Mark Channon
One-day course for managers · in person or online
How to Be a Better Manager
Your managers know the theory. Then the pressure hits and it all goes out the window. One day to change what they do when it counts. Five days to make it stick.
A quick chat about your team. No pitch.
30+ years training · 1,000+ trained.
Worked with leaders and teams at
The problem
Under pressure, managers grab for control.
It’s a well-documented pattern. When pressure lands, attention narrows and people pull control in. For managers, it shows up in three ways.
Source: Staw, Sandelands and Dutton, Administrative Science Quarterly, 1981
Micromanaging
They grab control and micromanage.
Struggling to let go of the work is one of the 12 common challenges new managers face.
Source: Center for Creative Leadership, study of nearly 300 emerging leaders
What your managers will learn: How to stop doing everyone’s job
Buddy to boss
They’re suddenly leading the people they used to work alongside.
Most UK managers start the job with no formal management or leadership training.
Source: CMI and YouGov, Taking Responsibility, 2023
What your managers will learn: How to lead people who used to be your teammates
Pushing back and managing up
They pass the pressure straight down, because they struggle to manage up.
When outside pressure lands on managers, their teams rate them worse.
Source: Cai, Mahlendorf and Wu, study of 243,754 employee ratings
What your managers will learn: How to take the pressure without passing it down
The impact
The team stalls. The best people start looking elsewhere.
A quick chat about your team. No pitch.
Three numbers worth knowing
Three numbers worth knowing
75%
of managers feel overwhelmed by how much their job has grown.
Source: Gartner, Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders 2024 (survey of HR leaders)
70%
of how engaged a team is comes down to their manager.
Source: Gallup, Managers and team productivity, 2026
1 in 2
people with a poor manager plan to leave within a year.
Source: CMI and YouGov, Taking Responsibility, 2023
Your managers are the biggest lever you have. Most of them are pulling it under pressure.
Why the training isn’t sticking
Most managers have had the training. So why isn’t it working?
Training happens in a room. Managing happens on a Tuesday afternoon, with the inbox on fire and three people waiting for an answer.
When your managers are drinking from the firehose, whatever they learned on a course goes out the window.
Knowing the skills isn’t the hard part. Using them, day to day, under pressure, is.
That’s what this day is built for.
What changes
The skills
What your managers will be able to do
MicromanagingHow to stop doing everyone’s job.
Micromanaging comes from uncertainty, and often fear: that the work won’t land on time and you’ll take the hit, that you’re not good enough or don’t know enough, or what the consequences will be. Your managers learn to deal with that, so the pressure stops with them. Then they can empower people properly, not as lip service. Micromanaged people don’t learn and don’t grow.
Buddy to bossHow to lead people who used to be your teammates.
The relationship has to shift, with the right boundaries so you can both do your jobs. It isn’t losing the friendship. It’s wearing a different hat, in a way that lines up your values, theirs and the business’s, and agreeing it by recontracting with each person.
Pushing back and managing upHow to take the pressure without passing it down.
This is agency, and it works in every direction: stakeholders, leadership and your own team. The quality of your relationships decides how you can challenge. So it’s about challenging without breaking the relationship or bringing the pressure back on yourself, in the context of the business. Sometimes you shift your own perception. Either way, you shift the game.
The mindset
Underneath it all
Extreme Ownership.
Own the problem and you own the solution. It sounds counterintuitive, but that’s what creates certainty, confidence and impact.
Extreme Empathy.
It’s not about you. Get out of your own head and into the other person’s, and you create options.
Extreme Agency.
Your ability to make the right choices and decisions, and to influence the people around you.
Why this works
Built on three things most manager training leaves out
West End · National Theatre
Rehearsal, not role play.
I spent 15 years as a professional actor in the West End and at the National Theatre. Your managers practise the real conversations they’ve been putting off, get directed, and run them again until they land.
J.P. Morgan · Morgan Stanley · founders
Coaching that holds up under pressure.
15 years coaching leaders, from J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley to fund managers and tech founders building their first teams. Every tool on the day has been tested with real leaders.
Threat rigidity
How the brain behaves under pressure.
When pressure hits, attention narrows and we grab for control. Psychologists call it threat rigidity. Your managers learn to catch it and choose a better move.
A quick chat about your team. No pitch.
What people say about my training
Feedback from delegates on Mark’s other courses.
Amazing course, instant results. Can be transformational. Can’t wait to try this in my life. Mark is an amazing lead.
Detective Chief Inspector, South East Regional Organised Crime Unit Absolutely wonderful. By far the best training course I have been on. Very engaging and informative and lots of things to put into practice and use.
Project Manager, The Children’s Society Fantastic course and trainer! I felt engaged and focused and am really impressed with how much I have learnt and can put into practice straight away.
Finance Business Partner, The National Lottery Community Fund Mark is an exceptional trainer. He is a long standing, valued tutor who has delivered many brilliant masterclasses for the Guardian.
Brett Halsey, The Guardian One of the best courses I’ve ever been on. Mark is a fantastic facilitator...
Policy Adviser, Cabinet Office Loved the course content which was expertly delivered by Mark.
Account Director, PTS Consulting Partnership
A quick chat about your team. No pitch.
How we make it happen
Three steps. The first one is a chat.
A quick chat.
Message me on WhatsApp. We talk about your managers, what’s getting in the way, and what better looks like for you.
The day.
One full day, at your offices, in London or live online, shaped around your team’s real situations.
Make it stick (optional).
Five days of official Tiny Habits. Each manager takes one behaviour from the day and builds it into their week, so it survives the firehose. I’m a certified Tiny Habits coach, one of the first in the UK.
What you get back
- Managers who handle the pressure instead of passing it on
- Teams with room to own their work
- Fewer problems landing on your desk
- People who want to stay
A quick chat about your team. No pitch.
Who’s running the day
I’m Mark Channon.
I coach leaders and founders to perform under pressure: leaders at J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley, CEOs in fund management, and tech founders scaling their first teams.
Before that, 15 years as a professional actor in the West End and at the National Theatre, then product leader at the BBC, Microsoft and the Telegraph, leading teams from 5 to 50+.
Along the way I became a Grand Master of Memory (3rd in the world, yes really) and wrote three books for Hodder. Certified Tiny Habits Coach, one of the first in the UK.
- years training
- 30+
- people trained
- 1,000+
- years coaching
- 15
A quick chat about your team. No pitch.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
We already train our managers. Why this?
It doesn’t replace your training. It’s the part that makes it work under pressure: real conversations rehearsed on the day, and habits built in the week after.
Who is it for?
New managers, people promoted from the team, and experienced managers who feel squeezed.
How many people?
Up to 12 managers works best. Got more? Let’s talk.
In person or online?
Either. At your offices, in London, or live online.
What happens on the call?
We talk about your managers, what’s getting in the way, and what better looks like for you. Then I shape the day around it and send a written proposal.
Is the Tiny Habits part required?
No, it’s optional. It’s where the change sticks.
What does it cost?
It depends on group size and format. Message me and I’ll give you a straight answer.
A quick chat about your team. No pitch.
Let’s make your managers better.
A quick chat about your team. No pitch, no hard sell.
Chat to Mark on WhatsApp (opens WhatsApp)