I help individuals and teams think clearly under pressure, make better decisions and bring out the best in themselves and others.

The spark came early in my career, as I watched my boss being carried out on a stretcher, overwhelmed by stress. He recovered, but refused to come back. The job was handed to me, and the stress came with it.

I found a way to handle the pressure, and the job no longer felt stressful. From that calmer state, I began to see something that has shaped my work: people can believe they are thinking clearly when they are not. Many of my colleagues argued, blamed each other and made poor decisions. And they were not getting the best from their people.

One question has stayed with me ever since: What enables people under pressure to think clearly, perform well and genuinely enjoy their work?

I pursued that question through both experience and study. Throughout my career, I moved between internal leadership roles and working with companies from the outside.

Alongside that, I studied a wide range of approaches to human performance and well-being. Stress management often brought relief, but the effects rarely lasted. Some methods were powerful but difficult to fit into a working life. Nothing helped everyone all of the time.

What finally made the difference wasn't mastering another technique. It was an understanding of how our thinking shapes our experience from the inside out. Timothy Gallwey captured the practical effect of this in a simple formula:

Performance = Potential − Interference

As a coach and adviser, I help people see what is getting in the way, so their clarity, creativity and resourcefulness can come through.

When the interference drops away, people take pressure less personally, regain good judgment, and work becomes much easier.

I cover this in depth in A Handbook for Hoteliers (and other humans).