Business psychology for technical executives and partners
You're brilliant at what you do. Leading others is a different game.
Helping technical executives and partners appoint wisely, develop authentically, and align teams. For results that multiply year-on-year.
APPROACH
Lasting success depends on more than one factor
You're a technical executive or partner. Or you hire and develop them. You are allergic to spin and anything performative. You are highly skilled in your field, and you respect insight from someone highly skilled in theirs. You are not looking for advice that sounds good at thirty thousand feet, then falls over in practice. Or fake praise and encouragement tokeep doing more of the same. You want to be respected, but challenged. And you want practical help with the how.
Most of what goes wrong, in business and in leadership, comes from optimising for a single variable. The number that looks good this year, but can't be sustained. The leader who has presence, but no substance. The team that is busy, but not that effective. My lens means I approach things differently. Evaluating whether a candidate is right for the role, the culture and the strategy, not just whether they are good. Building high-performing teams that deliver through clear purpose, a shared operating philosophy and real empowerment, not only when the leader is directing. Developing leaders who get results through others because they have created the conditions for success, not by burning themselves or their people out.
Being clear that lasting success depends on more than one factor puts some people off. Particularly the ones who want a quick fix, like a personality quiz without a debrief or a one-off leadership keynote. But if you're after something more enduring, the way to get it is to focus on the factors that produce it - your people, your leaders, your culture and your strategy. The upside is you won't just achieve success, you'll multiply it year-on-year.
Most of what goes wrong, in business and in leadership, comes from optimising for a single variable. The number that looks good this year, but can't be sustained. The leader who has presence, but no substance. The team that is busy, but not that effective. My lens means I approach things differently. Evaluating whether a candidate is right for the role, the culture and the strategy, not just whether they are good. Building high-performing teams that deliver through clear purpose, a shared operating philosophy and real empowerment, not only when the leader is directing. Developing leaders who get results through others because they have created the conditions for success, not by burning themselves or their people out.
Being clear that lasting success depends on more than one factor puts some people off. Particularly the ones who want a quick fix, like a personality quiz without a debrief or a one-off leadership keynote. But if you're after something more enduring, the way to get it is to focus on the factors that produce it - your people, your leaders, your culture and your strategy. The upside is you won't just achieve success, you'll multiply it year-on-year.
Services
How I help
People often come to me for something specific. Psychometric testing. 360 degree surveys. Executive coaching. Leadership training. A team day. While these tools are all things I offer, it’s not where we start. Because the same approach can be genuinely useful or practically useless, depending on what you’re trying to achieve. So I start with the outcome, then work out the best approach for your situation. Generally, I support in three key areas:
Appointing Senior Leaders
Psychometric testing · Onboarding
Given the impact senior leaders have on people, culture, and strategy, it’s important to get senior appointments right. But interview performance can be misleading - disadvantaging the humble, and benefitting the ones who can perform.
I help organisations assess whether a candidate is genuinely suited to the role, their culture, and their strategy. It is a rigorous psychometric asessment process that blends sophisticated tools with insight developed by doing this work for twenty years. It’s less of a stop/go sign, and more focused on helping you understand how the candidate is wired, their strengths and development areas relative to the role, what to test in reference checks, and how to onboard and set them up for success should you appoint them.
I help organisations assess whether a candidate is genuinely suited to the role, their culture, and their strategy. It is a rigorous psychometric asessment process that blends sophisticated tools with insight developed by doing this work for twenty years. It’s less of a stop/go sign, and more focused on helping you understand how the candidate is wired, their strengths and development areas relative to the role, what to test in reference checks, and how to onboard and set them up for success should you appoint them.
Developing Senior Leaders
Personality assessment · 360 degree surveys · Executive coaching · Leadership training
The charismatic leader archetype that dominates much of thenarrative makes it seem like that’s what you’ve got to become to lead. But the senior leaders I work with want to be effective, while still being true to who they are. Luckily, effectiveness is predicated on authenticity.
I help you develop deep insight into who you are, how you operate, your values, your strengths, and the patterns that might not be serving you. From there, I help you make your desired shift, by working with you one-on-one or together with a small group of peers. Either way, the aim is the same: helping you lead in a way that gets results through others, while also being good for you, the people you lead, and the business.
I help you develop deep insight into who you are, how you operate, your values, your strengths, and the patterns that might not be serving you. From there, I help you make your desired shift, by working with you one-on-one or together with a small group of peers. Either way, the aim is the same: helping you lead in a way that gets results through others, while also being good for you, the people you lead, and the business.
Aligning Senior Leadership Teams
Strategy day · Team day · Team operating philosophy
Every leader wants a high-performing team that achieves more than the sum of its parts. But most team-building borrows from the sporting world, and works on the wrong things. Senior leadership teams aren’t usually held back by a lack of camaraderie. They’re held back by unspoken expectations and quiet disagreement about where they’re actually heading.
I help teams perform by making the implicit explicit. We get clear on what the team is actually trying to achieve, and on a shared way of working to get there, so everyone is pulling in the same direction. Practical tools strengthen specific areas, like making decisions that optimise business performance, not just your functional patch. And a documented operating philosophy turns all of it into something tangible: stronger cohesion, collaboration, and accountability- long after the session ends.
I help teams perform by making the implicit explicit. We get clear on what the team is actually trying to achieve, and on a shared way of working to get there, so everyone is pulling in the same direction. Practical tools strengthen specific areas, like making decisions that optimise business performance, not just your functional patch. And a documented operating philosophy turns all of it into something tangible: stronger cohesion, collaboration, and accountability- long after the session ends.
ABOUT
Shanel Winning
Early in my career, I was working for a well-known FMCG brand, thinking I'd become an accountant. Then I noticed something that derailed that plan entirely.
Operations and Sales were at war. Initially, Sales were too busy to notice. Fancy dinners with clients every night, and a new product and packaging idea every day. The revenue and customer experience metrics indicated success. Operations told a different story. Exasperated by spiralling costs,they pushed back, demanding fewer and fewer variations, not realising their drive for efficiency would come at the expense of revenue, and ultimately profit. Sales would not acquiesce.
What looked like a personality clash was actually something I've come to recognise as a common business and leadership error: optimising for one metric or variable, and undermining overall and lasting success. I was too junior to name either the problem or the solution back then, but it sparked the journey that underpins my approach.
I started by collecting as many perspectives as I could. Operations. Information systems. Marketing. A stint in mergers and acquisitions, where I learned how investors think and how businesses are valued. Then back to psychology, when I realised most business issues are caused by people, resolved by people, or both. People thought I was unfocused, but I was building a role I didn't have a name for.
Then I spent twenty years testing and refining. How to achieve commercial results in a way that is also good for people, leaders, customers, suppliers and the future of the business. How to lead authentically and effectively without conforming to the charismatic archetype that dominates so much of the narrative. How to overcome the challenges of leading as a former technical specialist.
Today I am a business psychologist known for combining research with hard-won experience of what works in practice. Some clients havecalled me their internal-external, because we build the kind of close relationship that makes it feel like I'm part of the team, while trusting that I'll speak my mind rather than tell them what they want to hear. I enjoy helping organisations multiply their results by focusing on the factors that produce enduring success - their people, their leaders, their culture and their strategy.
If you want to make sound recruitment decisions, develop as a senior leader, or build a high-performing team, I'd love to hear from you. Just send me an email with some context about what you’re looking to achieve.
Operations and Sales were at war. Initially, Sales were too busy to notice. Fancy dinners with clients every night, and a new product and packaging idea every day. The revenue and customer experience metrics indicated success. Operations told a different story. Exasperated by spiralling costs,they pushed back, demanding fewer and fewer variations, not realising their drive for efficiency would come at the expense of revenue, and ultimately profit. Sales would not acquiesce.
What looked like a personality clash was actually something I've come to recognise as a common business and leadership error: optimising for one metric or variable, and undermining overall and lasting success. I was too junior to name either the problem or the solution back then, but it sparked the journey that underpins my approach.
I started by collecting as many perspectives as I could. Operations. Information systems. Marketing. A stint in mergers and acquisitions, where I learned how investors think and how businesses are valued. Then back to psychology, when I realised most business issues are caused by people, resolved by people, or both. People thought I was unfocused, but I was building a role I didn't have a name for.
Then I spent twenty years testing and refining. How to achieve commercial results in a way that is also good for people, leaders, customers, suppliers and the future of the business. How to lead authentically and effectively without conforming to the charismatic archetype that dominates so much of the narrative. How to overcome the challenges of leading as a former technical specialist.
Today I am a business psychologist known for combining research with hard-won experience of what works in practice. Some clients havecalled me their internal-external, because we build the kind of close relationship that makes it feel like I'm part of the team, while trusting that I'll speak my mind rather than tell them what they want to hear. I enjoy helping organisations multiply their results by focusing on the factors that produce enduring success - their people, their leaders, their culture and their strategy.
If you want to make sound recruitment decisions, develop as a senior leader, or build a high-performing team, I'd love to hear from you. Just send me an email with some context about what you’re looking to achieve.
CONTACT
Let's start a conversation
The best way to explore working together is a conversation, but it helps for me to have a bit of context first. Tell me what's prompting you to get in touch: appointment you're making, the leader you're developing, the team you'd like more from, and what you're hoping will be different. I read every enquiry myself, and if I think I can help, I'll be in touch to arrange a conversation.
Urgent psychometric testing
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Coaching for existing clients
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Phone
+64 21 2777 225Socials
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INSIGHTS
Performance Perspectives
Practical insights to help executives lead with clarity and confidence.
