About us

John Blakey

It has been my life’s work to research and practice how trust and challenge contribute to building high performance teams and organisational cultures. As an entrepreneur, corporate leader, CEO executive coach and thought leader, I have worked at the highest levels in both business and sport to support and challenge brave leaders who are pioneering to create purpose-led organisations where success is measured by results, relationships and reputation.

My role in the Foundation is to inspire and motivate senior leaders through delivering thought-provoking, pragmatic keynote sessions based on the best-selling books ‘Challenging Coaching’ and ‘The Trusted Executive’, as well as working 1-2-1 with CEOs as an executive coach to help them build the habits of trust and challenge in their day-to-day leadership roles.

Mac Farquhar

Throughout my business career as a manager and a coach, I have long been curious about why leadership has not improved as a result of all the investment that has gone into its development. Sadly, in some quarters, it appears to have gone backwards, not forwards.

Thankfully, the answer to this paradox is emerging from the research conducted by John Blakey and others into the power of trust and its effect on engagement and performance. In particular, the difference that benevolence makes when shown by leaders of ability and integrity in creating a culture of trust.

As a co-Director of the Trusted Executive Foundation, it is a rewarding experience for me to have the opportunity to co-create with our clients and our team, a new standard for leadership defined by trustworthiness. One that is supported by a strong sense of purpose that extends beyond profit to develop long-term, sustainable, and successful businesses, that care about humanity and the world we live in.

Peter Busby

I have devoted my career to leading high trust, high-performance teams and organisations. Initially, I trained as a Chartered Accountant at Coopers and Lybrand before joining Andersen Consulting as a management consultant.

In 1997, I formed the management consultancy, Xayce, which grew rapidly and was sold to Morse plc in 2007. In 2012, I founded a further management consultancy, Grayce, and led its growth for 9 years before selling the company to a private equity buyer in 2019.

Before joining The Trusted Executive Foundation as a Non-Executive Director, I was a member of The Trusted Executive Fellowship board and I am a firm believer in the power of coaching and the Nine Habits of trust to help leaders achieve sustainable success both professionally and personally.

Glen Duncan

The concept of unlocking potential has been an ever present in my professional life since taking those first tentative steps into management, and beyond to executive leadership. After twenty years in the technology sector, across corporate, start and scale-up environments, I have consistently demonstrated the ability to easily pivot between being ‘on the tools’ and leading from the front, with humility, curiosity and grace, while still achieving meaningful results and business growth.

Having been the beneficiary of executive coaching myself when first becoming a senior leader, it’s been my duty ever since to serve others, unlocking high performance as they grow into strong and trusted business leaders. In my role at TTE, my focus is ensuring I provide the platform for our team and our customers to achieve the same outcome.

Jane Blakey

I am a CIMA Chartered Accountant and provide financial support to the Trusted Executive Foundation team. Previously, I ran my own Kumon education franchise to help young people develop their maths and English skills. Earlier in my career, I was a management accountant at British Gas and have fulfilled various voluntary roles, including acting as an auditor for Oxfam shops.

I pride myself on providing a timely and efficient service to our clients and the other team members. This care and attention to detail reinforce our reputation as a trustworthy business that is ‘walking the talk’ of the Nine Habits of Trust.

Vicki Codd

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Russell Atkinson

I am currently an NED and Chair of the advisory board at the Trusted Executive Foundation.

I was formerly Chief Executive of NAHL Group plc, which I joined in 2012, and had a pivotal role in implementing its strategy following major regulatory change in the consumer legal services market. I also led its successful flotation onto AIM in 2014 on behalf of its former private equity owners.

Prior to joining NAHL, I held senior executive roles at international firms including Lebara Mobile, Blackhawk Network (a division of Safeway Inc) and was Director of E-Payments at Travelex.

I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree from Leicester Polytechnic, a diploma in marketing from The Chartered Institute of Marketing and am a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.

Glen Daley

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Mark Freeland

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Ruchi Shah-Mehta

When we help leaders believe in the power of trust rather than trust power, our work cultures and communities experience the positive impact of their leadership for generations. My personal values of Trust, Compassion and Respect drive my work helping leaders build positive cultures with trustworthiness as the north star.

In 25+ years of global experience working and leading in culturally diverse environments, I’ve experienced first-hand the impact that trust-based leadership or the lack of it creates on people, purpose and productivity. I have had the privilege of spending the last decade as a coach and thinking partner for C-suite leaders and their teams, right across both private and public sectors.

I coach and facilitate leaders to achieve a sustainable ‘triple bottom line’ of results, reputation and relationships.

Rachel Stone

Passionate about growing business through expert leadership, my experience across business sectors means I offer a different perspective when facing business challenges. Down to earth and insightful, my practical approach when looking at issues cuts through the fog and hits at the heart of the matter with clarity.

I like to see things through and impart this determination to my clients. I look at issues with the outcome in mind, giving you structure to see your vision and guiding you towards it. My deep understanding of the power of beliefs underpinning behaviours drives my ability to help you resolve the common challenges surrounding people and performance.

I am all about transformational leadership.

Rosanna Williams-Wood

Professional, personal and team development have always been a driver for me. With my values rooted in meaningful work, achievement, and autonomy, the three pillars and nine habits of trustworthy leadership resonated with me from day one.

The value I bring is as an experienced professional Executive, Leadership, Talent, and Team Coach, with a commercial background. I have dedicated decades to my knowledge of Leadership and Management Development and continue to do so.

My paradoxical approach is to hold the individual, organisation, and wider system at the same time, in both a challenging and supportive way to achieve success in results, relationships, and reputation.

Katy Mason

As a seasoned certified executive coach, with 23 years of coaching under my belt, and a proud member of The Trusted Executive Associate Team, serving them for the last 7 years, I bring my wealth of experience in guiding corporate leaders towards achieving their fullest potential. Driven by a passion for excellence and a commitment to the principles laid out by Dr. John Blakey. Whilst using my “loving boot” approach, I specialize in empowering executives to become trusted leaders who inspire positive change within their organizations. I do this by support them to navigate complex challenges and use my excellent questioning and listening skills to unlock untapped leadership potential, so they can reach both individual and organisational success.

I believe in a world where you can be anything, being kind and evangelising about others greatness is at the core of who I am. I believe in the true potential of others and gain fulfilment from seeing executive leaders using a coaching approach which then gains them consistent results, transforming themselves and replicating what they have learnt so they build thriving business cultures where all employees can cross the workplace threshold believing that trust is at the heart of what they do.

Marie Wicker

With a background in Financial Services leadership and change management spanning over two decades, and as an experienced Executive coach, I am passionate about empowering leaders to be at their best and supporting female leaders to reach and excel in board-level positions.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve worked closely with teams and leaders at all levels up to the C-suite, guiding them towards achieving a sustainable ‘triple bottom line’ of results, reputation, and relationships.

Guided by core values of Integrity, Impact, and Inspiration, my coaching philosophy is about transformation, authenticity, and integration. Sustainable behavioural change is at the heart of my approach, which focusses on developing inclusive environments while enhancing performance and personal growth.

Ian Potter

My experience has mainly been in the public sector, in education, becoming an Executive Director by way of being the CEO of a Multi Academy Trust. The organisation had a £25 million turnover and a workforce of over 500. I am values-led and fascinated in climate and culture. My research interest is in systems thinking leadership, distributed knowledge production and socially focussed management processes. I am a qualified ILM level 7 Executive Coach and held a range of Board level roles. I am at my best when enabling high performing teams and enjoy facilitating personal and collective growth.

My writings have been published across the globe and a formative existence in the performing arts has given me the confidence to present to audiences both internationally and within the UK. I have most recently written about applying the model of Adult Ego Development to a self-awareness in leadership practice.

I also have expertise in change management, context sensitive organisational development, the intra-personal and interpersonal dimensions of performance and the dynamics of group interaction. Valuing myself as a father, partner, son and neighbour is an important part of my identity and who I am. I like to travel, go to the theatre and read!