CEO Co-Piloting
Flexible Leadership Support
Space to Lead. Strength for your Organisation.
When everything depends on you, it’s hard to step back, think clearly, and focus on what matters most.
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Across the sector, charity leaders now spend over 75% of their time dealing with operational pressures — a pace that is difficult to sustain and increases the risk of exhaustion and burnout. When leadership capacity is stretched for too long, both the individual and the organisation feel the impact.
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CEO Co-Piloting gives you experienced leadership capacity working alongside you — reducing pressure now and strengthening your organisation for the future.
This isn’t one-off consultancy, coaching or interim cover.
It’s a senior thinking and delivery partnership, focused on the work that really matters.
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We work at your pace, providing strategic, operational and governance support in the short term while building organisational capacity over time. The goal is for your own team to become your future Co-Pilots so that you no longer need external support to lead confidently on your own.
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The outcome: CEOs regain one to two days a week to focus on strategic leadership.
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Our Co-Pilots bring extensive sector experience as former CEOs, COOs, Co-CEOs and interim leaders, with expertise across strategy, operations, governance and organisational change.
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Where additional expertise is required we also connect with expert associates in fundraising, HR and digital to support short-term or targeted projects where needed.
Meet our wonderful team
Who is Co-Piloting for
It is designed for small to mid-sized charities where:
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The CEO is carrying a wide operational and strategic load
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Senior capacity is limited or stretched or leaders are new or developing
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Decisions and progress often come back to the CEO
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Growth, change, or funding pressures are increasing complexity
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It’s particularly helpful for:
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Founders or first-time CEOs
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Newly appointed leaders
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Organisations preparing for growth, deceleration, restructure, or a major grant is beginning or ending
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Senior leaders who feel they are constantly firefighting and losing strategic time
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Not the right fit if
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You’re looking for coaching or mentoring only
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You need a full-time interim CEO
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The organisation already has strong senior capacity and isn’t reliant on the CEO day-to-day
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There isn’t readiness to look at how the organisation works, not just who does the work
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Co-Piloting is about strengthening an organisation — not simply adding extra pairs of hands.
Why Co-Piloting?
In small and growing charities, the CEO often carries everything — strategy, operations, governance, people, risk and funding.
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Right now, the environment is unusually tough:
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Demand for services is rising while resources are stretched
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Digital world is shifting rapidly
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Charities are being asked to do more with less
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Competition for Grant applications has increased by 30–50% across many funders
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Costs and regulatory expectations continue to grow
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Leaders are expected to manage complexity that would normally sit across a full senior team
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Over time:
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The urgent crowds out the important
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Decisions bottleneck at the CEO
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Board reporting becomes reactive
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Demand stretches systems and capacity
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There’s little space to think
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These are early signs of organisational strain.
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Co-Piloting provides flexible senior capacity you can dial up or down — without the cost or commitment of hiring.
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Our aim is simple:
reduce pressure, strengthen the organisation, and build independence.
What Makes the Difference
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Mission-centred expertise
Deep understanding of the realities of charity leadership in a high-pressure environment.
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Senior partnership
Working alongside you and your board on priorities that affect organisational health.
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Flexible and scalable
Support that adjusts as your needs change.
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Capacity and resilience built in
Stronger systems, clearer priorities, and a team that can carry more of the load.
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Strategic risk reduction
Better visibility, fewer bottlenecks, and greater confidence for boards and funders.
How Co-Piloting works
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We don’t just take tasks off your list. We focus on the strategic destination. We look beneath the surface to understand where pressure, risk and hidden workload sit — and then work with you to create calmer, clearer and more sustainable ways of operating.
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Our work usually moves through four stages with regular checkpoints are built into each stage to ensure reflection, alignment, and momentum.
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Illuminate
Understand strategic direction and alignment. Clarify direction and destination. Understand what’s happening in process and relationships-strengths, pressure points, bottlenecks and risks — and agree where to focus effort. After, we match you with the Co-pilot that fits.
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Stabilise
Reduce immediate pressure, unblock decisions, and deal with the issues taking up headspace.
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Strengthen
Put better ways of working in place — clearer priorities, stronger systems, more confident managers, and improved board visibility.
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Step Back
As internal capacity grows, we gradually step back so the organisation runs well without external support.
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The focus throughout is simple: less firefighting, more clarity, and an organisation that doesn’t depend on everything coming through you.
What CEO Co-piloting can look like.....
Support is fully tailored, but often includes:
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Clarifying and aligning strategic direction and destination
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Moving forward strategic priorities and board actions
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Improving planning, reporting and decision clarity
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Tackling governance, risk, compliance and policies
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Streamlining systems and processes for efficiency and resilience
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Mentoring and supporting managers
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Unblocking projects that have stalled
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Providing flexible senior capacity as needs change
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Organisations typically see:
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Faster decision-making and clearer priorities
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Reduced operational bottlenecks
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Leadership teams managing more day-to-day issues
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Boards with clearer visibility and confidence
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Reduced reliance on the CEO
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When it's most helpful
Co-Piloting is particularly valuable when:
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You’re stretched and firefighting
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Important work keeps slipping
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The organisation relies heavily on you
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Growth or change is creating pressure
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A major grant, restructure or transition is ahead
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You find yourself thinking, “I don’t have time to think.”
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Many charity leaders are now operating in what sector reports describe as a “polycrisis” environment — sustained financial pressure, rising demand, workforce strain and increasing complexity.
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These are the right moments to add capacity — before pressure turns into risk.
How to get started
Every partnership begins with a short exploration conversation to understand your situation and whether Co-Piloting is the right fit.
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If it is, the first step is a focused Illuminate phase — a defined piece of work to create clarity and agree priorities for the stages that follow.