Life gets complicated. Let’s find the wobble.

The Spinning Plate is an Executive coaching and organisational consultancy that helps people understand what’s holding them back, how to lead with greater confidence, and create organisations where people can do their best work.

What’s really going on?

We all have a plate spinning on a stick. The plate is our life: everything we carry, everything we care about and everything that demands our attention.

And the stick holding it all up is you.

When something unexpected lands on the plate it can cause instability: things start to wobble. Our instinct is often to work harder, add something esle or push the problem out of sight.

But sometimes the answer isn’t to do more. It’s to understand what’s causing the wobble and fix it.

The answer is not to try and counterbalance it by dropping something else on the plate. That might work but it adds weight to the plate and puts added strain on the stick.

Pushing it to the edge and hoping it sorts itself out is not a plan for a balanced and controlled result. The problem might be out of sight but it won’t be out of mind for long.

Where I can help.

Leadership.

Build self-awareness, confidence and resilience to lead deliberately when the pressure is on.

Imposter Syndrome.

Understand the doubts and beliefs that can stop capable people from recognising and using their full potential.

Values and Alignment.

Clafiry what matters and bring decisions, behaviours and ambitions into closer alignment with these values.

Employees as Stakeholders.

Connect leadership and employee experience with organisational culture, advocacy and reputation.

Balance the Plate. Strengthen the Stick.

My work combines executive coaching, business experience and a practical, questioning approach to help people and organisations identify what matters most and do something about it.

A balanced and controlled plate spinning on a strong and resilient stick.

That’s what we do.

Leadership

Build self-awareness, confidence and resilience to lead deliberately when the pressure is on.

Imposter Syndrome

Understand the doubts and beliefs that can stop capable people from recognising and using their full potential.

Values and Alignment

Do you values act like a golden thread through your recruitment process, on-boarding, goal setting, meeting agendas, evaluations, and in the day to day conversations you have with your team? If not, let’s talk.

  

Employees as Stakeholders

Your employees experience your organisation every single day. Connect leadership and employee experience with organisational culture, advocacy and reputation.

THE SPINNING PLATE

About Nick O’Donnell

Executive Coach. Leadership Advisor. Professional Plate Spinner.

I didn’t set out to be a coach becuase I thought I had all the answers.

Quite the opposite.

I’ve spent much of my career working with people, businesses and teams and have seen repeatedly that probelm presented isn’t always the problem you actually need to address.

That’s what led me to coaching.

My first step on the journey to becoming an ILM Level 7 qualified Executive Coach and Mentor was memorable as the syllabus read like how I’d been going about taking care of business my whole career. That is to say I always had a strong belief that indiviudals, with the right support, know exactly what they need to progress. If you take the time, ask the right questions and listen to the answers you can help them do that.

My Approach.

I’ve worked with people across a wide range of sectors and at different stages of their careers from emerging leaders to senior executives.

My particular areas of interest are Imposter Syndrome, Leadership, Values and Alignment, and the recognition of employees as major stakeholders and drivers of culture, advocay and reputation.

Coaching with a business brain.

I believe good coaching requires both curiosity and challenge.

I’m interested in people and I am also interested in results.

I don’t believe that reflection and excellent commercial performance are opposites.

Understadning yourself better can make you a better leader and raise the capbility of the people around you. You can help the team get smarter by spending time working on yourself.

When you understadn yourself and your people more you help make the organisation better.

And understanding what really matters can make difficult decisions considerably clearer.

The Spinning Plate.

I created the Spinning Plate around a simple idea. Although it took me two years to solidify the idea into a usable coaching model.

the idea is this:

The plate if your life and everything that’s a part of it.

The stick is you.

Stuff happens.

The plate wobbles..

The question is whether you deal with what is causing the wobble and whether you are strong enough to support the issue as well as everything else you’ve got going on.

That is still the philosphy behind my work.

Balance. Control. Strength. Resilience.

 

 

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A Track Record for Success

The goal of The Spinning Plate is to provide leaders at all levels with a safe place to talk about what they’ve got going on and what they plan to do about it.

Each session will result in a carefully created plan for the leader to implement.

There are no templates and no models, only focused and probing conversations that get to the heart of any challenges and from there plot a path to a better place.

It’s coaching and mentoring.

It’s also probing organisational essentials like vision and values and how they live and breath.

It’s about recognising the gap between what you hope is happening and what is actually going on.

It’s about becoming a better, more confident, more self-aware leader.

It’s about making the big moments matter.

It’s about taking control of your Spinning Plate.

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Nick first presented his Spinning Plate idea to me a few years ago. I liked the image it created and how that would help people visualise what they've got going on. That goes a long way towards getting on top of all those things.

Lee CockerellFormer Executive Vice President of the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris
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In my business career I've rarely encountered someone with Nick's ability to understand and positively impact leadership performance. He's also a joy to work with.

Stephen Lehaneformer Senior Vice President, Walgreens. USA
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As my coach Nick O'Donnell helped me plot my way through many barriers that were stopping me from achieving what I wanted in my career progression. It was invaluable.

Mathew HeatherOperations Director
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I have known Nick O'Donnell since the early 90's and have followed his career with interest. He has a strong, charismatic presence and genuine ability to connect with people. This allows Nick to help people get to the very heart of what is holding them back and all this with a spirit of empathy and support. I encourage my clients to consider The Spinning Plate approach with Nick to help your team get out of their own way to success.

Corinne Winter-RoussetFounder and CEO CWR Talent
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Nick has the drive, skills and motivation to unearth underlying issues that impair performance and threaten success. The Spinning Plate methods he has established is fundamentally courageous; the power of the visual imagery quickly creates understanding - a prerequisite to finding real solutions to pivotal issues.

John TiernanDirector, Kingsgate Square Mile. Business Turnaround Consultants.
The Spinning Plate

Bringing a tailor-made approach to business and personal development that allows individuals to take control of what they’ve got going on and make the kinds of plans that deliver.

It’s all just a phone-call away

Get in touch and let us help you start getting more out of yourself and more out of your team.