Beyond Expertise
TM
The weekly skills accelerator for scientists, clinicians and technical experts — developing the skills your education didn't teach you, but your career increasingly demands.
Influence. Persuasion. Executive presence. Organisational savvy. Conflict resolution. Strategic thinking. Leadership. Navigating politics, personalities and competing priorities.
You've spent years becoming exceptionally good at what you do.
But career success is rarely determined by expertise alone.
At some point, you need to influence people who don't report to you. Navigate politics you'd rather didn't exist. Deal with difficult or ‘loud’ personalities. Understand why another part of the organisation seems to be making a completely irrational decision. Make your contribution visible. Develop the presence and credibility to hold your own in more senior rooms. Position yourself for the next opportunity.
Or get promoted and discover that what made you successful in your old role isn't necessarily what will make you successful in the new one.
Nobody hands you a manual for that.
And how you handle these moments gets noticed.
They shape how quickly you establish credibility, how other people perceive you, whether your voice carries weight, the opportunities you're considered for and, ultimately, how much influence and impact you have.
These aren't basic "soft skills". They're advanced, essential professional skills.
They're knowing how to hold your ground without becoming immovable. How to challenge without unnecessarily creating opposition. How to read the room without simply conforming to it. How to persuade and influence without manipulating. How to set a boundary and hold it. How to disagree without destroying the relationship.
They're understanding the other side of the business and recognising that different priorities and perspectives can be equally valid — even when they conflict with your own.
And they're knowing how to own your seat at the table — particularly when yours is the lone voice in the room.
Beyond ExpertiseTM helps you develop and master these skills deliberately and quickly — rather than spending years learning them the hard way.
The Stuff Nobody Teaches You
Beyond Expertise™ focuses on the situations and capabilities that have a disproportionate impact on your effectiveness, career and ability to get things done.
We work on:
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Persuasion and influence with and without authority
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Executive presence — and making your contribution carry weight
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Navigating organisational politics without becoming political
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Managing difficult personalities, conflict and resistance
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Conflict management and resolution
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Setting and holding boundaries
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Building credibility and visibility without becoming self-promotional
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Owning your seat at the table — particularly when you're the lone voice
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Understanding how decisions actually get made
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Communicating effectively with senior leaders
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Positioning ideas so their value is understood
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Understanding the priorities and pressures on the other side of the business
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Developing broader commercial and strategic perspective
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Building relationships and informal networks
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Positioning yourself for promotion and greater responsibility
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Hitting the ground running when you move into a bigger role
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Moving successfully from technical expert to leader
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Knowing when to challenge, when to persuade, when to influence, when to compromise — and when not to
I've Sat on the Other Side of the Table
This program is grounded in experience and supported by evidence.
I've spent more than two decades in commercial leadership roles in science-based organisations, including 13 years as a senior executive with full P&L responsibility. I sat at the table where strategy was shaped, priorities were set, investments were debated, trade-offs were made and decisions were taken.
I've also led and coached well over a thousand people across multiple markets on both sides of the Atlantic — scientists, clinicians, MDs, PhDs, PharmDs and other highly trained experts, from those taking their first steps into leadership to senior executives.
I understand these people because I've worked alongside them, led them and coached them.
I've seen what makes exceptionally capable people successful — and what repeatedly trips them up.
I know why technically strong arguments sometimes fail to land. Why brilliant people can struggle to build influence. Why someone can be ready for promotion technically but not yet be perceived as ready by the people making the decision. Why a new leader can stumble in the first few months despite being exceptionally capable.
And I know why what looks like a completely inexplicable decision from one part of an organisation can make perfect sense from another.
I've sat on that other side of the table too.
I know what senior decision-makers are listening for, what creates credibility, what undermines it and what makes someone's contribution carry weight.
Beyond Expertise™ gives you access to that perspective.
Not so you can learn to play some ridiculous corporate game, but so you understand the environment you're operating in, see more of what's really going on and become considerably better at navigating it.
How It Works
01
Every Friday, we meet live for 90 minutes.
We begin with 20–30 minutes focused on one advanced professional skill — what it is, why it matters, where people typically get it wrong and, most importantly, how to use it.
02
Then the floor is yours.
For the next 60 minutes, bring whatever you're dealing with. It doesn't have to relate to that week's topic.
The stakeholder you can't influence. The difficult colleague. The conflict you don't know how to resolve. The boundary you need to set. The promotion you're preparing for. The new role you're trying to navigate. The senior meeting where you need your voice to carry more weight. The organisational decision that makes absolutely no sense from where you're sitting. The strategy you need to build and deliver.
03
We work through it together.
We get underneath what's actually happening. We look at the people and dynamics involved, consider what you may not be seeing, examine how the situation might look from the other side, identify your options and determine what is most likely to work.
04
We solve real problems, in real time.
And you don't only learn from your own situations.
Every question another member brings exposes you to a different problem, organisation, personality, perspective or decision. You're effectively building experience from other people's careers as well as your own.