Consulting and Advisory

High-level consulting to business, government and civil society.

Are you looking for new ways of thinking about the challenges we are facing in the world today? Are you a business or government department looking for innovative thinking to solve some of our most intractable problems? Are you concerned that traditional consultancy projects are too technical or ‘top down’ and lack the human touch needed to bring about effective change? Are you working in an emerging market and feel training and advisory is still too ‘colonial’ in it’s approach? Or do you perhaps  need some support to galvanise a movement or social justice initiative?  Or are you looking for fresh perspectives for your board of directors to 10X your strategy and operations and therefore your profits?

Caroline is a highly-sought after consultant, advisor and board member, to C-suite executives, government leaders and civil society organisations.  Her knowledge and experience of the emerging world and countries in transition gives her a strong understanding of the geopolitical forces at play as organisations seek to globalise, whilst also needing to balance the needs of ordinary people concerned with local issues.  Fundamentally, she believes consultancy needs to start from the standpoint of what people already know, rather than a top-down, colonial approach to knowledge and wisdom.

This ability to balance the local with the global is a hallmark of Caroline’s leadership, and reflects her belief that for leadership to have authenticity and integrity, it must care deeply about the lives of ordinary people who make up the bulk of our global population.  She believes that to be a truly ‘global’ person means to be at once at ease with working internationally as it does to be a bigger picture thinker in how we work in our local communities too.

Her deep scepticism about consultancy that sweeps in with opinions and viewpoints delivered ‘from on high’, with little or no consultation with ordinary people whose lives are affected by the impact of a consultant’s work, has deeply shaped her own offer which seeks to marry the best of a coaching/mentoring approach, with supporting and empowering grassroots leaders to make their own changes with what works best for them.  This is particularly important in countries and communities that have experienced ‘top down’ leadership, or are experiencing the negative legacies of colonial thinking, that is no longer appropriate for today’s world.

Caroline has a particular passion for working in emerging markets and countries or communities in transition.  Whether it’s helping to support the ministerial team of a government in the Middle East, coaching and mentoring leaders in Africa, sharing her lessons in leadership with college graduates in the US, or enabling those in Europe to understand their place in a multi-polar world, Caroline brings unique insights, freshness and inspiration, and practical tools to your team in whatever endeavour they are working on.

But more fundamentally, Caroline’s consultancy is about building trust, developing cultures that support gentle and fearless transitions to cope with a changing world (not just ‘change management’) and giving people the confidence in their own way of doing things to move forward. It is not advice given from ‘on high’ but working shoulder to shoulder with those at the coal face of the problem, and supporting and empowering their leadership, recognising that they know best how to solve their own problems.