Leadership is an art of seeing
I help leaders and organizations see and make sense of what change conceals and reveals, including our humanity.
Executive and leadership coaching, leadership development, and organizational consulting — for moments when something significant shifted, the path forward isn't clear, and it requires learning new ways of thinking and being.
Who is this work for?
This work manifests in many ways and forms but it typically involves being more curious about what’s happening beneath the surface and what our thoughts and emotions might lead us to discover about ourselves and the systems in which we operate. Staying with change — and the resistance to it — long enough can help us see what it is really asking of us and others. This includes exploring what might be happening beneath the surface, beyond the presenting problems.
Some examples might include:
You’re considering a new job, position, or promotion, and you’re unsure about what it will ask of you – and whether you can or want to do it
You’ve stepped into a bigger role, engaging at a systems or enterprise level, and fear the new learning it might require
You’ve built a successful career over decades and wonder what it cost you, including how to see where your role ends and your identity beings
You’re approaching the end of a job or career and the transition feels heavier than you expected, even like grief
Two teams with very different cultures are merging into one as part of a restructuring and are struggling to move forward
You’re leading the organization’s AI adoption and notice people’s resistance seems grounded in deeper, personal fears or anxiety
Something meaningful ended with a project or a person’s departure, but no seems to see it or say so
You’re excited to use creative approaches to help your team or organization manage change and foster more learning
You want to explore the more existential, human aspects of leadership and your own personal development and growth
What guides this work?
Leadership can be a demanding, risky, and often lonely practice. It involves holding uncomfortable tension that others want resolved, sitting with ambiguity longer despite the pressure to act, and containing the anxiety that complexity and change generate in people. It can involve loss, grief, and letting go of who we are, what we know, or what used to work. Most coaching, consulting, and leadership development avoids this — intentionally or not. My work starts here…with a sense of curiosity. With that, we can see more clearly.
I’ve learned this myself from twenty years of federal service, including in the U.S. Senior Executive Service (i.e., C-suite), in roles investigating, mitigating, or preventing leadership failures and advising other senior leaders on strategy and culture at the highest levels of government, across various agencies and missions.
My work is influenced by adaptive leadership, adult development, grief and loss, and the unconscious dynamics that shape how people and organizations actually behave when the stakes are high. I often use creative and innovative methods, including cinema, literature, poetry, music, and photography — not as entertainment, but as paths to new learning and deeper exploration.
I’ve found that this results in an approach to leadership that is more genuine, human, and effective than what most people have encountered before. If we let it, change might change us, helping us grow and find meaning in the process.
Who is Brian?
I am an executive and leadership coach, leadership development facilitator, and organizational consultant who works with senior leaders and their teams or others when the real challenges aren't just technical. They're complex, unclear, and interconnected. They’re deeply human. And they require new learning.
As a former federal executive, lawyer, and investigator, I spent two decades inside complex government institutions, including senior advisory roles at the U.S. Department of State and Department of the Treasury. That experience — watching how authority, power, identity, fear, and unacknowledged loss shape decisions at the highest levels — became the foundation for my current practice.
I am a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), certified in adult development theory, a certified grief educator, and have trained in group relations and systems psychodynamics in the Tavistock tradition. I work with clients across the U.S., U.K., Europe, and internationally.
How might we work and learn, together?
Executive & Leadership Coaching
For leaders navigating transitions, identity shifts, or the weight of leading and living through complexity and uncertainty. Beyond better performance, this developmental work changes how you see, not just what you do.
Leadership Development
For leaders looking for more learning, these cohorts, courses, and residential retreats use creative approaches to create a reflective space for people to explore deeper aspects of leadership that conventional programs don't reach, alone and together.
Organizational Consulting
For leaders, teams, and organizations struggling with change, this work helps you understand what the system is unconsciously trying to protect, to work with the hidden dynamics that shape culture, strategy, and decision-making.
Seeing What’s Here For You, Now
Explore a sample self-guided coaching exercise using contemplative photography
The work starts with a question.
If something here resonates and you want to dive deeper, or if you're curious about learning more, let’s explore how we might work together.
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