A promotion or broader remit
Global Executive Advisory
Everyone needs a Mary.
Confidential, independent advisory for capable leaders whose world has just changed, so you don't have to navigate it alone.
1:1Six monthsOnline, wherever you lead$6,000 founding rate
Start with a free, 30-minute right-fit conversation. No pitch, no pressure.
Free live conversation · 30 minutes
You Got the Role, Now What?
Wednesday November 4 · 18:00 Paris
17:00 London · 12:00 New York
3 things to focus on when stepping into a new or expanded leadership role
- Where to focus in the first months of a bigger role
- Simple practices to lead with intention and presence
- Time for your questions
Can't make the time? Register anyway and I'll send you the replay. No pitch.
Everyone Needs a Mary · Live Conversation Series
Clarity · Perspective · Self-trust · Steadiness · Connection · Courage · Leadership · Clarity · Perspective · Self-trust · Steadiness · Connection · Courage · Leadership ·
Sound familiar?
You know how to lead. And something has changed.
Maybe you've stepped into a bigger role, or taken on a new function and doubled your team. Maybe you've joined a new company, moved into a different culture, or been asked to lead through a reorganization. Maybe the stakes around you have simply gone up.
A bigger or brand-new team
A new company to learn fast
A new country or culture
A reorganization or transformation
A decision with a lot riding on it
“I know I can do this. I also know this is different.”
If that sentence sounds familiar, you're in the right place.
What nobody tells you
It can be lonely at the top.
When things get more complex, capable leaders do what has always worked. They work harder, solve more, take responsibility and carry it.
But everyone needs something from you. Your boss needs results. Your team needs direction. Your peers need collaboration. And your family still needs you at the end of the day.
Almost everyone you could talk to has a stake in the outcome: your boss, your peers, your team, HR. Even the people at home, who love you, may not understand the world you're navigating.
So you carry it. Into meetings, into the evening, into the weekend.
Caring about everything doesn't mean you have to carry everything.
What becomes possible
Lead with clarity, and take less home.
When you have somewhere trusted to think, you go back into your organization clearer. That clarity travels: into how you communicate, how you decide, and how your team works together.
Lead
Handle more responsibility with clarity and intention: decisions, delegation, influence and change.
Relate
Handle the relationships your new level demands: your boss, peers, team, stakeholders, and colleagues who think and work differently from you.
Sustain
Succeed without meeting every new responsibility by carrying more. Set boundaries, manage pressure, and stop taking everything home.
Self-lead
Know your patterns, trust your judgment, and choose how you want to lead, rather than reacting.
Clearer leader clearer communication stronger relationships better decisions healthier team
How I work
Solve today's situation. Grow tomorrow's leader.
Every conversation works on two levels.
First, what's happening right now: the restructure, the difficult peer, the big presentation, the new team.
Then, who you're becoming through it: the patterns underneath, like over-responsibility, avoiding conflict or perfectionism, that will shape how you lead long after this moment has passed.
Bring itProcess itSee differentlyUnderstand yourselfChooseActIntegrate
Independent. I have no stake in your organisation's politics.
Business and human. I spent 15 years leading inside Fortune 100 organizsations, and I care about the person inside the role.
Honest. I'll listen, and I'll also challenge you. You leave each conversation clearer, with a next step.
Global Executive Advisory
Six months with someone in your corner.
Month 1 · Understand
Two conversations to understand you, your transition, your stakeholders and the pressures on you. We use the HBDI® thinking-preferences profile to see how you think, decide and communicate. Together we choose two or three focus areas: a compass, not a rigid plan.
Months 2–4 · Navigate
Monthly conversations about whatever is alive, with access between sessions when something important comes up. Around month three we pause to look at what has changed and what needs attention next.
Months 4–6 · Integrate
We move from solving problems to recognizing your patterns. We finish with a written reflection on your development and a Next 90 Days plan: what to keep doing, pay attention to, practice, and not forget.
Some days you'll arrive with a decision to make. Other days you won't quite know what's on your mind until we start talking. Both are welcome.
Investment
FOUNDING RATE · FOR MY NEXT FOUR LEADERS
Global Executive Advisory
Six months · 1:1 · confidential
$6,000 USD
for six months, paid as $1,000 a month or in full
- Confidential six-month advisory relationship
- Two onboarding conversations in your first month
- HBDI® thinking-preferences profile and debrief
- Two or three agreed focus areas
- Monthly advisory conversations
- Reasonable Voxer and email access between sessions
- Short calls when something big comes up
- Midpoint reflection
- Written reflection and Next 90 Days plan
Many leaders work with me through their company. If your organization is sponsoring this, I'm happy to speak with your HR lead, manager or CEO.
The first step is a free 30-minute right-fit conversation.
You can finish, extend, or move to a lighter monthly rhythm. Many leaders choose to continue.
Right fit
This is for you if…
- You're a capable leader and something in your world has become more complex
- You're open to looking at the situation and at yourself
- You're willing to try doing something differently
- You want someone independent, outside your organisation's politics
You don't need to be struggling. Often the best time to have support is before complexity turns into burnout or conflict.
It may not be the right fit if…
- You're looking for validation rather than perspective
- Someone else wants you to change and you don't want to take part
- You need a project manager or a transformation consultant
This work is developmental, not remedial. It works best when you choose it.
For HR, People Leaders and CEOs
Support your strong leaders before complexity costs you.
Growing organizations often build leadership complexity faster than they build leadership support. You don't need another full-time leadership-development role. You need the right independent person available to your leaders when it matters.
At the start I can have a short conversation with you about why now and what meaningful development would look like. After that, the relationship belongs to the leader. What we discuss stays confidential, and I am never a reporting channel. The leader decides what to share back.
Hi, I'm Mary
I know what it's like to carry a lot, and have nowhere to put it.
I trained as an engineer and spent 15 years in Fortune 100 organizations across pharma, healthcare and consumer goods. I led global teams, ran operational-excellence programs and helped deliver transformations of up to $50 million. I've lived and worked in the United States, Belgium and France, so I know what happens when different assumptions about communication, trust and decision-making meet.
I also know the other side of leadership: the travel, the pressure, and the moments you realise the job is taking more than it should. I left corporate life to build work that let me be present for my family. That's why I care so much about leaders not losing themselves in their roles.
Today I'm the trusted person in the corner of leaders navigating something bigger. I'm a certified HBDI® practitioner, the author of Mind-Body Connection Unlocked, and the host of the Find Yourself, Change Your Life podcast.
One of my clients once told me, “Everyone needs a Mary.” It made me laugh, but it's the best description of this work I've heard.
B.S. Engineering, Rutgers · HBDI® Certified · Lean Six Sigma · McKinsey Lean Transformation · Forbes Next 1000
In their words
“Everyone needs a Mary.”Executive advisory client
1 / 3
Most leaders I work with ask to continue after their first six months.
ForbesBusiness InsiderNPRNBC News
The next step
It starts with a conversation.
Message me
Send a WhatsApp or email with a line or two about what has changed for you.
Right-fit conversation
A free 30-minute conversation. You'll leave clearer either way. If I'm not the right person for you, I'll tell you.
Begin
If we're a fit, I'll send a simple one-page proposal. If your organization is sponsoring this, we'll include them. Then we begin.
FAQ
A few questions you may have.
Is this coaching?
It's closer to advisory. Depending on what you need, I'm a thought partner, sounding board, challenger, mirror or strategist. I don't hand you a program; I help you think clearly about what's actually happening.
Who usually pays: me or my company?
Most often the organization, through HR, People, Talent, L&D, or your manager or CEO. Some leaders fund it themselves. I'm happy to speak with your sponsor.
Will my company know what we talk about?
No. The organization may sponsor the engagement, but the relationship belongs to you. Our conversations are confidential and I am never a reporting channel. You decide what to share.
How do we meet?
Online, so it works wherever you lead. Between sessions you can reach me through Voxer or email when something important comes up.
What is HBDI®?
The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® is a well-established profile of how you prefer to think, decide and communicate. We use it early to understand your natural style and how it plays out with the people around you.
Do I need to be struggling to work with you?
Not at all. This is developmental, not remedial. Often the best time to have support is when a strong leader is stepping into something new.
What happens after six months?
You can finish, extend, or move to a lighter monthly rhythm. Many leaders choose to continue.
What does the right-fit conversation involve?
Thirty minutes, free and without obligation. We talk about what has changed, what you're carrying, and whether I'm the right person to help. No pitch.
When a strong leader's world changes, you deserve someone in your corner.
It can be lonely at the top. It doesn't have to be.
I read every message myself and reply within one working day.