About
Who I Am
I’m William Hallatt, founder of lead | front left, and a coach focused on software engineering leaders navigating serious leadership roles in dynamic, fast-paced environments.
I have over 15 years (and counting) of experience working in software - building teams, shipping products, and leading engineering groups. I’ve worked across medium-sized businesses and enterprise-scale contexts and have seen one pattern repeat with frightening regularity: we promote brilliant engineers into leadership roles, give them no support, and then act surprised when systems break down.
I built this practice to change that.
How I Work (What Coaching IS and ISN'T)
At its heart, coaching is a structured, collaborative process that builds your capacity to think, decide, and act with greater clarity and confidence. It’s not therapy, mentoring, or advice-giving, and it certainly isn't consulting. Of course, if we work together, we'd start by defining what success would look like for you and how we'd measure it. We'll focus on understanding the system you operate in, your leadership role in it, and what you need to succeed. The nature of that conversation would shape the nature of our collaboration, and if you’d benefit from relevant experience or perspective, I won’t withhold it.
Professional Background
15+ years in software development, engineering leadership, and organisational design.
Experience in complex, large enterprise teams and distributed organisations.
Experience in leading multiple teams, serving multiple products, as a "leader of leaders".
In addition to my experience in the technology industry, I have subscribed to the "leader as coach" philosophy ever since I read Michael Bungay-Stanier's The Coaching Habit. I found coaching to be such a powerful tool in my leadership role, that I decided to formalise my skills with an ICF-accredited Graduate Certificate of Applied Coaching. Not surprisingly, this also played a big role in you ultimately reading this.
Want to Talk?
If you're an engineer stepping into leadership, or a head of engineering looking to develop your leadership bench, I'd be glad to connect.
Book a 30-minute virtual coffee or get in touch directly.
No pitch. Just a conversation.