Are you tackling critical problems, puzzling over how to prioritize, trying to learn despite having no time for personal development, all without the support and mentorship you need?

I have lived many of these challenges - I found myself leading a multi-million pound charity at the age of 24 - and I find it deeply meaningful to help others with them.

I can help you have more impact, in a way that works for you, by listening, questioning, coaching, and (of course) commenting on your GDocs.

Who might this be good for?

Do you lack a manager?

Maybe you’re working independently, or leading an organization. I can help you get unstuck on your biggest problem each week, and provide accountability for you to hit your biggest goals.

Are you new to management?

I’ve been there before - I can help you with the challenges you’re facing, and provide resources and coaching to help you develop into a great leader.

Are you an experienced leader?

For experienced leaders, I can provide more in-depth coaching and support. I’ll get to know your organization deeply, and be a sounding board for your biggest challenges.

Do you want to grow your skills, but there’s no time?

I can help you craft a development plan that fits seamlessly into your work. We’ll do this through deliberate practice and feedback that supports your urgent goals rather than distracting from them.

What might this look like?

We have an exploratory 30 minute call to check that we’ll be a good fit. You then book a block of six 1 hour sessions, normally spread out over 6-12 weeks. Before each session, you spend a bit of time writing reflections on your key challenges, and then I comment on those issues, so that we have shared context before we meet. During those sessions we focus on your biggest challenges - both what’s on your mind that week, and working towards longer-term development goals. At the end of the block, we discuss how things have gone, and you might want to renew.

About me

I’m Max Dalton.

I’ve spent most of my career coaching and managing leaders in the EA space — from new managers, to directors of large teams, through to founders and executives of new organizations.

When I was 24, I began to lead the Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) - over the following 4+ years I narrowed our focus, grew our key programs ~10x, and helped to spin up several new programs. At the time I left, our budget was around $30m, and we had 40 staff.

The thing I most enjoyed about leading CEA was empowering team leads, pushing them to take on more responsibility, helping them to find roles where they could flourish personally and use their greatest strengths, and supporting them in the hard times. Building deep supportive relationships. So I’m excited to do more of this as a coach.

For what it’s worth, I’m also a certified coach: I’ve spent dozens of hours learning from and being supervised by more experienced professional coaches, and they thought I met their standards. (But I still feel like I’ve got a lot to learn, and I don’t think coaching certifications mean that much!) I’ve also spent a lot of time on meditation, circling, and self-development - these inform my coaching without dominating it.

Feel free to explore the rest of this site!

My mission

Talented young people are streaming into effective altruism and existential risk reduction. Because this is a young field, they often quickly grow into management or executive roles. I want to help train up the next generation of leaders, passing on the mentorship that I benefited from and sharing the advice that I wish I’d had.

Alongside this, many experienced leaders and entrepreneurs in the space lack the support, thought partnership, and accountability that can help them flourish. Boards can play part of this role, but talented board members might not have the time to support the CEO as they’d like. I want to support, advise, and challenge talented executives to grow and achieve more.

What is my coaching like?

• Verbal and written, so we can focus on the most important topics: I will suggest that you spend some time before the session writing about your current priorities and challenges. I’ll comment on this beforehand, sharing resources. This means that we come into the session with shared context, and with many smaller issues resolved - which allows us to focus on the very most important issues.
• Work- and management-focused: My coaching starts with your biggest work challenges and priorities. But it doesn’t end there - I can be with you as you handle the personal and emotional growth that may help unlock your next professional step.
• Coaching, mentorship, advising: I switch fluidly between different modes, based on what you need and how much I know about your situation. I’ll normally start by coaching - asking you questions to help you think through your situation. But towards the end, once I have more context, I might share my perspective. And if you’re newer to management, I’ll be happy to share resources and tips.
• Informed by deep context on EA and existential risk: I’ve been involved with effective altruism since 2012, and ran CEA for over 4 years. When I’m not coaching, I’m trying to think clearly about AI risk (well, either that or playing games with my toddler). I probably know who you work with, a bit about how you like to work, and I might have faced the challenges you’re facing now. But I’m also conscious of the context I’m missing - I’ll ask questions so that I can understand better, and you can tackle your own challenges.

Testimonials

I’ve included some negative feedback in testimonials to give you a more accurate sense of my strengths/weaknesses.

9/10: Max helps shift important new ideas into the Overton window, catch issues I neglect, and give calibrated takes on thorny questions. One conversation in particular helped to revamp my prioritisation system and accelerate progress on my top priority - it really felt like he was "meeting me where I was at" and willing to get into the details of my system. He could provide even more value by having even more context on 80k, and a wider variety of past experience to draw upon.

Niel Bowerman, CEO, 80,000 Hours

Max is one of the best managers I've ever had, and he's been great at coaching and providing support to me on tough things. I'm grateful to have had the chance to work with and learn from him. In particular, I think Max helped me me figure out ways to play to my strengths and compensate for my weaknesses in a smart way. I think this changed how much impact I had (and might have in the future) in a substantial way.

Nicole Ross, Head of Community Health, Centre for Effective Altruism

Max doesn’t just listen, he challenges me and provides real opinions on the decisions I’m facing each week. Given Max’s experience leading high-performing teams & organisations, I find this invaluable. He’s helped me develop into a more effective manager, prioritise more rigorously, and handled my biggest challenges much better than I could have independently!

Cillian Crosson, Executive Director, Training for Good

Before coaching, I often feel unsure how to tackle a project - Max regularly makes these projects feel much more tractable. This can save me up to hours of work, and stress. He makes me feel comfortable and able to open up, and conveys explicit models that directly impact my work - in fact I only wish that he shared even more, with more concrete examples. I’ve really valued being coached by Max, and I now want him to work with the rest of my team as well!

Michelle Hutchinson, Director of the One-on-one programme, 80,000 Hours

Working with Max helped me to shift to a much more impactful plan, significantly increased my productivity, and got my habits back on track. It’s been very useful to have a dedicated time to discuss big picture questions with someone who understands my priorities. This has been especially valuable since I don’t have a manager.

Kuhan Jeyapragasan, community builder

Price

My current rate is £2,000 for six 50 minute sessions (normally spread out over 6-12 weeks).

Note:

• I am happy to have a free 30 minute call, to explore whether we’re a good fit before you commit.
• I normally do 30m-1h of prep and follow-up for each 1 hour session, including in-depth comments on your challenges, and sharing relevant resources.
• I think that it’s valuable to have a block of sessions so that we can make significant progress. Contact me for discounts on longer blocks.
• Please let me know if price is a barrier for you, and I may be able to find funding to support work together.
• This is work-focused coaching: if your organization gives you a development budget, this will likely fit within that.

FAQs