When a business is on the verge of unlocking its next level of success, it often presents exciting opportunities for growth, innovation and leadership development. These moments are the gateway to refining processes, boosting team performance, elevating employee morale, and fostering adaptability to change.
Bringing in external expertise through a business consultant and Executive Coach is like adding a strategic compass—offering fresh insights and tailored solutions to steer the business towards its full potential. With the right guidance, what once seemed like obstacles become stepping stones to growth, empowering organizations and employees to thrive and lead with confidence.
Recognizing this need for practical, results-driven interventions, Jill Maidment founded Natural Talent, in 2003 in Bristol, UK. With a strong belief in the power of tailored coaching, mentoring, leadership and management training, and consultancy solutions, Jill saw an opportunity to bridge a gap in the consulting market—one that focused on truly understanding a client’s specific needs and delivering services that yield measurable outcomes.
As the Founder and CEO of Natural Talent, Jill has built her consultancy on the principle of providing exceptional value, whether it’s in developing leadership, improving team dynamics or resolving key operational challenges.
Her approach is grounded in addressing core issues that hold businesses back. By focusing on changing behaviors and fostering growth from within, she ensures that her clients see lasting improvements in performance. At the heart of Natural Talent’s mission is the belief that everyone has untapped potential, and Jill’s work is centered on helping people and organizations realize this potential to achieve sustained success.
The Proven Path
Jill’s previous career experience plays an invaluable role in shaping her approach to Executive Business and Career Coaching and Mentoring. Working for global airlines has given her an open and inclusive perspective towards different nationalities and cultures, while also providing a deep understanding of how global companies operate and the unique challenges they face. Her background in Consultative Selling equips her with the ability to ask open-ended questions, helping her to establish her clients’ needs more effectively.
With a strong commercial background and experience, Jill engages in meaningful discussions with business leaders to identify growth opportunities, accelerators and blockers. Her approach to clients is distinct: “I do everything in my power to ensure they have a positive experience and derive maximum benefit from any interventions and programs,” she states. This commitment ensures that every client feels supported and experiences tangible outcomes from her Coaching, Training or Consultancy programs.
Personalized Coaching Strategies
Jill brings extensive experience working with executives and teams across various functions, including Sales, Finance, IT, and Operations. Her expertise spans a wide range of sectors, from Tech and Energy to Insurance and Manufacturing.
In the public sector, she has worked with organizations in Education and Healthcare. Despite being regarded as a “seasoned” or “veteran” Executive Coach and Mentor, she remains committed to continuous learning. She follows global CEOs and stays updated on the latest leadership models and organizational challenges, including key themes like the advancement of AI.
Jill believes that ongoing education is crucial to staying effective in her role, ensuring that her solutions are always highly relevant. She tailors every intervention to fit the unique needs of each client and their organization, resulting in strategies that are both impactful and successful.
Advocacy for 360-degree Feedback
Jill has extensive experience collecting and delivering 360-degree feedback to a diverse range of global executives. She strongly advocates this process when it is conducted professionally and objectively.
For her, 360-degree feedback is a vital tool in Executive Coaching and Mentoring Programs. “I always recommend a 360-degree feedback review before an Executive Coaching and Mentoring Program to ensure that the Coaching Action Plan is tailored to the individual’s specific requirements and development areas,” she explains.
Her approach includes providing constant real-time feedback to clients and encouraging them to seek regular input from their teams, peers and key stakeholders. During Coaching and Mentoring sessions, Jill works with her clients to discuss various perceptions and address how to change any behaviors that may be less helpful. This ensures that the feedback process is reflective as well as constructive, aligning with personal and organizational growth.
Retaining Talent in a Remote World
Jill recognizes that even with many teams working remotely since March 2020, a significant challenge for leaders is maintaining motivation and engagement when employees are not physically in the office every day.
Drawing from her experience with global teams, including fully remote Sales teams, she focuses on identifying each individual’s motivators and needs. “Everyone is different, so there is no point in asking someone to attend the office every day if they are happier and more productive working from home,” she emphasizes.
Jill encourages leaders to use Talent Assessment Tools, such as Personality Questionnaires, to understand their teams better and develop tailored approaches for different personality types and scenarios. She works closely with organizations to create flexible strategies, knowing that a one-size-fits-all solution is ineffective. Given the current struggle many companies face in attracting and retaining talent, she advocates for a flexible approach to hybrid working, which helps sustain employee engagement and reduces attrition.
Harnessing Industry Insights
Jill also works closely with public sector CEOs, senior managers, and their teams to identify and understand their primary challenges. Partnering with their Program Management Teams, she tailors development solutions to address these issues. Jill finds that many of the challenges in the public sector are similar to those in the private sector, which allows for the transferability of effective solutions across industries.
“It is useful for them to see how effective and transferable many solutions are from industry,” Jill emphasizes, highlighting the importance of applying proven methods across different sectors. This tailored approach ensures that the development solutions resonate with each organization’s unique needs while benefiting from broader industry insights.
Strategic Foundations
Jill approaches every Executive Coaching and Mentoring Program with a comprehensive analysis of the client’s organization. Her process begins with a thorough review of the company’s vision, mission, strategy, and key objectives, along with identifying the primary pain points that require attention. She collaborates closely with the People function and an Executive Sponsor from the C-suite to ensure that the program is strategically aligned with the organization’s goals.
She firmly believes that “What gets measured, gets done, managed and improved,” which drives her emphasis on data-driven assessments. Before launching any intervention, she conducts Talent Assessments, such as 360-degree feedback and personality tests. These tools help her tailor the coaching and mentoring efforts to the company’s specific needs, ensuring alignment with its broader vision and strategic goals.
The Resilience Revolution
Resilience is a crucial skill for leaders and their teams, enabling them to handle pressure, change and uncertainty effectively. Jill has extensively researched this topic and authored an eBook on the subject. She emphasizes the importance of Resilience Coaching in helping leaders and teams manage stress and avoid burnout, especially during intense and challenging periods.
Through Resilience Coaching, Jill ensures that leaders and their teams can remain calm and optimistic even in the face of ongoing change. This approach allows them to see the positives in challenging situations, maintaining their focus and drive. “Resilience Coaching enables leaders and their teams to continue working effectively during very intense and challenging times,” she explains. This focus on resilience improves performance and helps keep sickness absence and attrition levels low during major organizational transformations.
The Essential Skills for Success
Jill emphasizes that high-performing leaders possess the confidence and the ability to create and communicate a clear vision, mission and strategy. These leaders set aligned objectives and empower their teams to achieve them. Strategic thinking and innovation are essential, along with leadership judgment and the courage to make tough decisions and prioritize effectively. She stresses the importance of listening, influencing and resilience skills as key traits for successful leadership.
Ahead of and during Coaching sessions, Jill works with leaders to assess and develop these critical skills using highly practical tools and techniques. “Leaders must be strategic and innovative, skilled at leadership judgment with the courage to make the tough calls,” she notes. Leaders regularly report their progress and engage in interim Coaching assignments, ensuring continuous development and refinement of their leadership abilities.
Assess, Adapt and Achieve
Jill recognizes that each leader is unique and requires a tailored approach to Executive Coaching and Mentoring. Before starting any program, she conducts an in-depth assessment of the leader’s skill levels and ability to manage heavy workloads, pressure and stress. This initial evaluation helps pinpoint the key areas for development.
Jill collaborates with each leader to determine the most effective tools, techniques and models for their individual growth. “We agree on the best tools, techniques and models for them individually to practice and improve their behaviors,” she explains. Progress is assessed during every Coaching session to ensure continuous development and refinement of the leader’s skills, allowing them to meet their specific challenges and objectives.
Skill Building Made Simple
Jill consistently receives positive feedback from clients who appreciate the exercises designed to assess their skill levels and establish a clear starting point for tracking progress. Her approach is highly practical, offering a wide range of tips and tricks aimed at improving specific skills. Although well-researched, she ensures that the content remains accessible and actionable, reflecting her holistic, practical and effective approach to Coaching.
“The eBooks align with my holistic, practical and effective approach to Coaching,” she explains, ensuring that her methods resonate with readers and clients alike. This focus on practical application allows individuals not only to learn but also to implement strategies for continuous improvement in their personal and professional lives.
Reimagining Careers
Jill encourages her clients to block off time for career planning and horizon scanning, ensuring that their dream job remains attainable, even in challenging times. She advises them to seize every opportunity to upskill and to hold skip-level and cross-functional meetings with key stakeholders to enhance their profiles.
During Outplacement Coaching, Jill reassures clients that the end of one role or career signifies an opportunity to start afresh and discover their true vocation in life.
“This is the most rewarding part of my Coaching when I see the positivity return,” she expresses, emphasizing the transformative nature of her work. Her commitment to empowering clients during transitions fosters a sense of hope and direction, guiding them towards fulfilling their professional aspirations and creating team as well as organizational growth and success.
