My unique approach to coaching and training combines the leadership experience from being an Officer in the RAF with a career to partner level as an employment lawyer, alongside a wealth of life experience and human performance training.
I am a business owner, Agile Project Management Practitioner and wellbeing and anti-stigma advocate.
I have worked in the legal industry for over two decades. Prior to that I was an Officer in the RAF, a very different environment focused on leadership, teamwork and personal development. I can still remember my first day in a law firm, sat on my own with a big pile of files and a dictaphone wondering what have I done?
I didn’t like it but I got stuck in and fought my instincts for years. Slowly, I changed from a team player focused on working with and helping others to a self-interested and financially driven individual. Eventually my lack of self-awareness caught up with me and I hit a wall. My health deteriorated such that I needed to take a break and that changed my life. I was able to reassess what was important to me, who I wanted to be and what values I will not compromise.
I went on to set up and run successful and productive legal teams, utilising the skill and aptitude of people where is was best for them and the business. I threw conventional models away and showed how lawyers really can work as a team for the good of the business.
I love the law but I fundamentally believe there is a healthier and more productive way to organise the work and train, retain and develop lawyers. Having experienced many of the issues facing lawyers today and having spent years now refocusing on leadership and personal development, backed by latest insights from neuroscience, I am committed to helping law firms change the way they work and helping individuals make choices that are right for them.
I have been there, done it, been successful, been lost, crashed, got up again, made change happen, failed, tried again, worked with great people, worked with unhelpful people, been ill, been healthy and so the list goes on. There is not much I cannot relate to.
My style is described as wise, empathetic and fair. I work through three levels:
•Awareness – what is really going on now?
•Acceptance – given the status quo, what needs to change?
•Action – what are the steps that need to be taken?