You've stepped into the top seat. Now you need the business to run like it.
Private 1:1 leadership coaching for MDs and founders of established creative, events, experiential, production & exhibition agencies navigating a merger, acquisition, restructure or new leadership appointment.
NEXT COHORT STARTS MARCH 2026. FOR MORE INFORMATION
Are you ready to stop firefighting
and start leading.
PRIVATE 1:1 EXECUTIVE COACHING AND MENTORING TO HELP YOU LEAD WITH IMPACT IN THE MOMENTS THAT COUNT
NEXT COHORT STARTS MARCH 2026. FOR MORE INFORMATION
Leadership that stabilises performance, protects profit & unlocks potential.
Above the Line is my signature programme for founders, executives & leaders who've stepped into greater responsibility and are quietly adjusting to who they've becoming next.
You've stepped into the top seat. Now you need the business to run like it.
Private 1:1 leadership coaching for MDs and founders of established creative, events, experiential, production & exhibition agencies navigating a merger, acquisition, restructure or new leadership appointment.
The gap between where you are and where the business needs you to be.
You’ve taken on the top seat through a buyout, a promotion, a merger, or years of building. The role is yours. But the business was built around a different leadership configuration, and it doesn’t yet run the way you need it to.
Difficult conversations get avoided. Decisions come back up to you that should never reach your desk. The team beneath you isn’t performing the way it should. And you’re quietly covering ground that should be theirs to hold.
This isn’t a performance problem. It’s a leadership infrastructure problem and it’s one that nobody has ever addressed directly.
The window to fix it is the first twelve months. That is when the culture of your leadership gets set by design or by default. After that, the wrong habits are the norm.
That’s exactly what Leadership Partnership provides.
The Above the Line framework applied to your specific context. A trusted confidant who has lived this world from the inside for nearly thirty years.
One investment. Measurable shift across everything beneath it.
Your leadership confidant who has lived this from the inside.
I co-founded and ran 4D Design for nearly thirty years. I know what it costs when a senior leader isn't functioning at the level the business needs because I felt it on both sides. I was that leader once, figuring it out as I went. And I was the founder watching the gap between where my team was leading from and where I needed them to be.
Nobody taught me how to make that shift. I learned it the hard way through the difficult conversations avoided, the decisions that came back to my desk, the standards that drifted when I wasn't watching.
I'm a qualified coach. The Above the Line framework is built on established coaching methodology not just experience. The combination of nearly thirty years inside the industry and a rigorous coaching foundation is what makes the work both practical and deeply effective.
That's why Leadership Partnership isn't theory. It's the frameworks, language and capability I wish someone had given me applied directly to what your leader is navigating right now.
I work with a small number of senior leaders at any one time. The work is specific, challenging and grounded in the reality of agency life.
If you're ready for that conversation, book a call.
Your leadership confidant who understands creative agency life.
I spent nearly 30 years at 4D Design. I was promoted because I was a strong operator.
Then I was leading teams, managing clients, holding delivery standards and
making the leadership decisions that sit alongside performance and margin.
Nobody taught me how to make that shift. I was figuring it out as I went.
I know what it's like to be pulled into delivery when you should be leading. To take work back because it's easier than delegating properly. To say yes when you mean no because you don't want to let people down.
And I'm here to tell you: you can learn how to lead without sacrificing yourself.
You don't need to work harder. You need to see where you're dropping below the line and catch yourself before you spiral.
That's what Leadership Partnership gives you: a trusted thinking partner who understands creative agency life, strategic support tailored to your role, and clear frameworks that help you lead with confidence.
I know how easy it is to put yourself last. The deadlines, the client expectations, the team performance issues, the delivery pressure, everyone else before you.. and it in the it all takes over.
But there is another way. Let me to show you how.
The experience
What a Leadership Partnership looks like in practice.
This isn't a fixed programme with a predetermined curriculum. It's structured around what your leader is navigating right now, the specific decisions, dynamics and pressure points that are limiting their effectiveness.
Every engagement starts with a diagnostic conversation, where they're operating across the five pillars of the Above the Line framework, where the gaps are, and what the business needs from them that they're not yet consistently delivering.
From there, each session works on what's live. The difficult conversation they've been avoiding. The team dynamic that keeps undermining performance. The delegation that isn't sticking. The commercial decision that keeps landing back on your desk.
Six sessions. Structured around the Above the Line framework. £3,000.
Between sessions, they're applying what was surfaced in the room not waiting for the next session to move forward.
By session six, the shift is measurable. Not just in how they feel about their role. In how the team performs, how decisions flow, and how much less depends on you.
GOT QUESTIONS?
Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1: How is this different from the Above the Line Programme?
The Above the Line Programme is group-base, a cohort of senior leaders working through nine leadership themes together over nine weeks. It's structured, progressive and powerful for the peer learning dynamic it creates.
Leadership Partnership is different in kind, not just format. It's 1:1, private, and built entirely around what your leader is navigating right now. There's no fixed curriculum, the framework is the same, but the work is specific to their role, their team and the decisions on their desk.
If you're looking to develop a group of senior leaders together, the programme is the right route. If you need one person to shift significantly and quickly, Leadership Partnership is the faster, more direct intervention.
Question 2: How long does the 1:1 Coaching Partnership Run?
The initial commitment is six sessions, typically delivered over three to four months. That's enough time to create real, measurable shift not just insight.
Some leaders choose to continue beyond the initial six. That's a conversation we have when the time comes, based on where they are and what the business needs next. There's no pressure to commit beyond the initial engagement.
Question 3: What's included in the partnership?
Six 60-minute 1:1 coaching sessions delivered via Zoom, typically fortnightly. Each session works on what's live, the decisions, dynamics and situations your leader is navigating right now.
The content of sessions is confidential. That's what makes the space safe and of value - your leader needs to be able to think clearly without filtering what they say.
Where the partnership is agency-sponsored, the MD or founder receives an honest progress conversation at the close of the engagement, an assessment of where their leader is now operating across the five pillars, and what's shifted.
The results show up before that conversation. In how decisions flow. In what lands on your desk and what doesn't.
Question 4: Is this suitable for agency-sponsored leaders?
Yes and it's often the most effective way to use it.
When an MD or founder sponsors a place, they're making a direct investment in the performance of someone critical to the business. The return isn't abstract. It shows up in fewer escalations, stronger team performance, and decisions being made at the right level without coming back up the chain.
Leadership Partnership works well as part of succession planning, as a development investment for a high-potential senior leader, or as a targeted intervention when someone capable isn't yet operating at the level the business needs.
The engagement is structured so the MD is not required to be involved day-to-day. At the close of the six sessions, you receive an honest assessment of where your leader is now operating and what's shifted.
One investment. One person. Measurable impact across the team beneath them.
Question 5: What's the investment?
Leadership Partnership is six sessions at £3,000.
That’s £500 per session for private 1:1 coaching with someone who has spent nearly thirty years inside the industry you’re operating in. For context one wrong leadership appointment costs an agency £15,000–£25,000 in recruitment, onboarding and lost client confidence. Getting the leadership infrastructure wrong in a merger or restructure can cost multiples of that.
If you want to continue beyond the initial six sessions, extensions are available at £500 per session. That conversation happens at the close of the engagement, not before.
Let's Connect
Leadership Coaching and Consultancy for Established Creative and Events Agencies
The Leadership Line works with MDs and founders of established creative, events, experiential and exhibition agencies navigating mergers, acquisitions, restructures and new leadership appointments building the leadership layer their agency needs to execute strategy and grow without the MD being the bottleneck.
Founded by Suzy Malhotra, with nearly 30 years co-founding and running a design and exhibition agency. This isn't coaching from the outside. It's straight talk from someone who has lived this world from the inside.
Based in Henley-on-Thames | Working with agencies across the UK and globally
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