Outperformance Highway

'I've learnt a great deal from it. Much of this course made me think about about past roles and more on the mistakes than successes (why do we do that?). I know I always wanted to look after people and lead well when in this type of role, but I was often so focused on the objectives, I know I made mistakes. It's experience I wish I'd have had access to back then.  If you have a passion for the team as well as the business direction, I strongly believe you will benefit from these courses.'

- Mark Graham, The Counselling Foundation

You have worked hard for your qualification, know your subject and arrive motivated and capable. 

Very quickly you discover that your education didn't fully prepare you for the commercial reality of professional life.

Too few arrive knowing how organisations actually work, how decisions get made and what business leaders are focused on. 

And too few arrive confidently engaging with colleagues in ways that build credibility without anxiety and feeling comfortable they're being genuinely useful rather than simply technically present.

It takes years of trial and error, uncomfortable moments and slowly accumulating commercial awareness for most graduates to catch up to a reality that they're rarely briefed on.

It does not have to take that long.

You will benefit from this programme if any of the following feel true:

> You are about to start a new role and want to arrive genuinely prepared rather than hoping to figure it out as you go.

> You are in the early stages of your career and feel a gap between what your education prepared you for and what the workplace requires.

> You want to understand how organisations work, how decisions get made and how to engage with colleagues and leaders in ways that build credibility from the start.

> You want to be the graduate who hits the ground running rather than the one who spends the first year catching up.

> You want to operate with commercial awareness and conscious relationship building habits from the very beginning rather than developing them slowly through experience.

> You want to contribute meaningfully rather than just being present and you want the commercial grounding to make that possible.

Where You Begin

Orientation

The programme begins by establishing a way of thinking about yourself and your role that's helpful for everything that follows. 

Your mindset shifts from that of a graduate finding your feet to that of a professional running a one-person business within an organisation, with investors to satisfy, customers to serve and a value proposition to develop and deliver.

This single reframe changes how you think about everything from your first day meeting to your first performance review.

The Business Foundation

How Organisations Work

A practical grounding in how businesses are funded, structured and organised. The activity types that shape different organisation's preoccupations and ways of operating.  The difference between head office and operational entities, between B2B and B2C, between the different functions within an organisation and how they interrelate. 

This is the commercial context that few graduates are given and that changes how confidently you navigate the organisation you have just entered.

The Financial Foundation

The Language Of Business Decision-Making

A plain language overview of financial statements, how budgets work, how investment decisions get made and how management is assessed by the people above them. This isn't presented to make you a finance expert, it's to make you comfortable enough that you don't feel caught out when conversations cover financial terms.

The Relationship Foundation

Building Credibility From Day One

A practical approach to conscious relationship building with colleagues, leaders and clients. The platform to be comfortable engaging with people significantly more senior without being either too deferential or overconfident. How to contribute in discussions and operate in ways that build rather than undermine your credibility. How to put yourself in the shoes of those around you and understand what they need from you.

How We Set Ourselves Up

Roles, Goals And The People We Surround Ourselves With

A structured way of thinking about how you are setting yourself up for the role you are in and the career you want to build. How to think about the goals you are working towards and immediate role fit. How to build the professional community and contacts that will serve you throughout your career.  How to equip yourself consciously beyond the technical acumen which has helped you get your first opportunities in the corporate world.

The Middle

Stories, Observations And Relatable Questions

A series of short focused videos drawing on real operational experience. Each one ends with a reflective question directed at you and your specific situation. Some will be comfortable, others not so, all aimed at preparing you well for what's ahead.  

Where You Arrive

Clarity & Next Steps

The programme ends with a challenge. What have you concluded? And what are you going to do with what you've acquired from the programme?

A Note On Format 

Every video in this programme teaches, provokes or challenges. You can complete the entire programme in a single sitting or in fifteen minute chunks on your phone. When you're done, for years you'll see the world with greater clarity than many of your peers.

Graduates arrive capable and motivated. 

Few arrive commercially prepared for the reality of professional life.

This programme gives them the commercial grounding, business understanding and conscious operating habits that most graduates develop slowly through trial and error through their early years of employment.

For cohorts of ten or more, a dedicated group forum session with Rob Evans can be added for no extra charge. A ninety minute live session where your graduates bring their specific questions and situations directly to him.