Michael Wilkins -
Dip Systemic Management, CMCIPD (UK)
Director and founder: Sandpiper Initiatives Ltd
Principal Consultant: Slam Partners
Background
Michael Wilkins the founder and principal coach, consultant of Sandpiper Initiatives is an experienced
builder of organisation, leadership and management skills and capabilities. He has provided a strategic,
results based approach in his coaching, consultancy and development for over 15 years. He is skilled in
developing people to act in robust ways that ensure positive team working and leadership to improve the
delivery of the required outcomes and results. He enjoys the challenge of working with people who are
confronted with changes in the culture of the organisation which impacts on their beliefs and assumptions
about how their service should be delivered. He also works with conflict having trained as a mediator.
Sandpiper Initiatives has grown from Michael wanting to apply the skills and knowledge he acquired from a
15 year career as a Family Therapist. He worked in child psychiatry, working with the emotional aspects of
family life to improve relationships in families to improve the experience of family members especially
children. He bases his work with organisations on the idea that highly effective organisations are made
up of emotionally intelligent leaders and managers who work in robust ways with their people to motivate,
support, value and develop them to deliver the changes and results required. He believes that to develop
robust organisations, teams and leaders, people need to develop their relationship skills within effective
but emotionally intelligent processes and structures. Michael’s experience of Family Therapy together with
his business knowledge means that he brings a unique approach to his work with leaders and teams.
Sandpiper Initiatives has improved the effectiveness of organisations in delivering business missions and
services. This is achieved through coaching, development sessions and advice to leaders, managers and teams
ensuring that they create a culture and processes to successfully deliver the results of the organisations.
Michael is qualified in a number of psychometric instruments including Myers Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI)
and a 360° emotional and Social intelligence instrument (ESCI)
Sandpiper Initiatives will deliver:
Challenge
Honesty
Agreed outcomes
Interventions designed with you
Examples of the types of organisations Sandpiper Initiatives has worked with:
Professional Practices e.g. solicitors and accountants
Small and medium size businesses
Family businesses with generational issues
Education organisations e.g. schools and colleges
3rd sector and voluntary organisations
Experience
Michael has been coaching senior people including a partner in a large accountancy firm, a senior executive
in an international bank, a director of a voluntary organisation and a professor in a prestigious university.
Recently he has been providing development sessions for leaders in a School so that they can become more effective
in their leadership and have robust conversations with people to improve the School’s performance.
Michael uses research based psychometric instruments including MBTI and ESCI to explore team and individual
relationships and dynamics.
Over 25 organisations have worked with Michael Wilkins to meet a national good practice standard
(Investors in People). Michael has provided an initial business analysis of the processes and culture of the
organisation, he then supports and challenges the leaders of the organisation make the changes required to
meet the standard. He has also assessed organisations against the standard.
Michael works with a small consultancy service in the Health Service working with complex issues of change and conflict.
He is part of their coaching team and leads their mediation service.
He also provides confidential supervision to other coaches within a specialist senior executive mentoring company and also
with a coach working with Chief Executives in the Health Service.
He has worked as a Business Adviser with Business Link providing Human Resource Consultancy and the management of projects
to the SME sector.
He is an associate of the National School of Government.
Michael has taught at the Tavistock Institute and other major institutes in London
Case Studies:
Case 1
Sandpiper Initiatives has been working with a professional practice to develop a robust performance
management culture delivering better financial results ensuring that a national best standard is met.
This required working with the practice manager to motivate the partners to change their behaviour so as to
take up their leadership and management authority in the practice. We initially undertook an analysis of the
existing culture and processes, identified the required changes and then coached the practice manager to
undertake the change. Together we were able to identify the key motivators for change and develop a strategy to
create the change.
Outcomes: Improvements in the financial position of the practice and the recent award of the Investors
in People Standard.
Case 2
A senior manager came to Sandpiper Initiatives as his career had become stalled and he wanted to have the chance
to move into a new role in his organisation. Through a number of coaching sessions he was able to explore what
he was looking for, how he presented himself and who he should be influencing in order to be in a better position
to be offered a new role. This required exploring aspects of the way he marketed himself within his relationships
with key people in his organisation which include challenging some fundamental ways he approached his work relationships.
Outcomes: He was recently offered a new opportunity in the organisation and his career is now moving
again with a new challenging role.