What does ERDI (Excavate → Reconstruct → Deploy → Integrate) look like in real life? Here are examples of my work across leadership coaching, team flow, and organisational change. All client accounts are anonymised for confidentiality.
From drift to purpose
Leading by reshaping the frame
Client: Performance ops program manager inheriting an existing initiative.
Before: The program worked but stalled: same profiles were selected and same dynamics repeated.
Actions:
Reframed the program around purpose (beyond deliverables), made selection criteria explicit, and redesigned key decision points to reduce pattern-based choices.
Results:
Broader range of profiles and perspectives, clearer shared language for what “good” looks like, and a program that runs leaner and richer.
Feedback: “I simply assumed continuity meant not making changes, but when I dared, everything got better!”
From hiding to influence
Undoing the retreat pattern
Client: Team lead promoted during rapid growth.
Before: High potential and sharp thinking, but retreating when visibility and heat increased.
Actions:
Replaced preparation-as-protection with presence and steady delivery; built a pause before the reflex to retreat, soften, or downplay and practised taking space in meetings.
Results:
The client presented a key initiative to senior leadership, team engagement increased (noted in mid-year feedback).
Feedback: “I never realised I thought I had to earn every inch, even after I’d arrived.”
From promotion-ready to authority
Not just capable, ready
Client: Experienced team lead aiming for promotion.
Before: Strong contributions, but self-image lagged. They didn’t feel they “looked the part.”
Actions:
Mapped invisible leadership (mentoring, safety, emotional labour) and claimed it; rewrote their self-pitch from identity and ownership; practised receiving recognition without deflecting.
Results:
The client was promoted; received peer feedback of a more grounded confidence; internal identity and external role aligned.
Feedback: “I didn’t think that counted. I thought it was just how I work.”
From misalignment to co-leadership
Shared role, split trust
Client: Services SME of 8–12 people & two co-founders
Before: Operations and delivery were great, but people support weighed on one partner by default. Resentment and disorganization impacted the team.
Actions:
Surfaced and challenged the assumptions driving “delegation by default”; clearly defined ownership and escalation routes for people topics; installed a short co-leadership sync that includes reflection besides logistics.
Results:
Cleaner communication between partners, the
junior partner grew into people leadership, with support. Team trust in leadership alignment returned.
Feedback: “I thought you preferred handling that. I thought you didn’t trust me to.”
From bottleneck to booster
Rebuilding roles
Client: Mid-sized business scaling fast with the founder still approving most decisions
Before: Operational drag, unclear ownership and accountability; slow decisions.
Actions:
Mapped decision bottlenecks across functions; ran role self-assessments to reveal ownership gaps; created role cards that matched real authority and boundaries and piloted decision ownership live with coaching support.
Results:
Senior staff stepped up; meetings shortened; managers stopped overexplaining. The founder reclaimed time for vision instead of approvals.
Feedback: “I notice that we are faster and more efficient, but I feel the real win is this relief!”
From disengagement to initiative
Reigniting engagement in an SME
Client: Well established SME of 30+ employees, stable growth, strong processes
Before: Strong delivery and operational structure, but morale dipped. Managers felt like babysitters. Generalised employee disengagement.
Actions:
Rebuilt feedback loops and communications structure; set light rituals to make wins visible across teams and departments; supported manager to populate the new structure and sustain it in time.
Results:
Ideas started coming in again; a junior staffer volunteered to lead a pilot; a seasoned employee redesigned a customer touchpoint, saving hours weekly.
Feedback: “We didn’t expect this many positives in so little time and with such small changes!”