Fred Chapman
Why Up Professional Development Inc.
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Why You · For Who · With What- My support for leaders is not just based on theory and idealism, it's grounded in direct experience of leading diverse high-performing teams in high-pressure environments. - Once known as a creative and technical problem solver within the Hollywood Visual Effects industry, I now know the most interesting and most impactful challenges to apply my creative and outcome-focused methods to, are the people ones. - I lived much of my life lacking many key social and emotional skills, and have invested in learning and growing these over many years. I can easily relate to and build trust with others lacking some of these skills, I recognize more than most how crucial these skills are for leadership success, and I know what it takes to learn them mid-career.
About
Fred spent over two decades solving the hardest creative and technical problems in Hollywood visual effects, on productions from Harry Potter to Ninja Turtles to Dune, before realizing that the people problems were the most interesting, and the highest return, ones to solve. He now partners with executives, business owners, founders, and senior professionals to uncover the blind spots and hidden frictions that quietly drain performance, so they keep their key people, turn difficult working relationships into productive ones, align leadership around shared priorities, and achieve more with far less wasted effort. On more than 50 Hollywood movies, Fred led global teams of creative and technical specialists through demanding clients, immovable deadlines, and more than a few "how the (bleep) are we going to achieve this?" technical challenges. He learned that 95% of solving any complex problem is defining what the core issues really are, and that curiosity, a meticulous method, and an instinct for anything out of place, will find it. He now applies that same rigour to the human side of business, with clients ranging from film studios to a major hospital foundation, family-owned accounting firms, and owner-operated businesses. Once a skeptic who thought "coaching sounds like nonsense", he knows exactly what it takes to earn a doubter's trust. A Certified Professional Co-Active Coach and ICF Associate Certified Coach, he is one of only six coaches in Canada certified in the Quantum Endeavours executive coaching model. The gap between what a team could deliver and what they actually do deliver is rarely a lack of talent. Fred pinpoints what is really causing the gap, then helps leaders build the habits and skills to close it. When a key senior leader resigned midway through a critical, high-pressure project, Fred was brought in to help them learn and address the habits and beliefs that caused their burnout. By the end of the engagement the resignation was withdrawn, and as a result of the leader's newfound confidence a project initially forecast to barely break even returned a profit of nearly $3 million. Other clients have secured a significant raise during a company-wide pay freeze, aligned co-owners pulling in different directions, motivated difficult employees, and stopped founders being the bottleneck in their own businesses. Because his work targets root causes rather than symptoms, the results keep paying off long after the engagement ends. "You didn't just help the business, you changed people's lives." EVP, Emmy® and BAFTA Award Winner. Fred offers one-to-one executive and leadership coaching, team and organizational engagements that align leaders, their managers, and key stakeholders around shared outcomes, and practical leadership programs on delegation, priority setting, and leadership identity, influence, and impact. Every engagement is tailored and delivered online, for clients around the world.
Service Offerings
- 1One-to-one executive and leadership coaching
- 2Tailored experiential group workshops and programs on many aspects of leadership and soft-skills development