About Leo
First off, how and why can you trust me?
For thirty-five years I worked inside persuasion, systems and strategy. From HCI and behavioural engineering to strategic planning, design thinking and Edward de Bono’s lateral-thinking techniques. Much of that work involved understanding how people see problems, what shapes their behaviour and how the framing of a situation can quietly determine the answers they're able to find.
That’s the professional ground.
It matters, but there is a more important and authentic fact: I’ve been the senior man who couldn’t see his own blind spot.
I have performed the public and private roles. Written the white papers. Been the thought leader, the authority in the room and the ‘fine’ husband at home, whilst quietly feeling that something was amiss deep inside.
I have been on the same treadmill, continually seeking the next thing. The books, retreats and programmes, each superseded by the next.
I learned most of it the hard way, and enough to know what works and what’s just filler.
The irony is that I'd spent years helping others see systems differently, while remaining contained by some of my own. Let me tell you, knowing how framing works doesn't make you immune to it.
Our relationship
The quality of our relationship matters and there may be times when I go above and beyond, behind the scenes or face-to-face, simply because I believe that you sincerely matter.
Now don’t get twisted into some Kumbayah thread around a cosy campfire. That’s not it.
Screens, desks, formal rooms and organisations all have an architecture to them. They quietly set boundaries, expectations and performance — or conformance. I’ve designed those architectures and watched what they do to people. Sometimes we need to step outside them before we can see what they have been shaping.
That is why, at some point, I believe we should connect face-to-face or side-by-side. Perhaps over a coffee, a walk or whatever setting the moment requires.
This is more than a bunch of sessions between us. It is a relationship.
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The Service
My main work is Private Direction: a confidential relationship for capable men who know something needs to change, but cannot yet see clearly what that change should be.
I also take on a small number of more focused or concentrated engagements where that makes sense. That could be a half day, full day or other bespoke arrangement.
Why Do I Offer This Service?
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Friends have asked why I don’t simply sit back and take it easy.
Well, a man needs purpose and mine is partly found in being useful to men who find themselves where I once was. I know how destabilising and isolating life can be when something is off but you can't quite see what it is, and I could not in good conscience stand by and ignore that. Some of those men, after all, were my colleagues and friends.
The truth is I get a lot from my clients, not least my own sense of being grounded.
But there’s nothing like sharing the enthusiasm of a man who’s found his feet again.