20 years leading through complexity. Now helping others do the same.

Simpler Thinking. Better Decisions

The outcomes that matter to you.

I work with leaders at every stage, and the talent they’re at risk of losing - who sense they need change.

You’re making decisions with a fraction of the thinking available to you. The critical expertise that never quite surfaces. The same voices. The same outcomes.

Often, the thinking that’s missing comes from people who think differently. Who don’t speak first. Who contribute brilliance in ways that don’t fit the traditional ways of working.

I help you see what's invisible from the inside - and change it.

The problem I help with


The Pattern

The same people speak first and speak over others.

Expertise sits quiet. Challenge arrives too late or not at all. Decisions close before the best thinking has entered the room.

Often, the people staying quiet are your specialists, the ones who think and work differently, but deliver brilliance.

They might just be wired to think deeply rather than speak first.

They might be neurodiverse. Either way, they’re invisible in the room.

The Cost

It’s rarely visible until something goes wrong. A decision that seemed clear at the time. A risk nobody named. A team of capable people has quietly stopped contributing fully.

The atmosphere and culture changes.

An increase in dis-engagement and under-performance, a decrease of trust in the leadership and of team mates.

For specialist talent (the people you can’t afford to lose), the cost is higher.

They feel undervalued, misunderstood, and exhausted from trying to fit systems designed for a different way of thinking. Sytems that feel rigid and immovable.

They leave.

You’re left scrambling to replace expertise you can’t easily find or replace elsewhere.

The Shift

Small changes in how conversations unfold make a significant difference.

But so do small changes in how you lead people, and how people respond to each other and to their leaders.

Leaders who understand this, who adapt how they communicate, delegate, and recognise contribution - keep their best talent.

Team members contribute more because it’s acknowledged, recognised, discussed and acted upon.

Decisions improve. Performance improves. Sustainable innovation is now achievable.

A visible shift of inputs and outputs means everyone in the business thrives which ultimately benefits your customers.

Who is this for?


You're a leader managing specialist talent:

  • You sense they're brilliant, but they're not progressing or feeling valued

  • You're losing people / knowledge you can't afford to lose

  • Traditional management approaches aren't having the desired impact

  • You want practical ways to unlock and retain talent and the best thinking

You're a neurodiverse professional who:

  • Knows you're brilliant at what you do, but feel invisible or undervalued

  • Struggle with visibility, progression, or feeling like you don't fit

  • Want to succeed in your career without becoming someone you're not

  • Need strategies for navigating corporate politics and unwritten rules

You're a leadership team or organisation:

  • You're worried about losing the SME knowledge you can't replace

  • You sense you're not getting all the thinking available to you

  • You're facing cost-cutting and offshoring decisions

  • You want to build a culture where different ways of thinking actually contribute

Services


How I work

Three Principles

Start with what’s real. The problem. The pattern underneath it. We spend time with what’s actually happening before moving to what to do about it.

How it works - step one
Connecting line between How It Works steps

Stay close to the work. The most useful coaching conversations are specific, not abstract. We work with real decisions, real dynamics and real situations - not hypotheticals.

How it works - step two
Connecting line between How It Works steps

Practical always. Every session should leave you with something concrete - a clearer perspective, a different question to ask, or a specific thing to try. After all, this is the value of coaching that you will benefit from.

Gold coin with the number 3

I don’t bring frameworks to impose on your situation. I bring a way of looking at it that’s informed by experience of being inside the kinds of organisations that operate similar to the situations and decisions you’re navigating now.

For nearly a decade, I’ve worked with leaders and neurodiverse professionals. I know that the one size model does not fit all. Some of the best people think faster on paper or via their keyboard, than verbally. Some need clarity on ‘why’ before the ‘what’ and ‘how’. Some need time to prepare or process before contributing in conversations or meetings.

Good conversations via coaching meets people where they are, not where the system expects them to be. That’s what I do.

My style is empathic, thoughtful and practical. I listen to what’s being said, and observe how it’s being communicated.

I bring insightful challenge via questioning, to unlock perspectives, thought process and ideas, which may include things that might be uncomfortable to hear.

I will share my knowledge and experience of situations when it’s the right time, and with your permission.

My aim is to work with you on your agenda, achieving your outcomes, and perhaps having a smile and joke along the way.

Sessions are confidential. The work is practical. And the starting point is always your reality, not a coaching model.

I am an ILM Level 7 Executive Coach & Mentor, and EMCC accredited at Practitioner level, working to the EMCC’s code of ethics, which includes regular supervision.

About Me

What I've always done, in leadership and now in coaching, is help make the complex simpler. Not by reducing it, but by finding the clarity, within the people, that was already there.


Lorraine from Lean In Coaching

For more than two decades I worked inside global financial services — progressing to senior leadership roles in technology, leading teams across cultures and geographies, navigating complex and risk-based decisions under pressure, and spending a significant amount of time in rooms where the quality of the conversation determined the quality of the outcome.

I saw firsthand how much thinking goes unused in organisations. The same voices shape outcomes while others stay quiet. How expertise that could change a decision never reaches the conversation in time.

I also led work that changed how a global organisation understood and supported neurodivergent colleagues, raising awareness, challenging process, ways of working and building a signposting platform developed with neurodiverse people, that gave leaders practical tools to create environments where different ways of thinking could actually contribute.

That experience taught me something critical. The organisation losing their best talent, aren’t losing them because they’re not talented. They’re losing them because those people don’t fit the mould. People in roles that need time to consider the Who, What, When, How and Why.

That's what I now bring to my coaching, working with leaders and neurodiverse professionals to change this dynamic. Acknowledging that everyone thinks and learns differently, requires different nudges, shifts and signposting to make better decisions and take intentional action that delivers the best for them.

Different means better - not harder.

Credentials: ILM Level 7 Executive Coach & Mentor | EMCC Accredited | EIA Practitioner | 20+ years financial services & law.

ILM Level 7 Executive and Senior Coach and Mentor
EMCC Global Accredited EIA Practitioner

Client Experience, In their own words

  • "Leading a neurodiverse team was both challenging and incredibly rewarding as I didn't knowingly have any previous experience.' With Lorraine’s support, I developed a far greater understanding of neurodiversity, improved my communication approach, and learned how to create a more inclusive and supportive team environment. Her experience, empathy, and practical guidance helped me become a better leader and showed me the real value that different ways of thinking bring to a team. The impact on collaboration, engagement, and overall team performance was significant and is now integral to my leadership style."

    - G. (Director, Technology, Financial Services)

  • "During a significant leadership transition, I needed the space to think clearly about how I was showing up, leading others, and navigating change. The coaching space with Lorraine created exactly that, a trusted environment that balanced challenge with support, helping me gain clarity, confidence, and a stronger sense of direction. I came away with greater self-awareness, a more intentional leadership style, and practical ways to approach complex conversations and decisions"

    Amy Barnes, COO, Markets & Security Services Technology

  • "Lorraine’s brings a rare combination of objectivity and practical support, which has helped me see the real issues and take action. Over many years, she has played a significant role in how I think, lead and how I approach complex challenges. "

    - V. (Vice President, Engineering)

  • "Lorraine’s coaching encouraged me to quickly realise the level of delegation needed to be a fully effective decision-maker. It’s a shift that both my team and I are now seeing the true value of."

    - S. (Senior Leader, Finance)

  • "Working with Lorraine gave me the space and clarity I needed to navigate my new role. I came away with a simpler perspective and a clear action plan for holding my executive peers to account.

    - K. (Director, Technology)

Frequently Asked Questions


If something in this is resonating, whether you’re a leader, specialist talent or building a team that actually uses all the available thinking - that’s probably worth a conversation.


A 20-minute call costs nothing, and commits you to nothing.

Most people leave with more clarity than they arrived with - however there is no pressure.

Prefer to call? +447300345314