The Optimised Leader: NEXT LEVEL
End Self-Sabotage, Break Operational Bottlenecks, Shatter Performance Ceilings
Automate Leadership Confidence, Execute Strategy, Deliver High Performance
What's Your Bottleneck? What Result Aren't You Getting...Yet?
There can be a range of different triggers for not getting our desired result: A market shift. A different organisation. A promotion. A new team. A big initiative. When the stakes change, our inner and outer strategy must change with them.
Our personal bottlenecks are biological and slow our results in curious ways depending on which saboteur(s) is in play:
• We avoid the tasks we are afraid of because of a fear of failure, rejection or criticism.
• We get lost in busy work, not effective work, spending time on activities that don’t deliver the results we desire.
• We over-analyse, over-think and doubt ourselves, and so stay within the comfort of our everyday zone.
• We over-complicate things to prove our worth, instead of accepting good enough for now
Why We Get Stuck
We all get stuck at some point in our career or business. I know this both from running my own company for the last two decades and through my work coaching leaders. We reach a plateau, lose motivation, hop between shiny new strategies or burn out through proving our worth. We hesitate to take the next step, held back by a lack of confidence or an underlying anxiety about failing. This is ‘inner stuff’ getting in the way of outer results.
When I qualified as a coach over 20 years ago, I quickly became frustrated when working with leaders. They would identify a great strategic plan but fail to follow through. This inaction turned valuable coaching conversations into a waste of time, ultimately leaving them hitting a ceiling.
That was when I began noticing The 7 Leadership Saboteurs—the unconscious patterns that get in the way of us reaching our next level. It was no good simply having a plan. I needed to find a way to help leaders remove these self-sabotage patterns.
The 7 Leadership Saboteurs
The Micro-Controller
Struggles to delegate or trust others’ work, driven by a fear of losing control, failure, or being exposed as inadequate. They often step in to manage details and control outcomes, which can limit team growth, create bottlenecks and overwhelm the leader.
The Relentless Perfectionist
Sets impossibly high standards for self and others, driven by a need to avoid flaws, errors, and criticism through endless analysis and refinement. This leads to overwork, dissatisfaction, and frustration when things are less than perfect.
The Doubting Imposter
Experiences persistent self-doubt and fears being exposed as a fraud, despite evidence of competence or achievement. Driven by a need to belong and feel good enough, the leader proves their worth, through over-doing, resulting in stress or burnout.
The Constant Firefighter
Operates in a high-alert, reactive state, treating daily issues as urgent crises. Driven by a sense of duty to protect the organisation, this leader prioritises immediate problem-solving over long-term strategic planning, which can cause burnout and hide systemic structural needs.
The Strategic Procrastinator
Delays critical, high-stakes decisions by channelling energy into routine busywork. Driven by a need to avoid exposure or failure, this leader prioritises comfortable tasks over bold execution. This pattern stalls momentum and limits organisational growth.
The Chronic Harmoniser
Prioritises keeping the peace and avoiding conflict at the expense of necessary change. Driven by a fear of being disliked, this leader avoids tough conversations and compromises their boundaries, inadvertently stalling team accountability and heavily increasing their own to-do list.
The Over-Achiever
Seeks validation and external success, believing they are only valuable for what they achieve, not for who they are. Driven by a subconscious fear that rest is a sign of weakness or laziness, this leader prioritises the next target over personal boundaries. This loop can cause workaholism and lead to internal burnout.
Which Saboteur Is Creating Your Biological Bottleneck?
Discover which nervous system-driven habits are quietly limiting your growth, and how to change them for good, by completing my free 7 Leadership Saboteurs scorecard. Built from 20+ years of executive coaching, it takes 3 minutes to give you an instant, customised report to help you work towards calm, confident, strategic leadership.
The Challenge of Lasting Behavioural Change: Your Autopilot
We all know that changing our behaviour and habits can be challenging. Often, my clients come to me having already tried traditional conversational coaching, counselling, self-help books, or training programmes, only to revert back to type. This is because the average person needs to practice a new behaviour for at least 66 days before it becomes completely automatic.
Which poses two distinct problems for busy leaders:
1. The Time Crunch: Leaders are already overstretched and lack the time required for long, gruelling behavioural adjustments.
2. The Autopilot Effect: Most of the time we operate on autopilot, remaining consciously aware of only 1% of our daily behaviour. The rest is handled entirely by our unconscious mind. For example, when you drive to work, do you consciously think “mirror, signal, manoeuvre”—or does your autopilot take care of it for you?
This makes it very difficult to A) catch the behaviour we want to change, and B) actually change it in the moment!
The Solution? Modify Your Autopilot with Neuroscience
Twelve years ago, I discovered a neuroscience-based technique called Havening that overcomes both these challenges:
1. The Time Crunch Resolved: instead of practicing a behaviour 66 times, you attend *4 coaching sessions and let me do the heavy lifting for you. I clear the root cause of your self-sabotage patterns. This also overcomes challenge #2.
2. The Autopilot Effect Resolved. Instead of having to remember to change your behaviour which is on autopilot 99% of the time – we change the programming of your autopilot. By ‘erasing’ the events which created the self-sabotage pattern, it removes the trigger for the behaviour. This then creates automatic belief, feeling, and behavioural changes within the leader.
Havening resets your nervous system and rapidly clears the blocks to your desired results, enabling you to break through the ceiling to your next level performance.
*This is the average number of sessions and works for nurture based behavioural triggers.
Coaching Transformations
The Micro-Controller: From Rigid Operations to a £20 Million Turnover Boost
“Our firm had been successful for generations, but we suddenly started losing business. The feedback from clients was that we were becoming staid, old-fashioned, and lacking in innovation. The reality was that our internal processes had become too rigid. I was overly involved in the micro-details, managing everything from minor expenses to company dress codes. Being stuck in the day-to-day details meant the team didn’t have the flexibility to innovate.
We brought Estelle in to help guide a deep cultural change. We defined a clear vision for the future, which allowed me to step back from the day-to-day operations and trust our teams to align our company values and strategy.
The teams worked hard and became highly engaged. Once they were given the autonomy to operate without constant oversight, they delivered highly innovative, flexible solutions for our clients. Two years down the line, our turnover increased from £120 million to £140 million—and we achieved that substantial growth during a difficult market downturn.”
Chair, Construction Industry
The Micro-Controller: From A Lack of Trust to A High Performing Team
“My team is more responsive, proactive and is doing things before I ask. They anticipate what I am going to ask. I have changed the way we work and removed the deadlines from the calendar. Before I didn’t trust that the work would be done and it was always on me. Now my team are prioritising. Before I was holding everything together and I couldn’t delegate to anyone. I was unintentionally micromanaging and not letting go. I’m in a very good place in my mind, both in my personal and professional life. Life is good. I have a feeling of freedom. I don’t feel as exhausted after work.”
Head of Finance, Pharmaceutical Industry
The Relentless Perfectionist: From Fear of Making Mistakes To Time Freedom:
“Before my expectation was that everything had to be perfect, but [following Havening] I feel more comfortable and freer. I have stopped looking at the details and I give myself the right to make mistakes. I am no longer afraid if my team makes mistakes either. There is just so much more trust now. When I leave the office—my time is my time. I’m finally free to enjoy my life and my family!”
Commercial Director, Pharmaceutical Industry
The Doubting Imposter: From Fear of Being Found Out To A £250k Profit Turnaround:
‘Taking over the role as Acting CEO, I felt nervous about how I came across – that fear of being asked a question and not knowing the answer. I felt intimidated by some of the characters in my wider organisation, especially as I was sat on the ‘intellectual decision-making table’ with them. They were so articulate. However, I recognise that I have a voice and I deliver results. I have led the organisation from a £279k loss to a £250k profit. We are on track to further increase that to £500k this year.’
Acting CEO, Healthcare Industry.
The Doubting Imposter: From Sceptic to Top Performer: A 300% Fee Income Increase:
“I was sent for coaching to increase my monthly fee income and was very sceptical about the process. I was conscious that I was achieving two-thirds fewer fees than my peers and would constantly compare myself. When Estelle asked me what was getting in the way of my best performance, I said I didn’t feel good enough. We used Havening and EFT to clear up this limiting belief, and it resulted in me increasing my fees by 300%. I’m better organised, delivering on my objectives and feel confident in my abilities. I also became the top fee-earning performer within my level of PQE.”
Commercial Litigator, Legal Industry
The Constant Firefighter: From Burnout & Flight Risk to Streamlined Productivity:
‘I’ve gone from updating my CV and burnout to recognising that I’m a key part of the leadership team. I’m a more productive, organised, energised professional, and a happier person to be around. My work and homelife are streamlined saving me time and energy. I’m communicating with confidence, clarity and fairness and can handle tough conversations without guilt or ruining my weekend! I’m no longer being triggered by my colleagues, so I can get my point across in a factual way. Finally, I’m able to delegate more because I’m not afraid they will get things wrong.’
Finance Director, Professional Services
The Strategic Procrastinator: From Avoidance To Action & Increased Sales Conversion:
“At the beginning of a sales pitch, I would lose confidence in my abilities. I would start to second-guess myself, which resulted in low sales. This made me doubt how useful I was to my colleagues, and I feared that I could not stay in my role at that level. Following up also became an issue because I would predict a negative outcome, causing me to procrastinate. However, now I am converting 60% of sales. It feels so natural, as though I have not had to consciously change [following Havening]; it has been a subconscious shift and is more than I expected. Before, I felt threatened by our competitors. Now, I see competition as a good way of keeping us busy and pushing us to take action. Ultimately, I am feeling positive, confident, and more functional. I have a genuine hunger to achieve my goals.”
Sales Executive, Property Industry.
The Chronic Harmoniser: Fear of Being Disliked Dissolved and £1 Million Saved:
‘I recently had a conversation with a colleague I’ve been avoiding for 18 months. His actions were costing the business around £1 million annually. I’d been putting off having the conversation because I feared he would dislike me and that it would damage our relationship. However, [following havening] I just went ahead, and had the conversation without overthinking. No pre-planning and he was fine about it!’
Equity Partner, Legal Industry.
The Over-Achiever: From burnout & Stress Leave to high-performance & time freedom:
‘I’ve got rid of 12 cases and I’m back to doing 2, just like my peers. I’m managing 8 partners instead of 22. I’m leaving at 4.15 pm one day a week. I thought I would feel bad, but I don’t. I’ve got time to garden, play golf and be with my wife. I put my out of office on whilst on holiday in France and didn’t look at my emails once. I told my colleagues not to bother me. I recognise that I am needed. I have found that I care less; I still care just not to an extreme. I’ve stopped thinking about work all the time.’
Equity Partner, Legal Industry.
Which Of The 7 Leadership Saboteurs Is Holding You Back?
Discover which nervous system-driven habits are quietly limiting your growth, and how to change them for good, by completing my free scorecard. Built from 20+ years of executive coaching, it takes 3 minutes to give you an instant, customised report to help you work towards calm, confident, strategic leadership.
Coaching Testimonials
What You Actually Need Is Simple.
True Leadership Isn’t About Doing More. It’s About Removing The Self-Sabotage That Holds Your Strategy Back.
Stop The Self-Sabotage Ceiling Effect
Clear hidden subconscious triggers in 4 weeks—then scale performance over a 6-month strategic partnership. Reset your nervous system, design your strategic roadmap, and operate with automatic, lasting confidence.
Traditional coaching leaves triggers untouched And Involves Forcing Yourself to Behave Differently. We reset your biology in 4 weeks, making long-term strategic execution effortless.
↗️Join The Optimised Leader Programme: NEXT LEVEL↗️
This transformative programme helps you break performance ceilings and dismantle internal barriers that fuel self-sabotage. Grounded in neuroscience-informed techniques, it guides you to clarify your vision, fuel motivation, craft a strategic plan, stay accountable and supported, and optimise your time, energy, and mindset for sustained leadership impact and results.
The 5 Step CLEAR Process:
⚡PHASE 1: The 6-Week Foundational Rapid Reset
C
Get CLEAR On Your Next Level
Break through your false ceiling by identifying the specific saboteurs holding you back. Then get clear on the results you wish to attain. Clarify what matters the most and clearly define your Next Level Vision.
L
LET GO of Leadership Saboteur Patterns
Your coach will use Havening to clear, (in as little as four weeks), your hidden subconscious triggers, hijacking progress and creating your biological bottlenecks, making confident, calm strategic execution effortless.
PHASE 2: The 6-Month Strategic Accelerator (Optional)
E
ENERGISE to Optimise Your Results
Optimise your energy-state and schedule. Accomplish more in less time by identifying your personal and professional energy boosters, blocks, and drains.
A
Take ALIGNED aCTION
Build your One-Page Strategic Plan. Turn your Next Level Vision into a clear, tangible roadmap aligned with your priorities.
R
RECOGNISE & RISE to the Next Level
Sustain motivation, learn from setbacks, and rise to your Next Level. Deepen learning, foster accountability, and benefit from expert guidance to stay on track and accelerate your transformation.
What's Included In The Optimised Leader Programme: NEXT LEVEL↗️
Phase 1: Six 1-2-1 coaching sessions, of which four will include Havening to align your biology with your ambition, creating automatic belief, behaviour and emotional change.
Phase 2 (Optional): Six 1-2-1 monthly coaching sessions to optimise your energy and results, create your strategic plan, lock in new habits, stay accountable so that you rise to your NEXT LEVEL.
The CLEAR Master Blueprint: your personal roadmap and lifelong resource.
Interim email coaching and support for the duration of your programme so that you don’t get stuck, maintain motivation, receive words of encouragement and have a confidante…because it can be lonely at the top.
Accountability to optimise your goal success by up to 95% with regular reviews of your recorded actions.
Gain greater insights with a digital copy of my bestselling book, Inner Brilliance · Outer Shine: 10 Antidotes to Imposter Syndrome, Workaholism and Stress.
INVESTMENT:
Phase 1: The 6-Week Foundational
Rapid Reset
Optimise your nervous system & break through biological bottlenecks
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6 One-to-One Zoom Coaching Sessions Which Includes:
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4 Neuro-Coaching Sessions Using Havening Techniques®
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The CLEAR Foundation Blueprint, Which Includes:
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Identity Pyramid, Saboteurs Assessment & Mindset Optimisation Toolkit
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Complimentary Digital Copy of My Bestselling Book
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Dedicated Email Support Throughout Your Active Programme
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No Complete CLEAR Master Blueprint
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No Strategic Accelerator
Phase 1 & 2: The 6-Month
Strategic Accelerator
Optimise your nervous system, break through biological bottlenecks & scale your strategic business impact
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6 One-to-One Zoom Rapid Reset Coaching Sessions Which Includes:
-
4 Neuro-Coaching Sessions Using Havening Techniques®
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6 One-to-One Zoom Strategic Accelerator Coaching Sessions
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The Complete CLEAR Master Blueprint, Which Includes:
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Identity Pyramid, Saboteurs Assessment & Mindset Optimisation Toolkit
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Aligned Strategic Plan & Success Metrics
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Habit Tracker & Non-Negotiable Daily Focus
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Energy & Time Optimisation Systems
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Complimentary Digital Copy of My Bestselling Book
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Dedicated Email Support Throughout Your Active Programme
Phase 1: Spread The Cost And Sessions Over 6 Months:
£1,500 + VAT
Followed by 5 monthly payments of £700 + VAT
Sessions are paced one meeting per month, alongside your payments.
Phase 1 & 2: Spread The Cost And Sessions Over 12 months
£2,000 + VAT
Followed by 11 monthly payments of £600 + VAT
Sessions are paced one meeting per month, alongside your payments.
The Optimised Leader Can Be Delivered As A Group Programme. Get In Touch To Discuss Your Needs And Obtain A Quote:
You have questions. We have answers.
Most of my clients come to me having already invested time and money in self-help books, counselling, therapy, or coaching, to no avail. This is because they were working against nurture based neural pathways created in their childhood, which were creating the self-sabotage ceiling effect.
To create a new neural pathway of competence, it takes the average person 66 days to change a habit. Is it any wonder that change then becomes challenging? It certainly requires grit, determination, and consistent effort on your part.
I too invested in many coaching and training programmes. I was fakin’ it, but not makin’ it, to the extent where I procrastinated over writing my own bestselling book for 10 years! Imagine all the missed opportunities and results I could have had during that time? ! felt like a failure. Nothing seemed to work…that was until I found Havening and stopped sabotaging myself. My business boomed once I became an author.
If you can afford the investment of 12-24 hours of your life and the fee :-), you too could be benefiting from work and life changes which enable you to be the NEXT LEVEL version of yourself.
A better question would be what would it cost you, in terms of happiness, success, wellbeing and relationships, if you don’t invest now?
Our experience is that most clients do not believe it will work and are astonished when it does.
While the Havening Techniques is a relatively new to the coaching industry, (although I have been using them for over 12 years with my clients), we’ve observed that after successfully applying The Havening Techniques, it appears to be permanent.
This is because The Havening Techniques are designed to alter the biological structure of the brain. The occasional return of symptoms implies either the traumatic core has not yet been found or the problem has been encoded in a different way, which is why it’s important to work with a qualified Havening Practitioner.
Please note that addictive and obsessive/compulsive behaviours, certain pain syndromes, and fainting issues often need reinforcement or cannot be treated at the present time. No method or therapy works for all problems.
The Havening Technique methods are easy to apply and calming, because you are producing delta brain waves and serotonin. The difficult part, which takes practice and skill, is locating where the core elements of the micro-trauma lie, which your Havening Practitioner / Coach will take care of for you.
Most clients begin noticing subtle but significant automatic changes to their thoughts, feelings and or behaviour following the third session of Havening.
We have found that leaders and executives are most suited to this programme who:
o Prefer a more bespoke approach, so that we focus purely on the issues that matter to you and not a one size fits all.
o Prefer a ‘done for you’ solution, which means that you don’t have to haven outside your coaching sessions, saving you time.
o Want to ensure that the right triggers are removed in relation to their coaching agenda.
o Are private and prefer not to share personal issues within a group.
o Want to pick a time which suits their calendar as opposed to joining a group timetable.
You can choose the method that suits your business or personal accounting the best. I will provide you with an invoice so that you can pay either of the following ways:
- By Direct Bank Transfer
- By Credit Card
Please note that all invoices are due immediately upon receipt to confirm your coaching seat.
Yes. To maintain the momentum of your “CLEAR” process and ensure the compounding effects take hold, all sessions for Phase 1 must be completed within 8 months of your first session. All Sessions for Phase 1 and Phase 2 must be completed within 14 months of your first session.
I will be your personal cheerleader for the duration of your coaching programme, so that you:
1. Don’t get stuck.
2. Maintain your motivation.
3. Receive words of encouragement if you experience bumps in the road.
4. Have a confidante…because it’s lonely at the top.
This service is available for the duration of your coaching programme i.e. up until your final coaching session, during office hours & excludes holidays…because I’m no longer a workaholic 😉
This is a bespoke programme, tailored entirely based on the coaching goals you set. All five steps are covered in your CLEAR Blueprint should you want to revisit any of the steps at a later date.
Book A 15 Minute Free discovery Call
This is a pressure-free conversation where you can share what is on your mind, outline your goals, and ask me anything. There is a strict zero-sales-pitch guarantee. We are simply exploring your needs to see if we are fit or if I can help.
Ready to chat? Book your spot below.
Hi, I'm Estelle Read
bestselling Author, Speaker, Podcast Host & Leadership Coach,
A.K.A. The Saboteur Buster
