The Executive Inside Track · Kate Schofield · Berlin

The work
that changes
everything else.

A four-month partnership for senior leaders navigating a significant transition: a step up, a pivot, or a fundamental shift in how they lead. Led by a coach who has done agency search, in-house, leading the team and partnering with the Management Board, at Odgers Berndtson, Google and Zalando. You get the inner work and the inside track.

Most leadership development teaches you what to think. This is about learning how you think and changing it where it matters.

On the coaching approach

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The Programme

Four months.
Structured. Intensive. Yours.

Eight sessions over four months, moving through four deliberate phases: an honest baseline, clarity on what you actually want, the direction and story to get there and a concrete plan you are held accountable to.

01
Discovery
An honest baseline: where you are now and the leadership strengths and blind spots you bring. Sessions: Where You Are Now · Your Leadership Strengths.
Month One
02
Clarity
Most senior leaders already know their values. What's harder, and where the real friction sits, is how you expect to see them lived day to day, and how fast you can read whether an opportunity is a genuine match on that. We work both: your values, and how to test for them quickly. Sessions: Values & What Drives You · Your Vision.
Month Two
03
Direction
What is actually in your way and the compelling story of you: how you are positioned and how the people who decide will read it. That's a different exercise if you've climbed one ladder inside a single company than if you've moved across several, and we build the version that's true to your path. Sessions: What's In Your Way · Your Executive Narrative.
Month Three
04
Action
Stakeholders, relationships and influence, then a 90-day plan with accountability built in. You leave with momentum, not just insight. Sessions: Relationships & Influence · Your Plan & Next Steps.
Month Four
What's Included

High-touch.
Every step of the way.

90-Minute Discovery Session
An in-depth session before the programme begins, mapping your goals, blockers and context. This shapes everything that follows and is where the real work begins.
Before month one
Eight Coaching Sessions
Two structured 60-minute sessions each month, following a deliberate eight-session arc. Prepared in advance, documented afterwards. Not a chat, a working conversation.
2 × 60 min / month
Session Reviews & Homework
A written review after every session, anchored in your own words, plus practical work between sessions. A record of your thinking that accumulates across the programme.
After every session
Between-Session Access
When a real decision lands between sessions, you don't wait. Voice note, message, or a quick call. Most clients use this sparingly; knowing it's there changes how they operate.
24-hour response · WhatsApp or voice
The Inside Track
Real-time navigation of the executive search process itself: how to read a recruiter's brief, when an agency call actually matters and how boards and search committees read your CV and interview. This is not generic career coaching. It's insider navigation of the market you're actually entering, drawn from 15 years running that process from the inside.
Woven throughout
Two Integration Sessions
Two 30-minute sessions in the months after the programme ends, to check the changes hold and adjust the plan against reality. The work should outlast the programme.
2 × 30 min · post-programme
Who This Is For

Built for leaders
at inflection points.

This programme is designed for senior professionals who are facing a moment that matters and who know that having a rigorous thinking partner will make the difference between a good outcome and a great one.

It is not for everyone. I work with a small number of clients at any one time and only take on engagements where I believe the fit is right.

  • i Senior leaders stepping into a new role or significantly expanded scope, at C-suite, VP, or Director level.
  • ii Executives planning a strategic career transition, from corporate to portfolio, or between industries.
  • iii High-performers who have hit a ceiling that technical skill alone won't break through.
  • iv Leaders managing the complexity of scaling teams, stakeholders, or their own visibility.
  • v Those who want to lead on their own terms, with clarity, confidence and fewer wasted hours.
Why This Work

As Head of Executive Recruiting and for the last 15 years, I have sat across the table from hundreds of senior leaders at every stage of their careers. Joining. Leaving. Stepping up. Burning out. Reinventing themselves.

I have noticed something. The leaders who navigated transitions well weren't the most experienced or the most connected. They were the ones who had done the internal work first. Who knew what they actually wanted, not just what looked good on paper.

I also noticed how rarely senior professionals have anyone to think that through with. Not a peer with their own agenda. Not a recruiter with a role to fill. Just a rigorous, confidential thinking partner.

"Kate challenged my thinking and my whole approach to the transition, and gave me a genuine understanding of how recruitment works from the inside. After 18 years in one company, I gained real clarity and confidence about my next step. I can recommend her without reservation as an executive coach."
VP, Engineering · Aerospace

Coaching references are shared anonymously as standard · Client confidentiality is part of the work

"AI is transforming my role and I want to get ahead of it, instead of the change happening to me."

"I know I need to make a move. I don't know where to start."

"I've been in this role for a decade. I have no idea how the market sees me now."

"I got the offer. I'm not sure I even want it."

"Everyone assumes I've got this figured out. I haven't."

If any of this sounds familiar, keep reading.

The Investment

A serious commitment.
Discussed openly.

The Structure
One fee
agreed upfront · four-month programme
Shared in the first conversation

The programme runs for four consecutive months from an agreed start date and a commitment to the full programme is required. That is how the work delivers results. The investment is discussed openly on the first call, before you decide anything.

Invoiced monthly · German VAT applicable where relevant · Corporate invoicing available

This is not an hourly engagement
You are not buying sessions. You are buying a committed four-month partnership: access, accountability and focused thinking on your specific situation.
Measurable return
For most clients, the outcomes of this programme (renewed agency, a better role, stronger performance and clarity plus clearer decisions) deliver multiples of the investment within twelve months.
Small roster by design
I work with a maximum of eight clients at any time. This is what makes the depth of engagement possible and why I am selective about who I take on.
How I Coach

Four things
that stay constant.

Whatever the client or the challenge, this is what the work is built on.

01
Empathy-led
The work starts with genuinely understanding where you are, not where you should be. No judgement about how you got here.
02
Direct questioning
I ask the question that's actually in the room, not the comfortable one. Clarity comes from being willing to look at the real thing.
03
A thought partner
You already have the answer more often than you think. My job is to help you find it faster, not hand you mine.
04
Accountability
Insight without follow-through is just an interesting conversation. Every session ends with something concrete and I check whether it happened.

Ready to have
the conversation?

Free, uncommitted and genuinely useful on its own. Bring whatever's actually live for you right now, not a pitch, a real 30 minutes of thinking.

Book Your First Conversation Ask a Question

A small number of places open for autumn 2026