Keshav Bhatt.

Work with me

- stories

The work, and what it

changed

A few brief stories of my work - from a leadership programme inside the NHS,

to a decade coaching one entrepreneur, to the impact the mixtapes have had on people.

Client work - Healthcare

Psychological safety across

an NHS Trust
900 clinicians and managers, over nine months.

0.0/5

avg rating

0%

would recommend

0mo

engagement

THE CHALLENGE

Frontline teams felt they couldn't safely raise concerns - and even if/when they did, they felt unheard by the leadership team.

THE APPROACH

A coaching-led programme: interactive sessions on safety, inclusive leadership and constructive dialogue, built around real cases, not theory.

OUTCOME

Measurable shifts in speaking-up behaviour and a leadership cohort which kept the practices going long after the programme ended.

Case studies

Brought in to deliver —
rated by the room

I'm often the facilitator organisations hire through leadership-development partners to run their hardest sessions. Here's what participants said afterwards — the numbers are theirs, gathered independently at the end of each programme.

Financial services · Full programme

A programme that moved the numbers

A four-month ‘Leader as Coach’ programme for a global insurance company — senior professionals paired with young leaders from underrepresented backgrounds.

9.3/10

programme rating

86%

saw an impact on team culture

6

sessions, measured pre & post

What changed

Measured before-and-after gains across coaching confidence, effective questioning, active listening and inclusive leadership — for professionals and young leaders alike. 86% of professionals noticed an impact on their team culture, and every young leader left wanting to join the company.

“Active listening has helped me build deeper, more trusted relationships — both with my team and outside of work.”
— Participant, professional cohort

“Your facilitation made a real difference to their experience — great energy that kept people hooked for the full two hours.”
— Programme partner, closing note

Leadership development · Coaching skills

Turning leaders into coaches

A six-session ‘Leader as Coach’ programme I deliver as lead facilitator for global organisations.

9.4/10

facilitation rating

100%

met or exceeded session goals

6

sessions, mixed cohorts

The room

Senior professionals and young people from underrepresented backgrounds, learning to lead through coaching — open questions, the TGROW model, listening tools like silence and paraphrasing, practised live in pairs every session.

What shifted

Participants left using the skills in real life — with direct reports, with their children, with friends. Two very different audiences, both rating the sessions 9+ every week.

“Being more conscious of pauses and the power they can hold when coaching — there isn’t a need to carry the conversation.”
— Participant, professional cohort

Public sector · Action learning

Holding leaders through change

Action learning sets for senior leaders and network chairs navigating a major organisational transition.

30 min

to a real decision

1:1

experiment each leaves with

The work

A structured group process where one leader brings a live dilemma and the room asks reflective questions — no advice, no fixing. My job is to hold the space so the person moves from defending to genuinely reflecting.

“In a relatively short space of time you’ve helped me move on, accept things and identify realistic ways forward. I really feel like I own where my mindset is.”
— Senior leader, in-session reflection

“The tough questions were always posed in a way that made you reflect rather than defend. This should be rolled out across the whole organisation.”
— Senior leader, in-session reflection

In the room

Incredibly engaging and clear in his delivery — it made it easy to follow along and absorb information.

Participant

Coaching skills programme

You’ve created a safe, fun and energetic place. The session was amazing.

Participant

Coaching skills programme

High energy, understood the topic area very well — a great, really enthusiastic facilitator.

Participant

Global engineering firm

He made everyone feel included and valued. Really inspiring — warm and energising.

Participant

Coaching skills programme

Who this work reaches

Coaching skills, put in the hands of people who rarely get them.

These programmes deliberately pair senior professionals with young leaders from underrepresented backgrounds. On one recent cohort, that meant a group where:

83%

from global majority backgrounds

67%

first- or second-generation immigrants

58%

first in their family to consider university

50%

received free school meals or the equivalent

47%

from single-parent households

33%

young carers, or with experience of care

A note on names: I deliver much of this work as an associate facilitator through leadership-development partners, so the organisations stay unnamed here out of respect for those relationships. Named versions and logos are available on request, with permission.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

"Ten years in, Keshav is still the person I call before any big decision. He doesn't give me answers - he gives me back my own judgement."

Tim Hall

Entrepreneur & musician

One to One Coaching - Case study

Coaching one founder for a decade

Some coaching is a season; some is a decade. Tim and I started working together as he started in his journey as a musician, teaching drums in his spare time for a bit of extra income. 10 years on, he and his team have built one of London's biggest drum schools for young people, whilst touring and making music with his band. The work moved through many cycles, of grief, of burnout, of stagnation, and reinvention - never as a programme, but always as a steady, honest conversation that kept pace with his life.

Get in touch

- Words listeners have said about the mixtapes:

"Found it the week my father died. I still listen to it now (10 years later) - a formative part of my growth over the years"

Dead Roots

(2016)

"A friend sent this to me and I listened over and over. It captivated me from the first track and felt like such a deep and personal journey - thank you!"

The Lotus That Blooms Forth

(2019)

Coming soon.

Blossoms

(TBC)

🏆 HARVARD UNIVERSITY: GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION · INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Nominated by classmates, chosen by faculty

On receiving the award for the Ed.M Human Development & Education programme, class of 2024

“To me, Keshav embodies the capacity to practice intellectual rigor while maintaining hope and humor. That's no easy feat.”

Dr. Houman Harouni

Harvard GSE, Lecturer on Education

“Keshav's comments in class were consistently raised from a frame of curiosity and beautifully communicated the respect he had for his peers while unapologetically advocating for ethnoracial equity in our work with young people.”

Dr. Adriana Umaña-Taylor

Harvard GSE, Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot Professor of Education

“A stand-out thought leader whose sense of vision is decorated with intelligence and balanced by intentionality, authenticity, and cultural humility. He exemplifies all that an HGSE graduate is and more.”

Dr. Josephine M. Kim

Harvard GSE, Senior Lecturer on Education