CASE STUDIES
Proof from the vault
“Working with Danielle gave us the clarity and tools to move forward as a leadership team”
Company type:
B2B tech startup, Seed
Team size:
40 employees
Engagement length:
6 weeks
Key impact:
+30% employee engagement rate
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When you hit a growth spurt, cracks in leadership show up fast. That's what happened here: big market potential, loads of energy, but a leadership team still finding its feet after a pivot.
The symptoms were familiar - missed targets, messy comms, and a general sense of "who is actually driving this thing?" We needed to rebuild trust, get everyone aligned on the mission, and create clear accountability.
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Assessed team performance using The Rocket Model survey (a research-backed framework that measures team effectiveness across 8 dimensions: context, mission, talent, norms, buy-in, resources, courage, and results). This gave us quantitative baseline data on where the team was strong and where they were stuck.
Used psychometric assessments to help the leadership team understand their own working styles, motivations, and how they show up under pressure. This surfaced the invisible dynamics that were creating friction.
Facilitated workshops with the founder and leadership team to rebuild trust, reconnect to the mission, and surface the tensions that were slowing them down.
Built a 6-month action plan with a performance scorecard and clear accountability measures so momentum wouldn't drop once the workshops ended.
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• +30% employee engagement rate
• 100% of employees rated workshops as valuable
• Opportunities in key areas up by 30–60%
• Leadership team aligned around shared performance goals
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Baseline performance benchmark: gives the team a clear starting point, so progress isn’t a guessing game. Everyone can see what “better” actually looks like.
6 month action plan: turns workshop ideas into day to day habits. No more “we should” conversations; just clear priorities, owners, and timelines.
Performance scorecard: keeps accountability front and centre. It’s now baked into leadership meetings, 1:1s, and performance reviews, so momentum doesn’t drop once the workshops end.
Together, these tools stop leadership drift before it starts. Sharper focus, cleaner comms, and a team that actually does what it sets out to do.
"Pay conversations stopped being our most dreaded meetings."
Company type:
Multi-site hospitality
Team size:
50 employees
Engagement length:
12 months
Key impact:
20% reduction in turnover, 30% increase in average tenure
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Pay reviews were adhoc and arbitrary. No clear process for how, when, or why salaries got reviewed. Managers were winging every pay conversation. People didn't understand how progression worked, and the best people were quietly job hunting.
This works fine at 15 people. At 50? It's a retention crisis waiting to happen. When people don't understand the deal - what they're being paid, why, and what they need to do to progress - they start looking elsewhere.
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Workshopped with leadership to create role levels across the business and define a clear pay philosophy
Benchmarked salaries against relevant industries and designed salary bands with vertical and horizontal progression pathways
Built a repeatable annual review process with clear criteria for promotions and progression
Equipped managers with workshops, pay scripts, salary calculator, and promotion guidelines
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20% reduction in turnover over 12 months
30% increase in average tenure
20% boost in employee engagement
95% manager satisfaction with the new pay strategy
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Role progression framework: Clear levels with impact and competency guidance at each stage, so "what does Senior actually mean here?" finally has an answer everyone agrees on.
Salary bands and benchmarking process: Transparent bands that encourage both vertical and horizontal progression, plus a repeatable annual process they can run themselves without starting from scratch each time.
Pay philosophy and manager tools: A framework everyone understands, a salary calculator for fair decisions, pay conversation scripts for difficult moments, and promotion criteria that aren't mysterious.
Pay decisions got easier. Team trust went up.
"I stopped avoiding the hard conversations and actually started helping my team grow"
Company type:
Health Tech, Series A
Team size:
60 employees
Engagement length:
6 months
Key impact:
95% of managers improved their approach, 25% increase in leadership satisfaction
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First time managers with no formal training. Nice people, liked by their teams, but they struggled with the actual work of managing. They avoided difficult conversations, gave vague feedback, and didn't know how to hold people accountable without feeling like "the bad guy."
Being liked is great. Being kind is better. And right now, they weren't helping their teams grow. The founder was spending hours coaching managers through basic situations - trying to drive accountability and clarity on what ‘good’ management looks like here.
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Defined manager standards specific to this company and stage - not generic best practices, really woven into their values and operating principles
Surveyed team members to establish baseline performance against these standards
Delivered monthly bite-sized workshops on leadership fundamentals: styles, difficult conversations, feedback, goal setting, building high performing teams
Provided 1:1 coaching monthly and supported personalised development goals
Re-ran baseline survey to measure actual progress
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15% increase in employee engagement within 6 months
25% increase in satisfaction with leadership style and effectiveness
30% improvement in manager performance across key competencies
95% of managers reported the standards clarified expectations and improved their approach
100% of managers rated workshops as valuable
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Manager standards: Shared expectations for what good management looks like at this company - giving everyone a clear benchmark instead of guessing what ‘good’ means.
Development programme: Six practical workshops addressing real challenges managers face, plus personalised development plans and monthly 1:1 coaching for tailored support when sticky situations come up.
Manager scorecards: Baseline measurements showing where they started, progress tracking showing where they're going, and tangible feedback from their teams on growth - not just how it feels, but what teams are actually experiencing.
Managers became more confident. Teams felt better supported. The founder got their time back.
YOU’VE SEEN THE WORK. NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT YOURS.
Every founder team needs something slightly different.
Sometimes it’s a focused project. Sometimes it’s a longer term partnership. Either way, we’ll work out what support makes sense for your stage, your team, and what’s actually going on.
I’d love to hear from you.