Introducing Kate Waterfall Hill

My name is Kate Waterfall Hill. I'm a leadership coach as well as the creator of Linda the Bad Manager, my alter ego on social media, who inspires us to lead brilliantly by showing us how not to do it.

I've worked with CEO founders for the whole of my 30 plus year career and I am one myself. I know how stressful and lonely sometimes the leadership journey can be. And that's why I created this podcast, How to Lead, as well as my book, also called How to Lead. I also have coaching programs for leaders of all sorts who want a confidante, a partner, a supporter, maybe a challenger, to help them elevate their leadership skills and enjoy being a leader of an inspired, motivated, and engaged team.

I wanted to take this opportunity to share a little bit more about me, just in case you're wondering who on earth I am, and what gives me the right to give you leadership advice. Well, I've got decades of leadership experience, and this has equipped me to guide all sorts of leaders. But my sweet spot is CEOs and founders, and particularly those in small businesses, and even more particularly those in agencies and consultancies, because that's where I've spent the bulk of my career.

But before I kick off with more details of my background, you might be wondering about my name. Kate Waterfall Hill is a bit of a mouthful after all, but there is a good reason for it. Waterfall is actually my maiden name, and although I generally go by the name of Kate Hill, using my husband's surname, so I have the same name as our children, I do pop Waterfall into my professional name, so you'll remember me.

If you look up Kate Hill on Google, you'll get hundreds of different responses, including I think a cake maker and somebody who sells handbags. But if you look up Kate Waterfall Hill, you'll probably just get me leadership coach. So what do I do? Well, I help all sorts of leaders become the best versions of themselves so they can bring out the best in others. And where did my career start? Well, it goes all the way back to the 90s when I joined a boutique marketing agency straight out of university.

I was promoted to manager within six months of joining and a director within four years. I worked on multiple key accounts, including Virgin and Vodafone. And by the age of 29, I was managing director of the agency and took responsibility for strategy, finance, HR, and working alongside the chairman and founder,

As well as overseeing client services for the whole agency, I also project managed private equity investment, a sale to a larger agency and a management buyout. By 2007, when I'd had our two children, I decided to launch my own business and work alongside a number of CEO founders as an advisor, consultant, non-exec, and executive director.

My focus then was on business improvement, process efficiency, people management, and nurturing talent, as well as a bit of marketing. Obviously, that was my background.

I decided to pivot to coaching, retraining with two leading coaching organizations, and I gradually resigned all my consultancy business as coaching took over, not just as my passion, but my leading source of income,

Largely thanks to a rainy night in January 2023, when I stumbled upon the idea of creating Linda, the bad manager, and taking to TikTok. I wanted to depict poor leadership practice in a humorous way, and through this comedic persona, point out common mistakes in management, encouraging self-reflection, and raising awareness through satire. I now have over 200,000 followers, and my videos have been seen over a hundred million times across all social media platforms. More recently, I published my first book, How to Lead, in which I provide practical, no nonsense advice for leaders who want to improve their management skills. It's like having a leadership coach in your pocket, packed with real world tips that help you navigate leadership challenges.

And now I've had the privilege of helping hundreds of leaders overcome their challenges, offering a unique blend of empathy, expertise, humour in my coaching. Qualifying as a coach has allowed me to lean into my passion for supporting talented leaders, and it seems, and I'm pleased to say, that they trust me because I've walked in their shoes, and it all resonates in my coaching.

I've helped all these clients with my personalised approach to coaching, which is always engaging, uplifting, and transformational, and I am an ICF and ILM certified coach. The International Coaching Federation is the largest, worldwide resource of professional coaches. I've also been on loads of podcasts, spoken at events and facilitated workshops and webinars, at which I share insights on leadership, productivity and growth.

I've been asked a number of times how I dreamt up the character of Linda, the bad manager. And the honest truth is it was a bit of an accident.

We have young adult children who are on TikTok and I thought, well, how hard can it be? I could do a little comedy skit of a bad manager and that might be quite good fun. And then Linda was born. I decided to call her Linda because I don't work with anyone called Linda and I felt I wouldn't be in danger of upsetting a client or a friend.

But I dare say there are some Lindas out there who aren't that pleased that I chose this name and for this, many apologies. Linda has a group of imaginary colleagues William being her boss, Rachel being in charge of HR, her office bestie is Janet,

She has a sidekick who is actually much better than she is but she doesn't want to admit it, he's called Jason. Other team members are called Josh, Sanjay, Mira, Asif, Graham, Colin, Derek, and also her hapless assistant Alice. And then there's Susan. Linda doesn't like Susan, but we don't know why.

It hasn't yet been revealed. Perhaps there will be a big reveal at some stage in the plot. But let's say Linda is just hapless and misguided. She lacks any role models and training. She hasn't had any. But at her worst, she is malicious, selfish, vindictive, and generally a nasty piece of work. But I think the reason why she's captured people's imaginations is because we suspect we're slightly like Linda sometimes, or perhaps we've worked with or currently work with somebody who's like Linda.

Well, my mission is to help those who are suffering under the hands of Linda realize that they're not alone, that there are Lindas all over the world, and that they can, if they wish, rise up and take action against leaders like this. You do have agency. Likewise, I intend for Linda to educate as well as entertain and raise awareness of poor leadership techniques so that they're addressed because they're brought out into the open.

I want to raise the subject so that people have a conversation about what it makes to be a good leader. And the more self aware of my followers do get in touch and ask for help to be a better leader. My mission is to help them find the joy in leadership.

So they can inspire others and have empowered, motivated and uplifted team members, so that not only they as the leader, but also the team members really enjoy their work and enjoy their lives. Because we spend so much time at work, it would be such a shame to spend every minute of it hating it.

So the Joy of Leadership will probably be the title of my next book, I suspect. But in the meantime, if you like the written word as well as audio, the book which accompanies the podcast, also called How to Lead, is available now. you can get the e book on my website, and the paperback is on Amazon. Just search How to Lead by Kate Waterfall Hill.

If you want to dig into leadership development even more, I have a range of things to offer you as well as the podcast and the book. I have a free weekly leadership newsletter, bringing you a fresh perspective each week with practical advice and insights straight into your inbox. There's also a free leadership habits checklist, which helps you learn and implement the five daily habits of the world's most successful leaders.

And in terms of personal interaction with me, you can choose the leadership accelerator, my weekly group mentorship program, my one to one coaching, which is obviously more bespoke and confidential than the group sessions, and my leadership workshops. I hold alignment and communication workshops for our senior leadership teams, and more traditional leadership training for all levels of managers and leaders. But there's always the twist of humour that I bring with me to anything I do.

So that's me. I hope you've enjoyed this bonus episode. The other episodes will feature Linda showing us how not to do something like holding a meeting or giving feedback, followed by me giving some hopefully useful advice. If you have any topics related to leadership that you'd like to see me cover on the How to Lead podcast, please do let me know.

And if you have any friends or contacts who might like a listen, then please do forward the link to them and share the news. Finally, my plea is that you follow, like, and review the podcast to help us increase visibility so I can share the joy of leadership with even more people. Thanks so much and enjoy the next episode of How to Lead.