You don't need someone to tell you how to do the job.
You need a thinking partner for the questions that don't have a technical answer.
Your job title says the same thing it said eighteen months ago. Your job doesn't.
The team you're managing runs on AI tools, produces code at a volume you can't review at pace, and operates in an environment where leadership is asking you to prove ROI on investments that don't have clean metrics yet. The role that used to be about producing is becoming something closer to directing. Nobody told you what that actually means for how you lead.
The Leadership Lab is a dedicated space for the conversation you haven't had yet. Not the one with your manager, your peers, or your team. The one that clears the picture.
Most leadership support in engineering is mentoring in disguise. Someone more experienced tells you what they'd do, shapes your decisions with their advice, and consciously or not, builds you in their image.
The Leadership Lab is different. It is strictly aligned with the ICF (International Coaching Federation) ethics and principles, which means I will not give you answers, tell you what I would do, or steer you toward a conclusion I've already reached.
I will use professional coaching frameworks to help you find the answers you already have. The ones that are buried under urgency, habit, and the pressure to perform.
This is a high-accountability, advisory-free zone. Your growth is driven entirely by your own insights.
This is for the Engineering Manager or Director who:
Has already made the technical-to-people-leader transition and is hitting new walls in a significantly more complex environment than the one they were promoted into
Is being asked to prove ROI on AI investments that don't have clean metrics yet, and needs to get clear on what that conversation actually requires of them
Has a team whose configuration has changed — more AI, more agents, different bottlenecks — and is working out what good leadership looks like in that context in real time
Is carrying a question they haven't said out loud: whether the EM role is being managed out, or whether this is the moment it becomes indispensable
The job has changed faster than anyone told you it would. You are figuring out what good EM work looks like in an AI-augmented team in real time, without a map for it. The coaching creates the space to work out who you are as a leader now, not who you were when the role looked different.
Is the EM layer being managed out of existence, or is this the moment it becomes more critical than ever? Most engineering managers are sitting with some version of this question and not saying it to anyone. The Leadership Lab is the space to work through it honestly, from your own thinking.
When every decision carries weight and the environment is moving fast, the quality of your thinking degrades before you notice it. We create the conditions for clear, values-led decision-making. Not reactive, not performative, and not driven by the pressure to have the answer in the room.
The next career move, the job offer, the team direction, the thing your gut keeps flagging: these decisions are rarely just strategic. We explore what your values are actually asking of you, so you can decide from there.
Sessions are 60 minutes, held via video call. There is no fixed curriculum or preset agenda — each session starts from where you are.
You bring what's present. A decision you're sitting with. A pattern you keep noticing. A conversation that didn't go the way you intended. A question you haven't been able to answer but can't stop asking.
I hold the space, ask the questions, and follow the thread — wherever it leads. You do the thinking. By the end of the session, something that was unclear tends to be clearer. Not because I explained it. Because you did.
After every session, you'll receive a written reflection and a tailored plan to keep the thread alive until we meet again.
| Sessions | 6 x 60-minute 1:1 coaching sessions |
| Duration | 3 months (fortnightly cadence) |
| Format | Video call (Zoom or equivalent) |
| Between sessions | Written session reflection and tailored plan |
| Investment | CAD $1,200 |
Your company may cover this. Many organizations have training, L&D, or coaching budgets that include programmes like the Leadership Lab, and the ICF framework and Erickson Coaching International training that underpin this work are the kinds of credentials that make internal approval conversations easier.
If your employer needs a formatted invoice or service description to process the cost, reach out at [email protected] and let me know what format works for them.
01. Foundations session - mapping your current position and 90-day objectives
02. Bi-weekly coaching calls - responsive coaching aligned with what's live for you
03. In-between support - email access for calibration and check-ins between sessions
04. Review and recalibrate - progress assessment at weeks 6 and 12 with plan refinement
Diagnostic calls are 30 minutes, free, and no-pressure. We'll talk about what you're navigating and whether this is the right fit.
Already spoken with Stuart and ready to enroll? Go straight to checkout →
Spots are limited to ensure focused, high-quality work.
The Leadership Lab is not the right starting point if what you need is tactical — a system to implement, a process to fix, or a clear answer to a specific engineering leadership problem. For that, Stuart's other packages (The Offramp, the Leadership Accelerator, Velocity through Quality) are a better fit.
The Lab is for the leader who has already done the tactical work and is ready for a different kind of conversation.
Stuart has 35 years in software engineering, including more than 20 in leadership roles, from individual contributor to Director of Software Quality. He coaches Engineering Managers and Directors through the transitions, decisions, and inflection points that don't have a technical answer.
Stuart is working towards ICF accreditation and trained with Erickson Coaching International. His coaching work is governed by the ICF Code of Ethics and core competency framework.
Diagnostic calls are 30 minutes, free, and no-pressure. We'll talk about what you're navigating and whether this is the right fit.
Already spoken with Stuart and ready to enroll? Go straight to checkout →
Spots are limited to ensure focused, high-quality work.