Critical Friend
Critical Friend
(noun)/strategic 1:1 thinking partner, for breakthrough support/
A strategic thinking partner who helps you navigate complex challenges whilst tapping into your dreams. They bring fresh perspective, challenge your thinking and give it to you straight. But they're completely on your side. Focused on strategic and creative thinking, not therapeutic services.
Strategic 1:1 thinking partnership for leaders
navigating complex organisational paradoxes.
Most advisory conversations follow predictable patterns. But when you're navigating paradoxes standard approaches just reinforce existing thinking. We use Conversation Architecture™ to design strategic thinking sessions that surface the assumptions you're not even aware you're making, hold space for the tensions you're avoiding, and push you to explore the edges where your real breakthrough thinking lives. We offer a two-tier package depending on your needs and the speed/ intensity you want to travel.
Investment:
Time: we offer x1 90 minute session per month for 6 months, or x2 90 minute session per month for 6 months.
Both include access to our multimedia resources and toolkit for reflection, work in-between sessions.
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Money: Based on nature of engagement and fairshare ethics.
Perfect for: Senior leaders, founders & executives driving complex change.​
49% of entrepreneurs won't start a business due to fear of failure. 36% feel overwhelmed by uncertainty and business volatility. BUT...entrepreneurs with support networks are 45% less likely to burn out. Learn how three entrepreneurs chose to not go it alone and navigated better outcomes for themselves and their organisations.
Sources:
1. Fear of failure data: GEM 2024/2025 Global Report: https://lnkd.in/g_RHpCEE
2. Entrepreneur Burnout Statistics 2024: https://lnkd.in/eDxW56C7
3. Support network data: Entrepreneur Mental Health Statistics 2025: https://lnkd.in/d6Yy3sTR
Three Stories, One Critical Friend...
TESTIMONIAL
Working with Deepa changed the way I lead and make decisions. We were in the middle of some challenges: conflicting priorities, tension between old systems and new directions, and for me some big questions about how to grow without losing what made us distinct.
Deepa helped me work through them each with total clarity. By the end of our work I felt real alignment where before I had felt pretty stuck for some months. She helped me rethink how our programs fit together, and guided me in telling our story in a way that truly reflects the depth of what we do.
Since working with her, I’ve seen sharper internal focus, and real progress on the goals I’d been circling around for too long. Deepa was able to hold the strategic and also the human side of the work we do.
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ANDREW MICHAEL NOLAN, THE MANDALA INSTITUTE