Why I do this work

Hi, I'm Ollie Smedley


I’m an executive coach, team coach and thinking partner for finance leaders, senior executives and leadership teams.


I live in Surrey with my wife, two daughters and Chester, our Hungarian Vizsla.


Before becoming a coach, I spent over 25 years in operational, commercial and finance leadership roles across organisations including ExxonMobil, Accenture, Alliance Boots and Centrica / British Gas.


I qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant and went on to hold Finance Director, CFO and Managing Director roles across PLC, private equity and start-up environments.

So what?


Many of those roles were in large, operationally complex businesses. They required pace, resilience, stakeholder management, teamwork and a fair amount of stamina.


For a long time, I thought some of my career high points were the turnarounds and major change programmes I delivered while working at unsustainable levels.


Over time, I realised that my definition of success had become too narrow. I was delivering, but not always in a way that was good for me, my family or the people around me.


And coaching?


Coaching helped me understand myself, other people and the systems I was working in more clearly.


It didn’t give me easy answers. It helped me ask better questions, make more deliberate choices and lead in a way that was more effective and more sustainable.


Around that time, I moved into a Managing Director role I had wanted for years. It was FCA-regulated, highly accountable and gave me real autonomy for leadership, strategy and operations.


With the support of coaching, I led the business through significant change, delivered strong customer outcomes and found a better way of leading - one that worked for the business, my team and me.

Now what?

 

Today, I work with finance leaders, senior executives and leadership teams who want space to think, make sense of complexity and lead with greater confidence.


My work combines commercial experience, coaching discipline and practical challenge. Clients often describe me as a sounding board: supportive enough to talk openly with, and challenging enough to help them see what they may be missing.


I’m accredited as a Professional Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation. I’m also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a Warwick Economics graduate.


Alongside my coaching work, I am Chair of Transform Housing & Support, a Surrey-based charity supporting people to live independent and fulfilling lives.


I also work collaboratively with other experienced coaches and facilitators on larger client programmes.