That’s where I come in.

I’ve been working in business transformation for almost 30 years. Over that time, the market has changed dramatically. The big systems implementations have faded, and corporates have started building their own internal change teams. The nature of the work has shifted. These days, people often just want help designing the future state of their business.

Like an architect who draws up plans, the idea was that they would self-build. But time and again, I’d return to the same “plot” a year later and it was still full of weeds. Little had changed.

When a client asks you for a design multiple times over five years and still hasn’t acted on it, you have to start asking serious questions.

What’s the point of doing another design?
What’s really going on here?

Around the same time, something unexpected started happening. I found the leadership team of a major bank opening up to me during one-to-one conversations sharing doubts, frustrations, and hopes for the future. I felt flattered by their trust, but also ill-equipped. I didn’t know how to support them properly. That realisation pushed me to get a coaching qualification.

Through coaching, I began exploring the psychology of change, why people resist it, how they respond, and what it really takes to help them move forward. I started reflecting on my own role too. Were my designs too complex? Had I been too focused on structure and not enough on support?

I’d always preferred to stay on and help implement until the client could take it forward on their own. But I began asking myself: is there a middle ground? Could I stay involved just enough, observing, supporting, coaching , while the client truly takes the lead?

Meanwhile, the external landscape was shifting again. Organisations wanted transformation but didn’t know how to take the first steps. Consultancies were happy to take over, but few were helping clients build capability from within. It felt like a perfect storm, a deep need for change, but no one helping clients truly own it.

That’s when The Transformation Guide was born, a role for someone who walks alongside the client, not in front of them.

Then came the spark. A client said to me, “You’re exactly what we need. You understand finance transformation, coaching, and change management.” That moment confirmed I was on the right path. All the questioning and internal tension had led to this new way of working; guiding, supporting, and empowering teams to lead lasting transformation themselves.