PARTNERING WITH ASPIRING TECHNOLOGY LEADERS · GUIDING THE PATH TO CAREER FULFILLMENT
Know what's expected.
Exceed it.
Next Standard is a coaching program — delivered 1:1 or as cohort coaching — that builds the discipline, judgment, and adaptability technologists need to grow, deliver value, and outperform, drawn from 25 years in IT and training in elite-performance coaching methodology.
The Standard — Exceeded
Founder
Jason Welch
Who I Am
A 25-year IT career. Real judgment on who gets hired, promoted, and trusted.
Over a 25-year career in IT, including time in senior leadership, I've sat on the side of the table that decides who gets hired, who gets promoted, and who earns real trust. What I learned is that technical skill was not always the deciding factor. Discipline, judgment under pressure, passion, and the ability to deliver real value were.
Next Standard exists to teach that directly, instead of leaving people to figure it out on their own. I'm currently training in elite-performance coaching methodology — applying discipline built for high performers to the world of early-career technologists.
"Technical onboarding teaches the job. It rarely teaches what actually determines who grows."
The Program
An 8-week program built on stacking wins.
Typical Session Format
Check-In
15 minActive initiatives, stacked wins, bottlenecks, today's intention.
Personal Development
10 minDaily journal review and AM/PM ritual check-in.
Session Topic
20 minThis week's discipline, mentorship, or leadership skill.
Commitment
15 minDeliverables committed and due back within 24–48 hours.
The Mindset You're Building, Week by Week
Beginning Your Next Standard Journey
Implementing Habits of Excellence
Hardening the Foundation
Leading & Growing With Others
Identifying & Delivering Value
Operating With a Service-Oriented Mindset
Exceeding What's Expected
Presenting Your Level-Up Action Plan
Who I Serve
Built for every technology career track, one standard.
Developing your next generation of leaders
For organizations building high-potential and emerging-leader programs, where the risk isn't finding junior talent — it's keeping and developing it. Employees already have a manager, real deliverables, and a team, so the work goes further:
- Leading a team and managing real projects
- Preparing for and getting the most out of 1:1s with their manager
- Communicating deliverables and presenting ideas that generate value
- Exceeding what's expected, not just meeting it
Org-level outcomes tracked: time-to-productivity · first-year retention · manager satisfaction score
Career-readiness before graduation, not after
For career services teams and program directors preparing students who don't have a manager or live projects yet. The focus is on being genuinely ready before that first job starts:
- Showing up prepared every day — and understanding why that matters
- Continually learning and staying curious, not just completing coursework
- Staying adaptable as technology and the field keep changing
- Spotting where technology can solve a real business problem
- Getting ready for the 1:1s and deliverables they'll have once they're hired
Program-level outcomes tracked: job placement rate · time-to-first-offer · alumni career-readiness satisfaction
The Next Standard Difference
Coaching talk doesn't change behavior. Weekly accountability does.
Built on real judgment
Every session is grounded in 25 years of actually hiring, developing, and promoting technical talent — not a framework built for someone else's field.
Real accountability
Every commitment is due back within 24–48 hours, tracked in a daily journal — not a once-a-month check-in.
The whole professional
Technical acumen, personal discipline, and leadership — built together, not treated as three separate problems.
Exceed the standard.
Schedule a conversation about a pilot cohort for your organization or program — I'll walk through what it looks like and whether it's the right fit.