LeadX: How our Founders Met

The Brief

Checkout.com is one of the fastest growing Fintech’s in the world. Operating in 56 countries with around 2,300 employees, it processes payments for more than 1,700 enterprise merchants, including Microsoft, Spotify, eBay, Uber and Sony, and expects to handle $480bn in payment volume in 2026. Known for its high-performance culture and fast pace of innovation, Checkout.com builds teams that combine deep technical expertise with a relentless focus on customers. That gives its leaders and people the space to take ownership, grow quickly and deliver real impact at a global scale.

Full transparency: this is the project where Ally and Liz met, and is therefore pre Coachable, when both had their own separate practices. Ally and Liz were the lead designers of the programme, and facilitated the first 18 months of cohorts, before other coaches were brought in.

Back in 2021, Checkout.com wanted to reinvent their learning programmes for their 300+ middle to senior, globally-distributed managers. Their ambition was to create a learning and coaching culture where managers sought out personal development, evangelise to others about their learning journey and to support genuine behaviour shifts. Creating a real “wow” factor was incredibly important, so partnering with a team that could deliver their ambition was key.

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The Solution

A 7-mission (session), fully bespoke, space-themed leadership programme, proudly named LeadX. From how to build a winning team, delegating effectively, building strategic awareness to having difficult conversations; this was the programme for managers wanting to build their credibility and impact. Their internal design team came up with a unique brand for the programme, and the name LeadX, using the metaphor of an interstellar journey.

Alongside the core programme, the project also included:

• Supporting their internal comms plan
• Branded merchandise sourcing and design
• Printed materials, including bespoke LeadX Coaching Cards
• Learner videos
• LMS content
• Post-programme group coaching

The programme scaled quickly, and between Ally and Liz, they facilitated 10 cohorts over 18 months reaching over 200 managers between them.

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The Impact

LeadX was shortlisted as a finalist at the Learning Awards in 2022, something we’re incredibly proud of and reflective of the great work done by everyone on the project.

Alongside the glitz of an award-shortlisting, LeadX delivered notable impact across the organisation:

Push to Pull Learning: There was a significant shift in perception and engagement in career development at Checkout. The demand for learning shifted to the managers, not the People team.

Engagement: The programme had 95% attendance across the whole programme, extremely high engagement in the coach-led live sessions and strong NPS scores. All this proves that putting coaching and learners at the heart of the experience is an effective way to engage learners in their own development.

Connection: Each live mission was a safe space to discover new frameworks, discuss the psychology and neuroscience of leadership, practice coaching, share, connect, challenge and learn from other managers. This created a new sense of community and belonging amongst the managers with the knowledge that regardless of their role, department or country - they were sharing the same challenges together. The impact of this connection is hard to measure but was called out most frequently in our closing mission as the ‘fondest memory’ of their journeys.

Alongside this, the data tells a similar story:

• +91 NPS
• 75% agreed the programme improved their performance as a manager
• 100% said the content was appropriate, interesting and practical
• Feedback from direct reports and managers validated a clear improvement of leadership behaviours

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Full Testimonial from Checkout.com's Talent Development Partner

Partnering with Liz and Ally honestly was a dream. I cannot recommend them both enough - their knowledge and passion is unbeatable. Couple that with their ability to push the boundaries and adapt, and you’ll find yourself very lucky to work with them.

We built a very open relationship to question and challenge one another, but their knowledge and experience shined through. I trust them, with their knowledge of our business, to build something that will drive results. They listened to my ideas, the needs of the business, and the ever-changing environment, and together, we delivered something that the whole company was excited about.

Even when we launched LeadX there was an appetite from Liz and Ally to be better, seeking feedback, making changes, and challenging the norm, which I loved. They would feed back key themes from live sessions with actions I could take to improve sentiment. This is a true partnership that we’ve reaped the rewards of.

We have 300+ managers that we knew needed this support. We are a truly global company with varying cultural differences, but all feedback from across the globe has been incredibly positive. 3 months after completing the programme, 75% of participants say, ‘it’s definitely improved my performance’. Feedback from their direct reports and managers also validated this with a clear improvement of leadership behaviours.

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FAQ

What was LeadX at Checkout.com?

LeadX was a fully bespoke, seven-session leadership programme for Checkout.com's middle to senior managers. Each session was called a mission, and the whole programme was built around a space-themed, interstellar journey designed by Checkout.com's internal team. Topics included building a winning team, delegating effectively, building strategic awareness and having difficult conversations.

Who was the programme for?

LeadX was designed for around 300 middle to senior managers spread across Checkout.com's offices around the world. It was built for managers who wanted to build their credibility and impact.

How many managers took part, and over what period?

Ten cohorts ran over 18 months, reaching more than 200 managers. Ally and Liz facilitated the first 18 months of cohorts before other coaches were brought in.

What results did LeadX deliver?

Attendance across the programme was 95% and the NPS was +91. 75% of participants said the programme improved their performance as a manager, and 100% said the content was appropriate, interesting and practical. Feedback from direct reports and managers also showed a clear improvement in leadership behaviours. LeadX was shortlisted as a finalist at the Learning Awards in 2022.

What does "push to pull learning" mean?

Before LeadX, the People team had to push learning out to managers. Afterwards, managers were asking for it. Demand for learning and career development shifted to the managers themselves, which was one of Checkout.com's main goals for the programme.

What came with the programme besides the live sessions?

Alongside the seven missions, the project included support with Checkout.com's internal comms plan, branded merchandise design and sourcing, printed materials including bespoke LeadX Coaching Cards, learner videos, LMS content and post-programme group coaching.

Was LeadX a Coachable programme?

LeadX was designed and delivered by Ally and Liz before they founded Coachable, when they each ran their own practices. It is the project where they met. The way they work today, with live coach-led sessions, a safe space to practise and a real partnership with the client, comes from projects like this one.

Could Coachable build a bespoke programme like this for our business?

Yes. Bespoke is for businesses where the culture, leadership model or moment of change is specific enough that an off-the-shelf programme would need rewriting. We start by learning how your leaders work, design the programme around that, and senior executive coaches facilitates it.

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