Donovan 💻 Grant

University of the Arts London

Imparting my knowledge in business analysis, I dispense job focused training and coaching, enabling student progression, advancing experience and ensuring wellbeing. As a business coach, I manage numerous training programmes, providing instruction and coordinating activities. Handling stakeholder communications, I partner with senior management to formulate bespoke plans. Orchestrating and facilitating groups and one to one workshops, analysing training results and testing knowledge to confirm understanding.

Here are some of the highlights of my achievements:

• Coordinating efforts with Business Analyst Managers, facilitating workshops; improving capabilities throughout business analysis teams.
• Identifying skills gaps presenting training and career coaching; enhancing careers of junior and senior staff.
• Forming strong and mutually beneficial relationships with internal and external stakeholders, collaborating with business
teams to share ideas and best practice; troubleshooting and resolving issues.
• Delivering Business Analysis on the university’s digital business transformation programme; confirming value and usability are delivered across change management plans.

Lead Business Analyst & Coach

Metadata Training

One-on-One Mentoring: Providing regular, personalised one-on-one coaching sessions to apprentices, ensuring the seamless integration of training course knowledge into practical workplace applications.

Bridging Theory and Practice: Playing a pivotal role in bridging the gap between theoretical learning and real-world workplace practices, ensuring that apprentices can effectively apply their skills.

Tailored Learning: Customising the learning process to align with the specific needs of both the employer and apprentices, ensuring that the training directly addresses the challenges faced in the workplace.

Alignment with Real-World Problems: Ensuring that apprentice learning aligns with the real problems they encounter in their day-to-day work, fostering practical problem-solving abilities.

Guiding the Learning Journey: Guiding mentees throughout their learning journey, helping them develop technical proficiency, and fostering their confidence.

Practical Skill Development: Enabling the transformation of theoretical knowledge into practical, hands-on skills, empowering apprentices to excel in their roles.

Coaching Through Challenges: Providing support and coaching to apprentices during setbacks and challenges, helping them navigate and overcome obstacles in their professional development.

Business Analyst Mentor

Heroic Public Benefit Corporation

Heroic is a dynamic platform that unites ancient wisdom, modern science, and world-class, scientifically validated tools to drive personal growth. 

In my role as a Heroic Performance Coach, I offer customised one-on-one coaching to help you unlock your fullest heroic potential and spark transformative change—one individual at a time. 

If you’re inspired, explore more at heroic.us or drop me a DM.

Heroic Performance Coach

London Metropolitan University

As a senior business analyst and coach, I executed business analysis, delivering group workshops and developing process improvements. A major part of my role, was to plan projects, share progress and evaluate results.

Here are some of the highlights of my achievements:

• Spearheaded Lecture Recording Project as part of virtual learning programme; delivered change, achieved results on time and within budget.
• Conceptualised and integrated continuous improvement initiatives, including focused project meetings; provided focused feedback and progress updates to ensure future business transformation.

Senior Business Analyst & Coach

HSBC Commercial Banking

Working with HSBC, I led requirements gathering workshops and obtained feedback from stakeholders to create business requirements documents and support the delivery of strategic initiatives and key projects.

Here are some of the highlights of my achievements:

• Motivated and coached team members; increased knowledge and confidence in use of systems, business analysis, project management and change management.
• Integrated continuous improvement initiatives; triggered improvements in reporting and strategic planning.

Visa Europe

In my role with Visa Europe, I assessed business conditions, considered project feasibility, identified areas for improvement and outlines solutions to deliver digital transformation. Partnering with internal and US stakeholders, I delivered global projects and met standards.

Here are some of the highlights of my achievements:

• Managed digital change projects; designed and instituted more transparent and secure payment options for members and customers.
• Played a pivotal role as an agile team member across three countries, mapped and documented business processes; originated improvement initiatives to achieve project deliverables.
• Contributed significantly to the launch of the new Visa Apprentice programme; delivered training and career coaching, marked assignments, tested knowledge and offered mentoring to develop a diverse range of IT professionals.

A decision maker and motivational communicator, a coordinator of key performance goals, I have coached individuals and teams to achieve digital change objectives. 

Engaging in key training activities, I am passionate about providing group and individual coaching to prepare business professionals for future business transformation. I also greatly relish new and refreshing challenges, which give me great satisfaction when I resolve issues.

A career performance coach, I deliver bootcamps providing exclusive coaching for technology professionals, enabling them to become more influential and impactful.

Presenting internal and private coaching for technology leaders and managers, I offer strategic support to enable organisational change. I am regularly called upon to deliver high performance coaching and training in value driven business analysis.

I guide business analysts and Technology professionals to move their mindset and businesses from their current position to where they want to be in the future.

As a business transformational coach and business analyst, I excel while leading challenging digital development projects and change initiatives to advance learning and improve business processes. I am a high achiever and impacting leader, with a talent for refining and advancing knowledge in business analysis, project delivery and change management within major organisations, creating and developing people and strategy to improve engagement.

As an imaginative and analytical individual, I can easily visualise the wider business, allowing me to steer change and strategic advancement to achieve results.

~~~

𝘗𝘴. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵! :)

Story-Driven Learning

• Empowered 1,500+ professionals from tech firms to refine their communication through keynotes, workshops, and coaching sessions.
• Specialist in aiding tech companies beyond their Series B/ 50MM milestone.

Speaker, coach and trainer

• Delivered 3,000+ tours, narrating Berlin's rich history through evocative storytelling.
• Achieved consistent 5* Tripadvisor reviews, collaborating with every major touring agency in the city.

Berlin Tour Guide

• Collaborated with top-charting German artists like Culcha Candela and Kontra K.
• Pioneered the music project, Saltbread, with the single 'Wild Heartbeat' featured as BBC Introducing Track of the Week.

Music Producer, Sound Engineer & Songwriter

Storytelling and presentation skills help you move FASTER and break FEWER things.

They help with the 3 essential elements of your success:
1. Alignment: turning abstract goals into a clear path forward. They turbo charge your vision and strategy.
2. Clarity: simplifying complex tech concepts for investors and the public. This can turn scepticism into belief and investment.
3. Engagement: making your product irresistible, your mission meaningful and your values applicable

And without these skills, progress could be slow because of stuff that’s avoidable: slow decisions, disengaged teams, and a value proposition that failed to resonate.

Here’s how I can help:


1. Training 📚💼

Give your team the skills to work in a fast/ hyper-growth organisations
• Sales
• Storytelling
• Negotiation
• Public speaking
• Presentation skills
• Meeting facilitation
• Leadership communication
• Slide design and data storytelling
• Delivering and receiving feedback
• Conversations and active listening

Available online/ in-person.


2. Workshop Facilitation 🧑‍🏫💡

Work with me to uncover and craft stories that help you navigate through change, growth, and scaling challenges.

This can be done as a one-off, or over several months to ensure we achieve a real transformation.


3. Coaching 👤📈 

I work 1:1 with executives and leadership teams to prepare them for pitches, conferences, IPO roadshows, or to engage their team. 


My clients include: Raisin, HelloFresh, Babbel, Cleverbridge, Adjust, Moneybox

Testimonials

★ "Now I can engage stakeholders on highly technical issues so they understand and I feel more confident." Javier Sagastagoitia Calleja • Head of Search at Hello Fresh

★ “Rob’s shared tools that not only helped me in presentations, but also in everyday communications with my team.” Marcelo Castro • Engineering Lead & Scrum Master at Raisin

★ “Rob creates a positive vibe for the audience and explains how anybody can achieve this as a presenter.” Oleksii Polishchuk • Head Of Software Development at Seven Senders


I also host the "Leadership for Unicorns" podcast where I talk to leaders from high growth and  tech companies about the challenges they’ve encountered and the lessons we can all learn.

When I’m not working you’ll find me at tech events across Berlin, I continuously engage with the latest in culture and innovation, ensuring my approaches remain cutting-edge.


Let’s connect 📧

If you’d like to talk about booking me for an event or possible collaborations, please drop me a message either here or at hi@robdwillis.com.

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Donovan 💻 Grant

Rob D. Willis

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