Hi, I'm Emily.

I work with leaders, teams and organisations where there's a move that keeps not happening.

Usually because some part of the system, or the person leading it, has decided that the cost of moving feels just risky enough to avoid. With, it has to be said, a very convincing reason why now isn't quite the right time.

I know this territory because I've spent years in it. Not just professionally, but personally too.

Having every skill you need to lead something well, and still finding yourself pulled back at the exact point where it matters most, that's one of the most frustrating places to be, and it's exactly where I work.

My background

My background is in motivational interviewing, solution-focused practice and behaviour change. I've spent years working with people navigating ambivalence, resistance and difficult change at the sharp end, in health and social care, in leadership, in coaching and training settings.

I've also held roles as a manager, team coach and practice and performance lead. Which means I've sat in the rooms where the difficult conversations keep not happening, or get softened. I've watched capable, well-intentioned people protect themselves straight past the move they needed to make.

Motivational interviewing isn't about motivation, despite the name. It's about understanding why people can know exactly what they want and need to do, and still find themselves unable to move on it. That understanding is what I bring into every session, workshop and room I work in.

How I work

I don't lead with advice. Most leaders have had plenty of that.

What I do is slow things down enough to see what's actually happening. What's making the conversation feel so risky. What the pattern is protecting, and what it's costing. And then something shifts, usually faster than people expect.

My approach is calm, direct (and, I'm told) occasionally quite funny. I ask a lot of questions. I use a lot of silence. And I always have a cuppa in hand. That's just how I work.

Who I work with

Leaders who are tired of carrying the same conversation, decision or change around month after month.

Organisations where capable people keep stalling at the exact point where movement matters most.

If something keeps not moving, and part of you already knows why, a conversation is a good place to start.