The story of one of the earliest pioneers in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) began in 1978, when he met Richard Bandler and John Grinder. Joining the first certification cohort led by Leslie Cameron-Bandler and her team, he went on to become the first certified NLP Trainer to live and work in Europe. In London, he co-founded the UK Training Centre for NLP, through which many of the earliest adopters of NLP across the UK and Europe were trained, directly contributing to the field’s expansion beyond the United States.
Determined to establish NLP as a serious professional discipline, he supported the founders in developing the first NLP Institutes in five additional European countries. Later, he founded the European Institute for NLP, certifying trainers from four European nations. During this period, he collaborated extensively with Sue Knight, Sue Cheshire, and the Academy of Chief Executives in the UK, integrating NLP into executive leadership development at scale.
With a strong desire to apply NLP within complex, real-world systems, he embarked on a one-year sabbatical in Hawaii that evolved into a decade of applied leadership work. Serving as Vice-Chancellor of Operations for the University of the Nations-Kona, he applied NLP-informed thinking to restructure governance, operational systems, and organizational culture within this multi-campus, global university. Following this, he completed a PhD in leadership and organizational development under the guidance of Rosemary Stewart, Dean of Templeton College, Oxford University.
His career then took him to Silicon Valley, where he first consulted with Incyte Genomics and later co-founded Genomic Health. This company became the first to develop what is now the global gold-standard genomic breast cancer diagnostic for predicting recurrence risk. During his tenure, he catalyzed a world-class organizational culture ranked by Denison Consulting in the top 98% of companies in its global database.
His passion for leadership development next expressed itself through the co-creation of Leaders’ Quest, a social enterprise designed to take CEOs and senior executives on immersive learning journeys across Brazil, China, India, Israel, Malaysia, South Africa, the UK, and the United States. Through this work, he became a strategic advisor and trainer to CORO, an Indian NGO, helping to develop a leadership program that has impacted over 3,400 villages and more than five million marginalized people. Leaders’ Quest also connected him with global sustainability leaders, including coaching the CEO and Executive members of the World Resources Institute and the founding Global Director of P4G (Partnership for Green Growth). Under his leadership, P4G generated over $98 million in commercial investment, reduced more than 10.8 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions, and positively affected over 1.6 million people.
He also worked extensively with two South African NGOs, The Learning Trust and The Trust Connection, bringing NLP into township and educational contexts. During this period, he formalized what became known as the 10x Model, initially articulated in Silicon Valley and later refined through community-development work with Regional Unlimited in Tamworth, Australia.
When COVID disrupted traditional organizational life, he returned fully to coaching and consulting. Today, he serves as a coach with 100 Coaches Agency, an expression of Marshall Goldsmith’s vision to pass on his experience as the world’s #1 leadership thinker. He continues to coach Scott Osman, the agency’s founder and CEO, as well as CEOs, senior executives, founders, and entrepreneurs globally. In addition, he is evolving the 10x Model through program collaborations in Europe and India with NLP Master Trainers including Tristan Soames and the Global NLP Summit led by Nishith Shah.
