Find the one thing that's holding you back. Then fix it.

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I'm Steve Killingback. For 30 years I've built teams, led through change and sold at the top end of a demanding market. Now I help real estate professionals and business leaders find the single constraint capping their growth, and give them an honest plan to break through it.

No jargon. No recycled playbooks. Just a clear, candid diagnosis and the accountability to act on it.

The First Chapter: London, learning how organisations really work

I'm British, and I built the first chapter of my career in London's financial services industry. Over two decades I moved from technology into senior leadership, running global teams across multiple time zones and cultures.

That work taught me three things I still use every day:

• Systems beat heroics. The best teams I led didn't rely on one brilliant person working late. They had clear processes that let good people do great work.
• People development is the real job. My proudest results weren't projects delivered. They were the people I helped grow into leaders.
• Most problems have one root cause. When a business stalls, it's rarely ten things going wrong. It's usually one constraint quietly limiting everything else.

I saw organisations spend fortunes treating symptoms. I learned to look for the cause.

The Second Chapter: The USA, a second career in luxury real estate

Then I did something many people only talk about. I reinvented myself.

I moved to the United States and built a career in luxury real estate with Sotheby's International Realty. It was a different world: commission-only, relationship-driven and unforgiving of weak systems. Overnight I went from leading a large organisation to being the entire business.

I lived the problems my real estate clients face today. Lead generation that depends on your own energy. Follow-up that slips when you're busy closing. Admin eating the hours you should spend selling and building the business. And the ceiling every producer hits when the business can't grow without them. I also saw how the best agents and teams broke through. 

They didn't work harder. They found the constraint, built a system around it and moved on to the next one. That's when it clicked. The discipline I'd used in corporate leadership worked just as well for a solo agent, a growing team or a small business owner.

In 2025 I made another move, my third chapter, this time to Tokyo. Living in Japan has changed how I think about work, purpose and what "success" actually means.

It led me to Ikigai, and to training to become a certified Ikigai Life Coach.

Ikigai (生き甲斐, pronounced ee-kee-guy) is a Japanese idea that roughly translates as "a reason for being" or "what makes life worth living." In Japan it isn't a grand mission statement. It's found in everyday things: work you take pride in, people who rely on you, small daily joys and a sense that you're growing.

In the West, Ikigai is often shown as the overlap of four questions:

1. What do you love?
2. What are you good at?
3. What does the world need?
4. What can you be paid for?

I use both views. The four questions give clients a practical map. The Japanese view keeps it grounded, so purpose becomes something you live day to day, not a poster on the wall.

Most coaching asks "how do I grow?" Ikigai adds a sharper question: "grow towards what?" Combined with my constraint-focused approach, it can help you:

• Get clear on direction before you speed up. Many high performers plateau because they're chasing goals that no longer fit. Ikigai helps you check the destination before you rebuild the engine.
• Make better decisions under pressure. When you know what matters most, it's easier to say no to the wrong opportunities, clients and commitments.
• Reconnect with work that energises you. Burnout often comes less from workload than from work that's lost its meaning. Ikigai helps you find what to keep, what to delegate and what to drop.
• Navigate reinvention with confidence. Whether it's a promotion, a career change or the "second half" question, Ikigai gives you a structured way to design what comes next.
• Lead with purpose. Leaders who can say why the work matters build teams that stay, perform and step up.
• Build sustainable success. The aim isn't just a better quarter. It's a career and business you can enjoy for the long run.

Ikigai is woven into my work rather than sold as a separate fix. It sits alongside the practical diagnosis, so you leave with both a clear purpose and a concrete plan.

My approach is simple: find the one constraint, fix it, then find the next.

I'm direct. I'll tell you what I see, even when it's uncomfortable. That candour is the heart of my newsletter on Substack, Unfiltered. You'll get an honest assessment, not validation.

My flagship programme, The Killingback 90, is a private, six-session engagement over 90 days. Together we diagnose what's really capping your results, build a plan you own and hold you to it.

• Real estate agents who've proven themselves but whose production has flattened.
• Team leads, sales managers and broker-owners promoted for their production who now need to lead.
• Small business owners whose business still can't run without them.
• Business leaders stepping into a bigger role, or asking what the next chapter should be.

What my clients share: a track record, a sense that something specific is holding them back and a willingness to do the work.

From London to the USA to Tokyo, I've learned that the right question changes everything.

If you're doing well but know you could be doing better, and can't quite name what's in the way, let's talk.