David McQueen — Executive Advisory
Executive Advisory

Your decisions
define your organisation
decide intelligently.

Work with founders, CEOs, and senior executives at decisive moments. When the quality of thinking available in the room is the only variable that matters.

Why leaders engage

"The need to have an honest soundboard. It is the quality of thinking available at the moment the decision has to be made."

  • 01 Board and executive decisions that cannot be revisited cheaply once made
  • 02 Capital, transition, and governance moments where narrative and structure matter as much as numbers
  • 03 Leadership pressure that has outgrown conventional coaching or consulting
01Judgement under pressure
02Consequence literacy
03Distributed responsibility
The work

"I do not deliver advice. I improve the quality of the decisions that get made — in the room, at the moment they matter most."

Executive Advisory · Speaking · The Quorum
Who this is for

"Founders, CEOs, and senior executives navigating inflection points — where the cost of a poor decision is measured in years, not quarters."

Capital · Governance · Transition · Reputation
Advisory

Four arenas where
decision quality breaks down.

Each domain is a distinct pressure point. Most senior leaders are operating in at least two simultaneously. The work is designed for all four — and for the moments where they converge.

01 Capital

Capital decisions are not financial decisions. They are decisions about identity, risk appetite, and future optionality — dressed in financial language. The narrative around capital is as consequential as the capital itself.

Fundraising narrative Post-investment transition M&A decision architecture
02 Governance

Board dynamics and collective decision-making under scrutiny. The quality of what gets decided in the room is determined by what is brought into it, how it is framed, and who is trusted to push back.

Board performance Decision infrastructure Executive team alignment
03 Transition

Leadership transitions — in role, in identity, in authority — are the moments when most derailment occurs. The external event is rarely the issue. The internal architecture that hasn't been updated to match it is.

Succession architecture Founder transition Exit readiness
04 Reputation

Your reputational capital determines whether boards back you, capital follows you, and talent wants to work for you. Most executives leave it to chance. That is a strategic risk — not a communications problem.

Narrative architecture Executive positioning Reputational risk
How Engagements Begin
Intensive
Two to Three Hours
Clarity, pressure testing, direction

For a decision that cannot wait, or a question that has been running without resolution. One structured conversation. Clear output. Defined next steps.

£5,000 + VAT
Strategic Day
Full Day
Deep diagnosis and strategic design

A structured day to diagnose the real problem, stress-test the options, and design the approach. Leaves with a framework, a decision architecture, and a narrative.

£12,000–£15,000 + VAT

The first conversation is always
about your situation.

No pitch. No proposal sent in advance. A direct conversation about where you are, what the decision actually is, and whether this is the right work for this moment.

Begin Here

Engagements begin with an Intensive, a Strategic Day, or a retained arrangement — depending on what the moment requires.

The Quiet Work

How I think about
the work between
engagements.

A publication for senior leaders navigating the decisions that carry real consequence. Essays, frameworks, and applied thinking — not inspiration. A place to think before you need to act.

Read The Quiet Work
Decision Intelligence
The Decision Nobody Made — and Why Diffusion of Accountability Is the Real Governance Risk
Capital & Narrative
What Capital Costs — The Case That Gets Made Before Anyone Asks for the Numbers
Reputation
The Scrutiny Economy — Why Senior Leaders Are Being Read More Closely Than Ever Before
Transition
After the Founder — The Identity Architecture That Determines What Happens Next
Forming · September 2026
The Quorum

A closed peer council
for established
CEOs and Founders.

Not a programme. Not a networking group. A working body — small by design, selected by application, and structured around the decisions that actually matter at the top.

Six principals. Monthly working sessions. Quarterly residential day. David McQueen as convener and senior thinking partner. The group runs on trust, candour, and the quality of what people bring to the room.

Register your interest
Expressions of Interest — September 2026 Cohort
FormatClosed peer council — 6 principals
SessionsMonthly working sessions + quarterly residential
WhoEstablished CEOs and Founders — application only
InvestmentFrom £15,000 annually
StartSeptember 2026 · Places confirmed by July
Speaking

Frameworks that stay in the room
long after the session ends.

Keynotes and masterclasses that deliver thinking frameworks senior leaders can apply immediately. Not inspiration that evaporates — infrastructure that travels.

Signature Keynote
The Quality of the Decision
Decision Intelligence · All Audiences

Most senior leaders are not making poor decisions because they lack information. They are making them because the quality of thinking available in the room — at the moment of consequence — is not sufficient. This keynote addresses what that actually means, and what to do about it.

The first conversation
is always about
your situation.

No pitch. No proposal sent in advance. A direct conversation about where you are, what the decision actually is, and whether this is the right work for this moment.

Begin Here davidmcqueen.co.uk