A Rigorous, Evidence-based Approach to Influence.
I take a forensic approach to both the emotional and the logical sides of connection, and give you the tools and skills to transform how you connect and how you perform.
Harnessing techniques from the people with the hardest influence jobs in the world - negotiators, counsellors, secret service agents - I bring methods proven in genuine life-and-death situations into your Tuesday morning meeting. That includes Motivational Interviewing: developed in addiction treatment, and now one of the most extensively researched approaches to behaviour change.
Your own challenges are used throughout, so the principles are immediately applied to a relevant scenario.
The Foundation
Effective influence starts with genuinely understanding what matters to the person in front of you: what’s important to them; how they communicate; their personal preferences… and then adapting your approach accordingly. When the other person feels understood and can see how your suggestion is aligned to something important to them, the chances of successful influence increase exponentially.
The Four Connections
At the heart of my methodology is a framework built around four connections - the four dimensions you need to understand about any stakeholder, buyer or team member in order to engage with them effectively:
Company priorities - what the organisation is trying to achieve and why it matters now
Individual motivators - what matters personally to the people involved, what drives them and what makes them resist
Data - the evidence that informs, confirms or challenges your thinking
Context - the environment, culture and timing that influences what's possible
The Process
1. Understand
Before any decision is made, real understanding has to come first. I equip your people to resist the temptation to pitch, propose or problem-solve before they've genuinely understood what the other person needs.
2. Decide
The most effective solutions are built with stakeholders, not presented to them. I facilitate collaborative co-creation, showing your teams how to build solutions with stakeholders.
3. Influence
With genuine understanding established and a collaboratively created solution in place, your people are equipped to influence with integrity - building the emotional connection that makes people want to say yes, and the logical rationale that lets them justify it.
Measurement Engine:
The Compelling Connections Matrix
My development programmes incorporate a unique and science-backed diagnostic: The Compelling Connections Matrix. This data-led system evaluates how your technical specialists and leaders handle two independent behavioural scales in high-stakes environments:
Strategic Orientation: Balancing Task-led logic with People-led impact
Delivery Pace: Shifting fluidly between Direct Action and Deliberate Reflection
My method focuses heavily on expanding your team’s behavioural range, building behavioural agility to connect efficiently and effectively with their teams and with stakeholders - both technical and non-technical.
I teach your specialists how to read stakeholder signals to accurately map the other person’s position on the grid. Once the connection gap is diagnosed, your teams learn the precise communication mechanics needed to flex their delivery pace and orientation. This ensures they build the deep human trust required alongside their rigorous evidence-based rationale to secure a “Yes”.