Levelling up beyond inequalities, discrimination and poverty (ABP Award Winner)

Intro

Inemmo provides professional management and leadership development learning solutions and executive coaching designed to improve leadership performance.

Its leadership development programmes help business leaders prepare for career advancement by integrating critical management concepts and practices that strengthen existing capabilities while developing new skills and behaviours. The programmes are designed to help individuals discover new approaches to leadership, improve overall effectiveness, and identify personal or professional barriers that may be limiting performance and future success.

Joy Maitland and Atiya Sheikh, Managing Director and Director of Inemmo, have worked together for many years and have partnered with global organisations including Vodafone, 3M, Sony, and RBS.

They also share longstanding ties with Lumina Learning as Strategic Alliance partners and have incorporated Lumina Learning’s inclusive selection and development tools into a range of leadership and coaching programmes over the years.

Business need

Empowering young people to embrace their diversity and achieve career success – developing strategies to navigate social inequalities and biases

Alongside their commercial leadership work, Inemmo developed a coaching and mentoring initiative focused on supporting young people in inner London communities facing social inequality, discrimination, poverty, and exposure to crime and unhelpful role models.

The programme was created with the explicit aim of helping young people navigate social barriers while developing the confidence and resilience needed to pursue meaningful career and life opportunities.

Short coaching experiences were initially provided, alongside longer-term mentoring interventions for individuals seeking continued support around social mobility and career development.

The programme helped participants feel part of a genuine “levelling up” journey rooted not simply in economic opportunity, but in psychological growth, self-belief, and long-term empowerment.

For Inemmo’s coachees, “levelling up” was experienced as a deeply personal process connected to their lived experiences within socially immobile and underserved communities.

The programme explored how structural disadvantage, discrimination, and social expectations can shape confidence, opportunity, and identity. It also addressed the psychological impact of messages many young people had internalised from an early age, including the belief that they had to “work twice as hard to be equal”.

The experiences and reflections shared by the coachees highlighted the complexity of these challenges and reinforced the importance of creating psychologically safe spaces where individuals could develop self-awareness, resilience, and belief in their own potential.

The solution

Using business psychology to support self-awareness and resilience 

Inemmo used a range of evidence-based business psychology approaches throughout the programme.

Coaching methods adapted from cognitive behavioural therapy were used to help participants identify and challenge self-limiting beliefs and patterns of thinking.

The Sedona Method was introduced to support reflection around psychological needs including control, approval, security, separation, and connection.

Lumina Spark, based on the validated Big Five personality framework, was used to support conversations around inclusivity, valuing diversity, self-esteem, relationship-building, and navigating complex social environments.

Over a three-year period, 24 young people received coaching and mentoring support at no financial cost to themselves.

Each participant received a unique and highly personalised coaching agreement tailored to their specific needs and goals. No two coaching journeys were the same.

Coaching typically began with weekly support sessions, with the frequency adjusted over time as confidence, self-efficacy, and resilience developed. Additional coaching support was provided during key moments such as job applications, interviews, or difficult conversations.

The programme remained intentionally flexible, with ongoing assessment shaping the future direction and intensity of each intervention.

Participants set individual goals linked to personal growth, career progression, confidence, and wellbeing. All 24 participants later reported a positive impact on their personal and career goals, with 16 reporting a significant positive impact.

One participant was supported throughout the creation of a technology business.

Why use Business Psychology techniques?

Inemmo used evidence-based business psychology models:

• • Coaching methods adapted from Cognitive behavioural therapy help the young people address their self-limiting beliefs, such as the often-quoted old adage used in schools and internalised by black and brown people in their early years, “You have to work twice as hard to be equal”. The young people’s views on this subject are enlightening

• The ‘Sedona Method’ to enable the young people to examine their wants and explore their psychological needs for control, security, approval, separation and oneness.
  
  
• Validated Big Five personality model (Lumina Spark) suitable for coaching around inclusivity, valuing diversity, derailing, self-esteem and how to navigate complex relationships.

What did Inemmo do?

Over the last three years, at no financial cost to themselves, 24 young people have been coached and mentored to develop their self-awareness and emotional intelligence in order to build their resilience, self-leadership, and accountability.

A unique personalised coaching contract was agreed with each young person and no two agreements were the same. Based on their needs, the frequency of coaching was increased when jobs were applied for, or critical conversations were needed. The coaching always started with weekly support, which was reduced as self-efficacy and confidence were built. An ongoing assessment of needs shaped the future frequency of all coaching interventions.

Personalised goals were set and later assessed, with all 24 of the young people reporting a positive impact on their personal and career goals, and 16 reporting a significant positive impact. One of the coachees was supported throughout the setup of a technology business.

Additional achievements reported by the coachees included a greater sense of belonging; banishing my ‘impostor syndrome’; finding my purpose; stopping self-sabotage; identifying my values and trusting myself.

A proven learning model

The application of the coaching and mentoring programme was based on taking the young people through repeated iterations of Kolb’s 4 step learning cycle:

1. Concrete Experience e.g., team exercises with peers and the creation of videos describing what they stand for
2. Reflective Observation e.g., coachee gathers feedback to help plan for their future success. This included feedback on interview performance, as well as management feedback on performance at work. Coachee also keeps a personal journal to document their growth
3. Abstract Conceptualisation e.g., understanding and applying the ‘Big Five’ to support valuing diversity and the building of productive, long-term relationships
4. Active Experimentation e.g., role-playing conflict situations ahead of challenging interactions, such as discussions with parents or older adults/teachers who can have a massive positive or negative impact on the young person’s future. Here are the young people’s views on this:

Outcome Evaluation

How did Inemmo measure success?

The programme was designed with assessment in mind, using an adaption of the Kirkpatrick 4 levels:

Level I – The young people’s reaction to the programme was overwhelmingly positive. When asked for an overall rating for the INEMMO ‘Levelling-Up’ Coaching and Mentoring Programme, 23 scored 5/5 (Excellent) and 1 scored 4/5 (Very Good).

One student commented “I would very strongly recommend the INEMMO ‘Levelling-up’ Coaching & Mentoring Programme to everyone. For me, the experience has been amazing. Thank you for always being in my corner”, and another said “Thank you for the years of support and coaching”

Level II – when asked at least six months into the programme about their retained knowledge of their strengths, possible derailers and how to better relate to others, 19 scored 5/5 (strongly agree) and 5 scored 4/5 (agreed). In addition, 22 scored 5/5 for knowing how to have greater impact and influence, with 2 scoring 4/5.

Level III – the coachees assessed the impact and practical application of what they learnt. One coachee gave feedback, “All the help you gave me is very much appreciated. I used to suffer badly with imposter syndrome but with your support, I no longer engage in that behaviour. It’s like a big weight has been lifted off me and I can breathe again. Instead, I have grown to understand and appreciate my value both on a personal and a professional level.”

Level IV – the impact of the programme on their career and life goals was articulated in the coachees’ own words:

‘Levelling-up’ – Coachees reflections of what worked and what did not:

What did Inemmo learn and what might they do differently?

Many of the coachees made such significant changes in their life, that it disconnected them from some of their old friends who they wanted to help but could not. A number reported “survivor’s guilt” and a difficulty (sometimes trauma) in “leaving others behind” which they describe here:

As coaches, Inemmo reflected on a shadow process, whereby they also needed to be aware of overplaying their desire to help the coachees and “rescue” them. Instead, Inemmo needed to make a safe place to empower them. It would have been easy for the coaches at Inemmo to become emotionally invested in the outcomes for each coachee, which would not have served them. Inemmo’s bigger purpose became to let the young people find their own voice, in their own time, in their own way.

As coaches, Inemmo also learnt the importance of building deep trust with the young people. For this community, creating a psychologically safe space is even more important, as is being non-judgemental of whatever is shared. For example, some young people raised very difficult personal issues concerning being in a gang, losing a friend, being estranged from their parents. Regular supervision and receiving our own coaching became very important.

Inemmo learnt it is very important to always gather feedback from the coachees as to what is working and what we could do better as coaches.

Other explanations for the results

The drive for many organisations to support diversity, equity and inclusivity means that those black or brown individuals who dare to stand out are more likely to be recognised for their excellence and developed. In addition, many of the coachees knew their parents were supportive of their success, and knowing that their parents had their back will likely have contributed much to their success. 

With collaborations on previous award submissions to the ABP being successful, Lumina Learning and Inemmo are delighted take home another win in 2021 for excellence in social impact after the previous wins of 2014 and 2015.