Frequently Ask Questions
This page is here to answer the questions people often have before reaching out.
If you don't see your question here, you're welcome to ask it directly. Clarity matters to us.
Q - Do I need to be a “leader” to work with you?
You don’t need a title.
We work with people who carry responsibility — for teams, organizations, decisions, or the direction of their own lives. Many of our clients are founders, executives, and senior leaders. Others are in transition, recovery, or redefining how they want to lead after a long period of performing.
If leadership feels personal to you, you’re likely in the right place.
Q - What’s the difference between coaching and advisory or consulting?
Coaching and advisory work serve different needs.
Leadership coaching is developmental. It focuses on how you grow, decide, and lead over time. The agenda emerges from you, and the work supports clarity, fulfillment, and sustainable leadership development.
Advisory and consulting work is outcome-focused and time-bound. James brings his experience directly into the work, often as a fractional partner, to help leaders and organizations move toward a specific result.
Both are grounded in the same human-centred approach. The difference is intention.
Q - Is this therapy?
No.
While this work is reflective and human, it is not therapy and it does not replace mental health care.
Leadership coaching and advisory work at humanKIND focuses on responsibility, decision-making, alignment, and action in your life and work. We don’t diagnose, treat, or process trauma in a clinical way.
That said, many leaders find this work meaningful precisely because it allows them to think clearly, feel honestly, and act responsibly — without being pathologised.
Q - How long do people typically work with you?
There’s no single answer.
Coaching relationships often last several months or longer, depending on what someone is navigating and how they want to work. Fractional advisory and consulting engagements are can vary from several weeks, months, or years and defined by a clear outcome.
We talk about timing openly in the first conversation and revisit it as needed. This work isn’t about dependency. It’s about clarity and movement.
Q - What does working together actually look like?
It looks like honest conversation, clear thinking, and shared responsibility for action.
In coaching, that typically includes regular one-to-one sessions, space for reflection, and support between sessions when helpful.
In advisory or consulting work, it often includes embedded collaboration with leaders or teams, decision support, and hands-on involvement where appropriate.
Regardless of the format, the work is grounded, direct, and practical.
Q - Is this work “soft”?
No.
It is human. And it is rigorous.
This work asks leaders to think clearly, tell the truth, take responsibility, and act with intention. That’s not soft. It’s demanding.
What we don’t do is confuse performance with strength or urgency with importance.
Q - Do you work with organizations or only individuals?
Both.
We work with individual leaders through coaching relationships, and we partner with organizations through advisory and consulting engagements.
In organizational work, James often joins as a fractional, hands-on partner — supporting clarity, alignment, and execution alongside leadership teams.
Q - What if I’m burned out or in transition?
That’s often when this work matters most.
Many people come to humanKIND during moments of burnout, transition, or questioning — not because something is broken, but because something no longer fits.
This work is about helping you slow down enough to see clearly, reconnect with what matters, and make choices that are sustainable.
Q - What if I don’t know exactly what I need yet?
That’s okay.
You don’t need a polished problem statement to start a conversation. Many people arrive with a feeling — that something is off, misaligned, or unsustainable — without knowing exactly why.
Clarity often emerges through conversation.
Q - How do I know if this is the right fit?
The first conversation is designed to answer that.
There’s no pressure to commit. We talk openly about what you’re navigating, what you’re hoping for, and whether this work feels aligned.
If it’s not the right fit, we’ll say so.