You built something real. When did you stop feeling in control of it?
You're not failing. The numbers are moving. The team is growing. But somewhere in the process of building, you stopped leading the company and started reacting to it.
That's not a motivation problem. That's not a mindset problem. That's a clarity problem, and it's got a solution.
You're in the right place if any of these land
The company is running you. You're in the detail, handling people problems, reacting to what's in front of you. The strategic thinking keeps getting pushed to next week.
You've lost the thread of why you started. The vision that used to be crystal clear has blurred. You're building but you're not sure what you're building toward anymore.
Your hiring is reactive and expensive. Someone leaves and you scramble. No pipeline, no process, no strategy. Just panic, and a £20K recruitment fee you shouldn't have needed.
You perform certainty for everyone around you. Your team, your board, your investors. But you haven't had a genuinely honest conversation about the business, or your role in it, in longer than you'd like to admit.
The culture has drifted. The company has grown but it doesn't feel like yours anymore. You can see it but don't know how to name it or fix it without blowing something up.
A letter from Jay
Most of the founders and leaders who come to Outerview aren't struggling in the obvious sense. Their business is moving. Their team respects them. From the outside everything looks fine.
What they're experiencing is quieter than failure. It's the feeling of having built something real and slowly lost the strategic thread of it. Of being busy every single day and not being sure what they're actually building toward. Of leading people while quietly wondering if they're leading well.
I spent 10 years on the other side of this. Recruiting for funded SaaS startups, sitting in rooms with founders and CEOs who were scaling fast, hiring reactively, building culture by accident, and making talent decisions with incomplete information. I watched brilliant people build companies that outgrew their original vision without ever stopping to rebuild it.
The thing I noticed is that the leaders who built something lasting weren't necessarily the most talented or the hardest working. They were the ones who kept getting clear about where they were going, what they were building, who they needed around them, and what they personally needed to be doing versus what they needed to delegate or let go of entirely.
That clarity is not a personality trait. It's a practice. And it's what Outerview for leaders is built to give you.
This page exists to help you figure out where to start. Take a look at what's below, and if you want to talk it through, the discovery call is free.
Jay Andrew Odeka
Founder, Outerview · Director, Wundertalent · Former solicitor
What leadership drift looks like
It doesn't announce itself. It accumulates.
Most leadership drift isn't dramatic. It's a series of small adjustments. Staying reactive a little longer, pushing the strategic thinking to next quarter, tolerating a team issue that should have been dealt with six months ago. By the time you name it, it's been compounding for a while.
You're managing, not leading
You're in the detail of things that shouldn't require your attention. People come to you with decisions they should be making themselves, and somewhere along the way, you let that become normal.
The vision has blurred
You had a clear picture of what you were building. Now you're making decisions day to day without a clear strategic framework to make them against. The 3-year view has gone fuzzy.
Hiring is your biggest headache
You've made expensive mis-hires. You're spending money on recruitment you shouldn't need. You have no real talent pipeline and no process beyond posting a job when someone leaves.
Culture is happening to you
The team has its own momentum now. The culture is whatever it's become, and you're not sure it matches what you intended to build or where you need to go next.
You're isolated at the top
There's nobody to be genuinely honest with. You're performing confidence for everyone around you. The last time someone gave you real feedback, not diplomatic feedback, you can't remember when it was.
You're undervaluing yourself
Your own compensation hasn't kept pace with what you're delivering. You've been focused on the business and deprioritised yourself, which means you're building for everyone else first.
Why Outerview, not an executive coach
Most executive coaches have never built a team. I've built hundreds of them.
The standard executive coaching model comes from psychology or HR. Both are valuable. Neither gives you what you actually need as a leader or founder: someone who's been in the room where hiring decisions get made, who's seen how good teams are built from the outside, and who can tell you what your talent strategy should look like with genuine authority.
I've placed hundreds of professionals into funded SaaS startups. I've watched companies scale well and companies scale badly. I've seen the difference that one mis-hire makes at leadership level.
That's the knowledge base behind Stay on Course. Not theory. Not frameworks learned on a coaching course. Ten years of sitting on the other side of the table.
250K+
CVs reviewed
15+
Years
300+
Professionals placed
100+
Companies hired for
What this looks like in practice
Most coaching
"Let's explore what leadership means to you"
Outerview
Honest audit of where you are, what's actually broken, what needs to change first
Most coaching
Generic leadership frameworks from a textbook
Outerview
Talent strategy built on 10 years of knowing what good hiring actually looks like
Most coaching
Motivational language and vision exercises
Outerview
A rebuilt 3-year vision specific enough to make decisions against
Most coaching
No one tells you when your hiring strategy is broken
Outerview
Direct feedback, even when it's uncomfortable. Especially when it's uncomfortable.
What we actually work on
Concrete. Specific. No fluff.
Here's what the work looks like in practice, whether that's through Stay on Course, a 1:1 retainer, or starting with the Career Audit to get clarity on where you are first.
Getting honest about where you actually are
Not where you'd like to be. Not where you tell people you are. Where you actually are: in the business, in the team, in your own leadership. The audit is always first. Everything else builds on an accurate starting point.
Rebuilding the vision with enough precision to use it
Not a mission statement. A picture of what you're building that's specific enough to make hiring decisions, culture decisions, and strategic decisions against. If your vision can't help you decide whether to make a hire, it's not working hard enough.
Team audit: who's in the right seat and who isn't
Using the same methodology applied in 10 years of SaaS placements. Who's performing, who's in the wrong role, where the gaps are, and what your team needs to look like in 12 months. Honest, not diplomatic.
Building a talent strategy that isn't reactive
A hiring roadmap, a retention framework, and an assessment approach that means you're not scrambling when someone leaves. The £20K recruitment fees are a symptom of having no strategy. We fix the strategy.
Sorting your own compensation
Founders and leaders often deprioritise their own financial position while building for everyone else. If you've been underpaying yourself relative to what you're delivering, we fix that too. The Payrise framework applies here as much as anywhere.
Anti-drift systems that stick
The practices and rhythms that keep you strategic rather than reactive going forward. A quarterly review process. A leadership operating model. The habits that mean next year doesn't look like the last one.
Where to start
Not sure which is right? That's what the free call is for.
Different leaders are at different stages. Some need the full programme. Some need to start with a written diagnosis. Some just need a conversation and an honest outside view. Here's the full picture.
Start here if you're not sure
Career Audit
A written personal diagnosis returned within 48 hours. Good starting point if you're not sure what the real problem is. Jay reads your situation and tells you honestly what he sees, including which product makes sense next.
£99
Get the auditRecommended for most leaders
Stay on Course
The full leadership clarity programme. Six modules covering vision rebuild, team audit, talent strategy, leadership operating model, and anti-drift systems. For founders and team leads who've built something real and need to get back in control of where it's going.
£3,000
Learn moreIf your own pay is the immediate issue
Payrise
The salary negotiation system. If you've been building for everyone else and underpaying yourself in the process, this is the fastest route to fixing it. CareerEgo framework, negotiation scripts, 45-min session with Jay.
£499
Get PayriseFor ongoing strategic support
1:1 Coaching, monthly retainer
Jay in your corner on an ongoing basis. Strategic sounding board, honest outside perspective, someone who'll tell you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear. Available to Stay on Course alumni and direct enquiries.
From £297/mo
EnquireNot sure which is right? Talk to Jay first. It's free.
Book a free 20-minute discovery callWhat leaders say
From people who've done the work.
"I'd been running the company for two years and hadn't actually sat down to think about where it was going in about six months. Jay's ability to cut through the noise and name what was actually happening, not what I was telling myself, was worth every penny. The team audit alone saved us from two hires that would have been expensive mistakes."
Founder & CEO · Series A SaaS · London
"The hiring module changed how we build teams. We'd been reactive for years. Someone leaves, we panic, we pay a recruiter, we hope for the best. We now have an actual talent strategy. The culture shift that came from getting the right people in the right roles has been bigger than anything else we've done."
Head of Engineering · Fintech scaleup
"I came in thinking I had a team problem. Jay helped me see I had a vision problem. The team were confused because I was confused. Once the vision was rebuilt and specific enough to actually use, the team stuff resolved itself. You don't get that kind of reframe from someone who just agrees with you."
Co-founder & CPO · B2B SaaS
You built something worth leading well.
Book a free 20-minute call. Jay will ask you a few direct questions, tell you honestly what he thinks is going on, and recommend where to start, whether that's with Outerview or not.
Book free discovery callNo pitch. No pressure. If it's not the right fit, he'll tell you.