Part of 5M Ascent
Mentoring for Founders, SME and Non-Profit Leaders
A year of mentoring with I.S. Matthew for founders, owner-managers and non-profit leaders who hold too much of their organisation in their own hands.
Decisions wait for you, evenings and weekends go to work that only you seem able to do, and a real break feels out of reach. This mentoring helps you build an organisation that keeps working when you step back, so you can lead it well and still have a life outside it.
Who it is for
It also suits a senior executive in a larger organisation who has become the person every problem goes to.
The situation
Many of the leaders who come to this programme recognise several of these signs:
- Work slows down whenever you are away or busy, because so many decisions wait for you.
- Your week fills with meetings, reports and urgent calls, so the work that only you can do happens late at night.
- A few people, often including you, hold knowledge the organisation could not replace.
- You hear about problems late, after they have grown.
- You have not taken a full break in a long time, and you worry about what would happen if you did.
In 5M Unbreakable, I describe the fear behind the last sign plainly: “If I relax, I will fall behind. If I log off, someone else will get ahead.” In Stitch In Time, I ask every board a question that applies to every founder: “How much of our current performance is being financed by an invisible overdraft on our core?” In a founder-led organisation, the core is often you.
What the mentoring works on
The year draws on all five domains of Stitch In Time. Core Load and Everyday Work receive the greatest share of the time, because they ease the strain on you first.
| Domain | The question for you | What you build |
|---|---|---|
| Core Load | Which parts of the organisation depend on you alone, and how much strain are you under? | A Core Map with your own role on it, a firm limit on your own working hours, and a trained, tested backup for each critical area. |
| Everyday Work | Which parts of your week create value, and which only fill time? | Your own Meaning Ledger: each recurring meeting, report and task tested against five value anchors and marked to protect, reduce or retire, with protected time for the work only you can do. |
| Talent Flow | Who could step up if you stepped back? | A short list of people to develop, with the experience each one needs next. |
| Signals and Risk | How soon does bad news reach you, and does it reach you whole? | A simple way for staff to raise concerns early, and a regular time to hear them. |
| Power and Mandate | Which decisions must stay with you, and which can others take? | Written decision rights with clear limits, so your team can act without waiting for you. |
In Stitch In Time, I am direct about the last row: “The hardest line to write into any charter is the one that limits the founder. It is also the line that protects the founder best.”
How the year works
Each month follows the 5M Ascent rhythm: two live sessions with the mentor and one independent applied sprint, worked on your own organisation between sessions.
| Months | Focus | The work |
|---|---|---|
| One to three | Core Load | See where the organisation depends on you alone, set your first limits, and choose the first backups to train. |
| Four to six | Everyday Work | Test your own week and your team's routines against the five value anchors, retire or reduce what adds little, and protect time for the work that grows the organisation. |
| Seven and eight | Talent Flow | Develop the people who will take decisions in your place. |
| Nine and ten | Signals and Risk | Set up the routes that bring you bad news early and complete. |
| Eleven and twelve | Power and Mandate | Write down who decides what, then take a two-week break with your phone off as the test of the year. |
Alongside this, you build the Maintenance Plan I set out in 5M Unbreakable: Baselines for sleep, movement and time with people who restore you; Reliefs for the hard moments in a day; and Guardrails that set new boundaries at the points where you usually overwork. Because the year begins by easing the strain, you feel the benefit early. As I put it in Stitch In Time: “Relief creates buy-in.”
What the year produces
- An organisation that keeps working when you are away, tested by a real two-week break.
- Fewer decisions on your desk, because written limits let your team decide.
- A calmer week, with protected time for the work that only you can do.
- People ready to step up, each with a plan for the experience they need.
- A personal Maintenance Plan that you keep to.
Two formats
Both formats run for twelve months. Fees are agreed at the free consultation, once we understand your organisation and the format that suits you.
Try it first
Two short simulations show the problems this programme works on. Each takes about five minutes.
Complete confidentiality
What passes between mentor and mentee stays between them. Where an organisation or a board sponsors the mentoring, it receives no reports or session summaries, so you can speak freely.
Begin with a free consultation
A forty-five-minute conversation with I.S. Matthew, with no charge and no obligation. Tell us about your organisation first through the short intake form, and the conversation can start where you need it.