Welcome
My philosophy and approach
Why soil and soul? For me it captures my purpose, to help us think differently about how we see the world, to focus on nurturing our souls, and developing confidence and a sustainable capacity to deal with uncertainty.

I spent 24 years in education working with many people in a learning and development role, either as a mentor, teacher, coach or counsellor. The last 11 of those years I worked in a senior executive position, managing in a constantly changing environment, as a Deputy Principal. I lead by developing a culture of action research, appreciative inquiry and community engagement activities such as World Café. My coaching practice has developed over the last 6 years since studying an MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice and setting up my own practice, and I am convinced that developing self coaching skills and reflective practice in leaders is going to be the most important skills leaders can have to deal with such an uncertain future.
My core belief is that leaders today cannot predict what the future holds, yet there are many ‘inevitable surprises’ that we can plan for if we open our minds. Living comfortably with uncertainty doesn’t come naturally, as humans we want to feel in control. Many work place conflicts come from not feeling in control. Leaders are part of their team, not divorced from them, yet workload and pressure often squeezes the spaces to think and reflect. Leaders often adopt a stereotype believing this to be the key to success. In my experience, that is often the greatest barrier to success. I advocate authenticity, leading by being yourself.
Leaders and managers feel productive in a mechanistic system, yet rarely ask themselves what value they are adding to the future. How responsible is their decision making? How authentic are they being?
Systems thinking and understanding complexity and compromise are central to my work, using real live issues and problems you have in your current work to explore new ways of thinking and doing.