David McQueen | Executive Advisor, Leadership Strategist & Speaker

If the stakes
are real, the
thinking should
be too.

You're here because most support isn't built for the decisions you're actually facing. The stakes are too high, the pressure too relentless, for generic frameworks or a pat on the back.

Judgement.
Consequence.
Responsibility.

I work with leaders who need more than coaching or consulting can provide. Where sitting still is its own kind of risk.

This work is organised around three disciplines. These aren't skills to tick off. They're practices that need structure, a thinking partner, and real attention over time.

Judgement Under Pressure

Clear judgement under pressure, and the discipline to decide when certainty is absent and consequences are unavoidable.

Consequence Literacy

Knowing that every decision carries a price and having the awareness to see beyond the first result into the consequences that follow..

Distributed Responsibility

Strong leadership is not about one person holding everything. It is about clear decisions, shared responsibility, and accountability that does not disappear into the group..

Built for the decisions that actually matter

Good coaches ask great questions. Good consultants build solid frameworks. Both are designed for conditions that are relatively stable, where there's time to reflect, options to explore, and room to iterate.

But there are moments when the clock is running, the options have narrowed, and you need someone who has read the situation, knows the territory, and can think it through with you. No agenda. No deck..

In those moments you need judgement support. Not another framework. Consequence mapping. Not reassurance. Clarity on what is truly at stake.

This work operates at the point where decisions carry weight, time is compressed, and second-order effects matter. It is designed to support clear thinking when leadership is tested and outcomes cannot be undone.

The work takes different forms depending on what you are carrying

Bounded

Strategic Intensives

Concentrated counsel for specific high-stakes moments, structured around the decision, delivered over a contained period, and concluded when the work is done. For capital events, M&A, restructuring, crisis preparation, and major strategic transitions.

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Retainer

Advisory Partnership

Retainer-based counsel for CEOs, founders, and executives carrying board-level accountability. Decision cadence, capital discipline, authority alignment, and structural clarity over time. For owner-founded businesses, PE-backed leaders, and executives navigating sustained complexity.

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Retained

Executive Counsel

Judgement work for leaders under sustained pressure. Not performance coaching — senior counsel for CEOs and executives who must remain credible, decisive, and coherent when responsibility cannot be delegated.

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Bespoke

Leadership Team Advisory

Facilitated advisory for executive teams and boards. Every session designed in response to what the team is actually carrying — the decisions pending, the tensions unresolved, the clarity the organisation needs but hasn't found yet.

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Substance over spectacle

Keynotes and masterclasses for senior leadership audiences navigating complexity, change, and consequence. Not inspiration. Application.

  • Leading Under Pressure — how leaders show up when pressure reveals the operating system
  • The Invisible Shift — governing what's already in motion when clarity is incomplete
  • Critical Decision Making — judgement under scrutiny and social pressure
  • What Capital Costs — the organisational and human price of growth decisions

Also available: Interactive masterclasses for senior leadership groups. Two formats. Deep application to your team's actual context.

A closed room for senior leaders

Once a month, a small group. A live session on something that matters right now. Mid-month, a voice note directly from me. Once a year, a private calibration conversation. For leaders who want consistent access to serious advisory thinking — without committing to a full engagement.

Learn About Quorum

Not every situation warrants this level of work.

But if you're navigating conditions where clarity, consequence, and judgement matter more than speed or consensus — you're in the right place.

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