Seen - Stefan’s Week-notes 07/06/2025
Inspired by the weeknotes of friends and coachees including John Fitzgerald, Steve Messer and Nour Sidawi - I thought I'd give it a go.
Inspired by the weeknotes of friends and coachees including John Fitzgerald, Steve Messer and Nour Sidawi - I thought I'd give it a go.
Week of 02 – 07 Jun 25
Some weeks arrive with noise. Others with quiet clarity.
This week carried a mix of both—reflection sharpened by experience, decisions made with groundedness, and a few moments where I stood still and saw just how far I’ve come.
There’s something powerful in owning who you are, not just focusing on who you’re becoming. In the business of becoming, we sometimes forget what we already hold. But this week reminded me: I’ve lived a lot. I’ve coached a lot. And the combination is potent when I trust it fully.
Here’s what I noticed, carried, and am continuing from.
1. What Went Well
A sense of accomplishment flowed through in different forms:
Welcoming a new coaching client—a female leader who’s challenging assumptions and championing inclusion.
Riding strong again on the bike, finding my legs.
And securing the go-ahead to work alongside a brilliant team as lead coach for their transformation journey.
That one matters. That one’s layered. That one’s about trust and timing.
2. What Lit You Up
Two open, generous collaborations with leaders lit me up.
One—supporting someone with their interview prep. We didn’t just work on answers. We explored where those answers came from, what they were grounded in, and how to express them with both confidence and congruence.
The other—co-creating a profile to reflect experience, capability, and the seniority at which they’ve been operating.
It was a mirror moment.
Not about puffing up the past, but reading back to themselves:
Who they are today. Not just who they were.
There was fire in that reflection.
There often is.
3. A Conversation I Can’t Stop Thinking About
A coaching conversation with an aspiring leader—and endurance cyclist—has stayed with me.
They’re fitter than they think. But their internal narrative hasn’t been serving them.
We asked:
When are you at your best?
What are you doing?
Who are you with?
What are you saying to yourself?
Is it in colour or black and white?
What do you feel?
What came before?
What’s coming after?
By the end of it, years of wrestling cracked open.
A new narrative emerged—one to be practised and breathed life into.
As the quote I shared this week says:
“You don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to become great.”
And we have started.
4. Something That Shifted
This week I had an interview for a consultant role.
I turned up as Café Owner Stef. Grounded in my ability—but not quite London Stef.
Not the one who led a third of the UK. Not the one who’s worked with DGs, CEOs, and senior leadership teams. I didn’t bring that version of me to the room. It caused a ripple.
So I followed up—with real experiences and roles I’ve held.
And I got the role.
I realised: Stef isn’t just his past.
He’s also his path.
And I need to own all of it.
5. Something I’m Wrestling With
I attended a local Time Trial race this week—and I’m wrestling with the idea of racing again.
Long rides at pace? Not really doing it for me anymore.
Touring? Yes. Not slow. But not racing either.
Still—I’ve set the wheels in motion to do a TT again before the year’s out.
Why? An experiment.
Because I’m better when I have something to rail against.
I’m even playing with the idea of rallying for something.
This is one small step on that ladder.
Let’s see where it leads.
6. The World at the Edges
The world still holds fire.
But sometimes I sit with leaders who apologise for saying what they think or swearing in sessions.
Really?
That’s where the fire lies.
And we need fire—or maybe oxygen (our beliefs and values) to catalyse the fire again.
I don’t see a loss of professionalism.
I see a longing for truth.
As one coachee said, “I’ve wrestled with this for a long time. Now I see a way I can change the story.”
That’s it.
That’s the edge.
Not control.
But courage.
7. Look at This
The front cover of Gran Tour Boom.
It made me smile.
Feels like a pun on Grand Tours—cycling, travel, life.
It made me think—life should be a Grand Tour, not a Gran Tour.
We shouldn’t wait.
We need to be getting shit done now.
Living love now.
Not waiting until we’re so old that we say what we think, but no one’s listening (they should be, by the way).
Three questions I’ll carry forward:
What are you waiting to say?
What are you waiting to start?
What are you putting off that needs living now?
8. Word I’m Carrying
Seen.
How many of us long to be seen—for who we are, what we value, what we bring?
Yet so often we mould ourselves into expressions that suit others.
But what if true visibility only comes from authentic expression—and finding the people who hear that?
There’s a balance, yes.
I’m a pragmatist.
But in there, somewhere, is a radical act of self-recognition.
9. The Question That’s Asking Me
What do you already bring?
Too often we rush into the next step—without naming how far we’ve come or who we’ve become.
Athletes do this. Leaders do this.
It’s not just about momentum.
It’s about recognition.
Grounding.
A platform to step from, not leap wildly beyond.
Because if you don’t own it—who will?
10. What I’m Grateful For
I’m grateful for friends—
The ones who make me laugh, smile, and lighten up.
The ones who don’t just hold space,
they lift it.
They remind me not everything has to be deep to be meaningful.
This week, I needed that.
A text, a stupid meme, a voice note that made me snort.
That kind of friendship is its own kind of medicine.
Not fixing—just light.
Not saving—just seeing.
And I’m grateful for that more than I can say.
11. Where I’m Rooted
This week, I’ve been navigating the challenge of organising an interment with a very emotional family.
Grief’s not linear.
Love rarely is.
But through it all—I’m rooted on the Island.
And in the life I’ve built that blends strength with softness.
Motion with meaning.
There’s a gentleness in the way I hold space for others now.
But it’s not passive.
It’s purposeful.
12. What I’m Reading
I’ve been dipping back into Everything—a book about the Manic Street Preachers.
Their music soundtracked my youth: Faster, Design for Life, Roses in the Hospital.
Songs of the intelligent working class—fighting for equality, freedom, and a voice.
I pulled the book from storage a few weeks ago.
And I’m loving it all over again.
A few lines from Faster:
“I am an architect, they call me a butcher…”
“I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing…”
It’s sharp. Unapologetic. Brilliant.
James Dean Bradfield shaped my singing voice—as did Jeff Buckley.
Both still echo in the way I speak, coach, hold breath in a room.
13. Closing
As I close the week, one quote keeps circling back:
“I’ve wrestled with this for a long time. Now I see a way I can change the story.”
There’s more to be written.
But this week, I took the pen back in a few places.
Not to rewrite what’s been—
But to underline what’s true now.
More riding to come. More coaching, more clarity, more boldness.
But right now?
Enough.
As the week folds in, here’s what stays with me:
Owning who I am—fully.
Not just the story I’m becoming.
But the whole story.
The one I’ve lived.
The one I’ve led.
The one I’m still writing.
Thanks for reading. And as ever—if you want a slot, I’ve got space.
Let’s go.
And Remember; a thriving planet is worth it and we all need you.
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For now; thank you
I am…
An executive coach who specialises in helping good people lead great things.
Good people care about others, our planet and beauty. Great things are changes for the betterment of society and all that lives within an around it.
It sounds big and fun - it is.
I'm also an endurance racing cyclist and a go. getter.
You can read more about me and what I do; how I work here