Welcome
Welcome to Mike McLinden Executive Coaching.
Executive Coaching provides a confidential, goal-oriented space for leaders to reflect on practice, strengthen critical thinking, and refine the skills required to lead effectively in complex institutional environments.
As an ILM Level 7 accredited Executive Coach, I work with leaders and aspiring leaders across Higher Education.
Drawing on over thirty years of experience in higher education leadership, research and organisational change, my coaching approach combines reflective practice, systems thinking and Theory of Change to help leaders navigate complexity with greater clarity, confidence and purpose.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss how I can support leadership effectiveness for yourself, or for colleagues within your institution.
Professor Mike McLinden
“Supporting higher education leaders think reflectively and systemically about complex institutional change.”
Why Executive Coaching in Higher Education?
Higher Education leaders operate within increasingly complex institutional environments shaped by strategic change, financial pressures, organisational transformation, evolving student expectations, and potentially competing priorities.
Effective leadership in Higher Education is therefore distinctive, and involves the ability to think strategically, navigate complexity, build strong relationships, communicate with clarity, support organisational change, and create positive impact for colleagues, students, and institutions.
My Executive Coaching approaches are designed to offer structured space for leaders in Higher Education to reflect critically on their practice, strengthen decision-making, refine leadership approaches, and develop sustainable and authentic ways of leading within complex institutional environments.
'I found the Executive Coaching sessions really helpful. They enabled me to unpack our change process and identify key areas I needed to focus on which has been enormously helpful. I would absolutely recommend this coaching practice. Mike creates a calm reflective environment which makes it easy to be more introspective and objective - sometimes it is hard to find the time to do that on your own!'
Faculty Dean of Research, UK University
Coaching Themes
Typical themes we can cover through Executive Coaching include:
“Mike helped me to re-assess my academic and professional value. He provided huge support in strategising the next steps of my career after I had hit a watershed. I now have a new role, and I am excited about the road it may take me down.”
Associate Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, UK University
Strengthening strategic leadership and decision-making
Support for leadership transitions and role development
Supporting professional growth and career development
Developing confidence in leadership roles
Navigating organisational change and complexity more effectively
Team leadership and culture
Enhancing stakeholder engagement and communication
Building reflective leadership practice
My Coaching Approach
My coaching approach has been developed to enhance the effectiveness of the individual clients I work within their respective leadership roles.
It is designed to be reflective, collaborative and grounded in the distinctive realities of leadership within their particular institution.
My approach combines Executive Coaching expertise with deep sector understanding developed through over 30 years of experience in Higher Education leadership, research, teaching, and strategic development, and
incorporates:
- A Goal focused coaching framework
- Theory of Change thinking
- Reflective leadership practice
- Strengths-based leadership development
- Evidence-informed coaching conversations
Strategic Leadership through Theory of Change
A distinctive feature of my coaching approach where appropriate, is the use of Theory of Change as a reflective leadership framework to help leaders think systemically about complexity, assumptions, stakeholder relationships and sustainable institutional impact.
Through reference to a Reflective Framework we can co-create a bespoke Theory of Change to support leaders to move beyond immediate 'problem solving' to thinking more explicitly about how they can:
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navigate institutional complexity,
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strengthen stakeholder engagement,
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surface hidden assumptions,
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think systemically about sustainable change,
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connect leadership actions to long-term institutional impact.
My Values
My work as an Executive Coach is guided by six core values:
- Integrity: Building trust through honesty, openness, and confidentiality.
- Collaboration: Working together in a respectful, supportive partnership.
- Reflective Practice: Creating space for reflection, insight, and growth.
- Authenticity: Encouraging leaders to lead with authenticity.
- Evidence-Informed Practice: Grounding our work in research, evidence, and proven methods.
- Sustainable Change: Focusing on lasting impact for individuals, teams, and institutions.
In supporting each client's leadership journey, I am committed to maintaining the highest standards of confidentiality, trust, and ethical practice. I adhere to the EMCC Global Code of Ethics, ensuring a professional and secure coaching environment.
"My Executive Coaching sessions with Mike have been a really helpful step in my academic career, giving me the space to balance recognising my past achievements with planning for the future.
In a busy environment where it is easy to just focus on the next deadline, Executive Coaching allowed me to pause and actually acknowledge the work I have done so far. It also helped me look at my professional goals alongside the realities of my current workload and personal life, so I could set more realistic expectations for myself moving forward.
Ultimately, this reflective process gave me a clearer sense of direction and helped me feel more intentional about how I manage my time and career growth."
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Education, UK University
My Experience
My coaching practice is informed by extensive experience working across higher education leadership, teaching, research and organisational development and with a scholarly understanding of systems, learning and organisational change.
As Professor in Education at the University of Birmingham, I worked across departmental, faculty and institutional contexts and have long-standing experience of:
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educational leadership,
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research culture,
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policy development,
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mentoring,
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academic development,
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organisational change,
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leadership support.
Certified Executive Coach (ILM Level 7) - Masters level qualification with a focus on developing leadership capacity and driving organisational performance.
Emeritus Professor, University of Birmingham - Extensive leadership and management experience in a wide range of senior academic roles.
Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) - Recognition of sustained, strategic leadership in teaching and learning with extensive impact on colleagues, institutions or the wider sector.
Who I Work With
I work with leaders and aspiring leaders across Higher Education who are seeking to enhance their effectiveness, support professional growth and career development, navigate complexity, and create meaningful impact within their institutions.
This includes colleagues working within academic leadership, professional services leadership, research leadership, learning and teaching leadership, organisational development, and strategic institutional roles.
"Mike gave me a unique opportunity to think about where I was in my professional academic career. This very much transformed how I now consider my personal and professional aims and allowed me to reflect upon my current situation at work and at home. Overall, it has changed my perspective on viewing how I can systematically make positive changes in both my personal and professional life."
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Nursing, UK University
How the coaching process works
My sessions are usually structured to take place online through a secure portal to provide flexibility and accessibility, although face-to-face sessions can be arranged in some circumstances.
The process begins with an initial exploratory conversation through which we discuss the client's leadership context, professional goals, and preliminary coaching needs. This meeting also provides an opportunity to find out more about Executive Coaching, my coaching approach, and how we might work together.
If we decide to proceed, we then develop a bespoke Coaching Agreement to guide the coaching relationship, clarify expectations, establish confidentiality, and agree practical arrangements for the coaching process.
Following this, we arrange the first formal coaching session. We use this session to explore in some depth priority areas of focus and desired outcomes from the agreed coaching sessions. I then draw on this information to inform and share the particular methods we will be using in the sessions.
Get in touch
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss how Mike McLinden Executive Coaching can support leadership effectiveness for yourself, or for colleagues within your institution. You can use my email address or connect with me on LinkedIn.
mikemclindenconsultancy@gmail.com