion, and spirituality. Our coaching sessions focus on the ‘whole self’ and I find our sessions deeply valuable and insightful. In an increasingly complex and demanding world Nikolai has helped me focus on what is important and work out how to generate immediate impact against my ambitions.”
Yasha Vojdani - Co-Founder
“Lucky is the person on whom Nikolai shines his brilliance, humour, and ability to reframe—unlocking fresh ways of thinking and being. If you're looking for someone to simply mirror your words, go elsewhere. But if you want a partner who dives deep, unearthing and refining the gold with you, Nikolai is a true gem.”
Eileen Laillier - COO
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“Nikolai has helped me train my focus, identify my saboteurs, find my leader within and hone my personal brand storybook. Crucially, his coaching approach has held me to account and helped me to avoid distraction from other business pressures. The outcome of the coaching has been outstanding.”
Rob Bloor - Senior Principal, Professional Service Firm, Switzerland
"I'm very happy with my coaching journey and Nikolai personally. His support has changed the way the revenue organisation at Nasdaq produced results and has equally helped me in my current role at a sales leader in the venture capital industry. Nikolai is experienced not only in enterprise sales but also in corporate psychology, stress management, career planning, and many other areas. I'm looking forward to many more sessions of fruitful professional exchange."
Daniel Scheiferdecker - Head of Institutional Business Development
"Working with Nikolai is a game changer. His approach to coaching is considered, personal and exceptionally professional. He cares not only about understanding your goals and priorities, but also your values. In doing so, he has supported me on a journey of aligning my values to my growth approach. I wouldn't be in this next phase of my career without his guidance and support!"
Zehra Odunayo - Growth, People Strategy & Change Lead
I'm a practicing Buddhist (my refuge name is Yeshe Dorje, which means Diamond Wisdom), teach hundreds of Executives how to train their minds and I view my coaching conversations very similarly to my meditation practice. To you, I will bring a laser like focus, spacious and tender awareness, extremely strong intuition and genuine sense of compassion. I also supplement my coaching skillset with what one client described as "an encyclopaedic knowledge" of occupational and positive psychology, behavioural science, integral theory, spiral dynamics and the latest thinking on human performance and wellbeing. I believe that on the topic of you, you know best and I'll help to connect you with that wisdom. But I won't hold back if I think I can share something useful. I never tell my clients anything, but I may offer - without attachment.
In my life to date I've suffered with anxiety, addiction, shame, perfectionism, obsession with achievement and a host of other challenges. I've recovered from most of them by getting curious, accepting some things but more often changing the way I relate to myself and others. As a coach I've found this gives me an empathy, fearlessness and range that you just can't fake. Whatever's going on for you, I've probably been there or can relate. This means you can come to coaching with me just as you are.
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