What if the real source of change
sits beneath the surface?
Sustainable leadership change doesn’t simply come from changing what you do. It comes from understanding, and upgrading, what’s driving what you do.
I’ve found that much leadership development naturally works with what we can see: our actions, strategies and skills. Those things matter, and I work with them too.
But I’m equally interested in what sits beneath the surface, our identity, thinking, feelings, assumptions, beliefs and internal state, and the powerful influence these can have on how we lead.
Think of these as the roots.
We may not be able to see them, but they influence what grows above the surface.
That’s why my work looks at both: what’s visible and what’s happening in the roots.
Because if we want sustainable change, we need to go to the source.
The Five Pillars of Leadership Capacity
My Five Pillars of Leadership Capacity help us look at the whole picture, from what’s driving how you lead to the impact, leverage and results your leadership creates.
Clarity
Pillar one
Get clear on what you’re creating, and who you need to become to create it.
Clarity runs through everything: your vision, your future self, how you think, where you focus, the decisions you make and how effectively that clarity translates into action.
Who does the next version of this business require me to become?
Awareness
Pillar two
See what may previously have been invisible.
Your identity, patterns, assumptions, blind spots and Invisible Boxes can all shape how you lead without you necessarily realising it.
Greater awareness helps you see what’s driving you, the patterns you may inadvertently be creating around you and what happens when the pressure rises.
Make the invisible visible and you create the possibility of conscious choice.
State
Pillar three
The state you’re in changes what becomes available, to you and to the people around you.
Your internal state influences how clearly and creatively you think, the decisions you make and how you respond when the stakes are high.
And state is contagious. The energy you bring can ripple through your leadership team and beyond, influencing how people think, challenge, respond and perform.
Impact
Pillar four
Your leadership is always having an impact. The question is: what impact is it having?
Does your leadership create greater clarity, challenge, ideas, ownership and energy? Or can it inadvertently create caution, dependency or stress?
Impact is about becoming increasingly conscious and intentional about the ripple your leadership creates, through people, teams, stakeholders and ultimately the business.
Because intention and impact aren’t always the same thing.
Leverage
Pillar five
How far can your leadership multiply beyond you?
Leverage is about expanding and amplifying what becomes possible through other people.
Develop leaders who think, decide, challenge and create independently, and who, in turn, expand the capability of the people around them.
That’s when leadership begins to become a capability of the organisation itself, increasing its capacity to perform, grow and create value.
A Catalytic State of Mind
Underpinning this work is a state of mind I believe is increasingly powerful in a world that refuses to stand still:
Intense Curiosity. Radical Open-Mindedness. Proactive Experimentation.
Curious enough to challenge what you’ve assumed to be true. Open-minded enough to genuinely consider another possibility. Experimental enough to find out rather than waiting for certainty.
What if the problem isn’t what we think it is? What if the constraint we’ve accepted isn’t actually a constraint?
In a world changing as quickly as ours, yesterday’s answers won’t automatically create tomorrow’s success.
Expand what’s possible in yourself.
Expand and amplify what’s possible in others.
Develop leaders who create that same expansion around them.
The work begins with you, but its real power lies in how far that expanded capacity can ripple beyond you.
I understand the commercial reality of the business you’re trying to build, and I’m deeply interested in the human system that’s building it.
I came to this work through business.
Before becoming a coach, I spent over 30 years in commercial business, co-building and co-leading businesses. My brother and I built an international oil and gas events business where I served as Managing Director and Board Member. We grew profits by 450% over five years, built a team of around 150 people, received two Queen’s Awards and ultimately achieved an eight-figure exit.
I loved building the business, but I was equally fascinated by the people, leadership, developing teams and seeing what became possible when talented people were given the conditions to thrive.
Somewhere along that journey, my curiosity went deeper. I became fascinated by human potential, the source of the results we create and what actually drives sustainable change.
That curiosity took me deep into leadership, identity, mindset, self-awareness and human behaviour. Today, my approach brings those two worlds together: the commercial reality of building an ambitious business and a deep understanding of what drives sustainable change in the people leading it.
I’m an ICF Master Certified Coach (MCC), the highest ICF coaching credential, held by just 4% of ICF-credentialed coaches worldwide, with wider training in Emotional Intelligence, Multiplier Leadership and the Enneagram.
But qualifications only tell you part of the story.
What I bring is the combination of having built, led and exited a business myself, years of coaching experience, commercial curiosity, challenge and a genuine fascination with what becomes possible in people.
Outside work, I’m happily married and a very proud mum and stepmum. I love cooking, travelling, art and learning, and my two dogs have been known to make the occasional appearance in coaching sessions.
