Sam Whale

Co-Owner & MD at Unforgiving Minute Ltd

London, England, United Kingdom

About

Co Owner and MD of Unforgiving Minute - a leadership development partner organisation focussed on driving positive change to raise standards and enhance performance. In addition I am a Board member of British Wheelchair Basketball, Chair of their Performance Committee and former Coaching and Leadership Advisor at UK Sport. I work with leaders and their teams in multiple sectors to develop self-awareness, adaptability, confidence, and capability to nurture talent and create high performance environments. Recent clients have included The Football Association, Whitbread, Godolphin, the Rugby Football Union, Trafford Housing Trust, Age UK West Sussex & Brighton and the Health Foundation. www.unforgivingminute.org

Experience

  • Co-Owner & MD at Unforgiving Minuted Ltd
    Oct 2013 - Present · 12 yrs 10 mos

    We work with leaders and teams to help people and ideas thrive. We create personalised experiences through a mix of team development, mentoring, coaching, and other impact-driven initiatives based on need. We connect leaders across industries and develop trusted relationships to nurture continuous learning and support.

  • British Wheelchair Basketball (8 yrs 7 mos)
    • Chair of Performance Committee
      Jul 2020 - Nov 2025 · 5 yrs 5 mos

    • Non Executive Director
      May 2017 - Nov 2025 · 8 yrs 7 mos

  • UK Sport (5 yrs 5 mos)
    • Leadership Development Manager
      Jan 2012 - Sep 2013 · 1 yr 9 mos

      Responsible for designing an entire leadership development strategy for the GB sports system, working alongside home country partners throughout Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The outcome of this original idea led to the creation a programme and whole host of leadership development initiatives designed to enhance the skills, qualities and behaviours of Boards, Chairs, CEO's and Performance Directors. The vision was to create a clear leadership strategy which would ensure Sports were inspirationally led and governed way beyond London 2012. In addition I was responsible for creating a new mentor development programme to support the succession planning of coaches and leaders throughout the high performance system. This followed the completion of a post graduate programme in Executive Coaching at Ashridge Business School and a desire to develop a workforce capable of developing the next generation of world class coaches and leaders. Furthermore I was responsible for designing an original selection process for the very best coaches within the UK to join the revamped version of the Elite Coach Programme.

    • Coaching Team Co-ordinator
      May 2008 - Jan 2012 · 3 yrs 9 mos

      Member of the Coaching Team and deputy to the Head of Coaching at UK Sport. As the agency responsible for Elite Coach development I worked alongside all Olympic and Paralympic sports to support and enhance the quality of professional elite coaching within the UK. Within this role my specific responsibilities included - Co-ordination and delivery of the Elite Coach Programme - Design and concept creation of an annual World Class Performance Conference - Creation and programme delivery of an Elite Mentor Development Programme

  • Training Executive at British Horse Society (The)
    2005 - 2008 · 3 yrs