At Legal & General Cofunds, I was brought in as Business Transformation Director during a critical period. The platform needed to achieve full FCA CASS compliance, but also evolve strategically—so we were simultaneously dealing with regulatory urgency and defining a £265m value creation roadmap for the next decade.

I’d developed a plan for a new D2C digital platform that would modernise customer experience, unlock long-term revenue, and future-proof the business—but it landed into a very divided executive team. Some leaders were fixated on remediation only, believing strategic investment was too risky under regulatory pressure.

My challenge was to defend the strategic roadmap while also proving it wouldn’t compromise regulatory progress. I needed to win support from deeply risk-averse stakeholders, align the board behind a bold investment case, and show that this wasn’t a distraction—but a necessary evolution.

I didn’t defend the plan—I deconstructed it.

I held working sessions with Risk, Legal, Ops, and Finance—listening to what they were really worried about, not just what they were saying in meetings. It wasn’t the strategy they resisted—it was the timing, ownership, and perceived exposure.

So I reworked the case:

• Added scenario-based trade-offs
• Linked investment stages to compliance milestones
• Built in early delivery of value to create breathing room

Then I did something unexpected—I brought in a former FCA regulator for a private Q&A with the exec team. That one move shifted the emotional temperature. It turned fear into clarity

The board unanimously approved the revised strategy. We delivered full compliance ahead of the regulatory deadline and set the business on track to unlock over £265m in future value.

More than that—we reset trust across the exec team. Engagement scores in the transformation office rose by 18%, and cross-functional collaboration improved measurably in post-programme feedback.

SO WHAT?

That moment reminded me: influence doesn’t mean holding your ground louder—it means meeting people where they are, then guiding them to where they didn’t think they could go.

It’s a core part of how I lead transformation—balancing vision with credibility, and shaping belief as much as strategy. That’s what makes me effective in high-stakes, high-scrutiny environments.

• Strategy and Planning
• Business transformation
• Product and supplier selection (RFP)
• governance
• Business Case
• compliance
• delivery