Twelve straight answers, grouped by what's bothering you

You're paying for the experience and judgement John brings to the search. Pre-engagement calls, a written brief that captures what you actually need (which is often not what you first thought you needed), the search of the existing Sydney pool and (where needed) fresh sourcing, the vetting, and the presentation of three vetted Sydney-based mentors aligned to your brief. John stays alongside you through the interviews and up to the placement, helping you arrive at a choice that fits. The Fees page covers the structure and the numbers in detail.

Three vetted Sydney-based mentors on the shortlist as standard. For a genuinely specialist brief where there are only a small number of suitable people in Sydney, the shortlist may be two. You can interview one, two, or all three, your call. Most clients meet two or three. Some interview only the strongest fit on paper and decide on that basis. Either approach is fine. The fee covers our commitment to make all three available; whether you use that capacity is up to you.

Mentors at this seniority don't want their names on a public directory. Many hold board roles, advisory positions, or active operating responsibilities that make a public listing inappropriate. They also want the right to say yes or no to a brief, rather than fielding cold approaches from strangers who found them online. The matching is two-sided: John sells the brief to the mentor as carefully as he sells the mentor to the client, and the mentor decides whether they want the engagement. Once a mentor agrees to be on a shortlist, the full profile goes to you with their consent.

Yes. Once we've made the introduction, the relationship between you and the mentor runs directly. The mentor invoices you. You set the cadence. We step out of the mentoring relationship and don't take any cut of subsequent sessions. Most engagements continue past the first few months because the relationship is working, not because of any contractual lock-in. Some run for a year, some for several years. There's no fixed term, and no commission to us on continuation.

Both, but at different points and for different things. You pay Managers & Directors the engagement fee for running the search and presenting the shortlist. You pay the mentor directly for sessions, at rates you and the mentor agree once you've chosen who to engage. The two costs are structured separately and we don't take a cut of mentor session fees. Practically, the engagement fee is paid 50% on signing and 50% on shortlist presentation, and the mentor invoices you on whatever cadence you and they agree.

No. The engagement fee covers our work running the search and presenting three vetted mentors. Session fees are paid separately to the mentor, at rates you and the mentor agree directly. We don't bundle session fees into the engagement fee because mentor pricing varies (per session, per hour, monthly arrangements) and you should be agreeing the cadence and the rate with the mentor, not with us. If you have a fee ceiling in mind, you can put it in the brief.

No. The mentor invoices you directly for sessions. We are not paid by the mentor and have no financial interest in the mentoring relationship after introduction.

The engagement fee has two payments. The first, 50% on signing the engagement letter, covers the pre-engagement work and starts the search. The second, 50% on shortlist presentation, is due when we deliver the shortlist. Each payment is tied to a deliverable, not a calendar date. Session fees to the mentor are separate and are agreed directly between you and the mentor after you've chosen who to engage.

The shortlist is built around the brief you confirmed in writing before the search began, so a shortlist that doesn't fit usually means the brief shifted or wasn't sharp enough in the first place. We talk about it. If the issue is brief clarity, we recalibrate and present revised candidates without a new engagement fee. If you and John conclude the original shortlist quality is genuinely off, the engagement letter sets out how that's handled, including room for John to use his judgement where the original work is in question.

The standard shortlist is three vetted mentors, sometimes two for a specialist brief. If the engaged mentor isn't a practical fit within the first three sessions of the engagement, you can move to another mentor from the same shortlist at no further engagement fee. The fallback is written into the engagement letter, not held as goodwill. We approach the new mentor and make the introduction. The original mentor is told honestly and briefly that the fit wasn't right; they stay in the pool for future briefs.

No. We commit to running the search with due care and skill (a condition implied under the Australian Consumer Law) and to presenting three vetted mentors aligned to your agreed brief. Whether the mentoring relationship delivers commercial results depends on the mentor, on you, and on your business, all variables we can't control after the introduction. What we can do is select carefully, vet thoroughly, and stand behind the quality of the search. The Fees page sets out where our commitment ends.

Independent. Every mentor in the pool runs their own affairs and has their own ABN. Once introduced, the mentor invoices you directly under their own arrangements. We don't employ the mentors, supervise their advice, or carry liability for the work they do with you under the mentoring engagement. The mentor agreement we hold with each mentor sets out the basis on which they appear on shortlists, but the engagement they have with you is theirs.

A coach typically uses a method to help you find your own answers. A mentor has personally been where you are and offers experience-based perspective. Most owner-led businesses at $1M to $20M benefit more from mentoring than coaching, because the problems are operational and the value is in someone who's already solved similar ones. The Coach vs Mentor page covers this in detail.

No ongoing contract, no retainer obligation, no minimum term. Once we've made the introduction, the engagement runs directly between you and the mentor. You agree your own cadence and terms. We step out of the billing relationship at placement and don't re-enter unless you come back for another search. That said, John is always available for a call if you want a sounding board on how to get the most from the relationship. There's no charge for that. The mentoring is yours to run.