David McQueen — Homepage Mockup v4
Decision Intelligence · C-Suite & Board

Your decisions define
your organisation.

Decide with intelligence.

Who this is for

You are here because the decisions in front of you — scaling, growth capital, transition — are the kind that cannot be revisited.

You want more than advice. You want a thinking partner who brings the rigour, the distance, and the honesty to help you decide well — not just faster.

Read The Brave Leader →
01Judgement under pressure
02Consequence literacy
03Distributed responsibility
The Work

Built for the decisions
that actually matter.

My background is in finance and systems thinking — which is why I approach leadership the way an engineer approaches a fault: find the pattern, trace it to the source, fix the mechanism.

This work sits in the space that coaching and consulting don't reach — the moment when the decision is real, the stakes are asymmetric, and the quality of thinking in the room is the only variable you can still influence.

"Most leadership failures aren't talent failures. They're decision failures — and most follow a pattern the leader has never been shown."
What is decision intelligence
You arrive
Before the call

A major decision is approaching. Something feels off. You don't fully trust your own read on it.

We find
The pattern

A structured diagnostic that makes visible how you decide under pressure — and where that pattern costs you.

You leave with
Clarity

Not confidence as a feeling. Confidence as a function — because you understand your own decision mechanism.

The Book
The Brave Leader

Decision intelligence when the pressure is real and the playbook runs out.

"Most leadership failures aren't talent failures. They're decision failures — and most decision failures follow a pattern the leader has never been shown."
4,000+Copies sold
Read the book
Advisory

The work takes different forms
depending on what you are carrying.

01· Individual · Confidential

Individual
Advisory

The higher the position, the fewer people willing to say what needs saying. Individual Advisory removes that constraint — direct access to counsel whose only obligation is accuracy.

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02· Group · Structured

Group
Advisory

The ceiling is rarely strategy — it's how the room works. Group Advisory focuses on the quality of collective thinking under the actual conditions the leadership team operates in.

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03· Board · Governance

Board
Counsel

For boards at inflection points — a new CEO, a capital event, activist pressure — where someone with no stake in the outcome is the most useful person in the room.

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GoogleMetaMercedesBMWBBCVirginBloombergHSBCLloyds BankShopifyOctopus EnergySoho HouseTate & LyleSSE
Speaking

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

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

Delivered to leadership teams at Google, Meta, Bloomberg, Mercedes, BBC, and others — and available as a keynote, half-day masterclass, or bespoke session built around your organisation's context.

  • SignatureWhat Breaks Under Pressure
  • CapitalWhat Capital Costs
  • GovernanceWho Actually Decides Here?
  • TransitionThere is Always an Exit
  • ReputationCoherence as Currency
Also available: two masterclasses for senior leadership groups — What Breaks Under Pressure and The Reputation You're Not Managing. Half-day formats built for your group's context.
Executive Programmes

Two programmes.
Different disciplines.

Built for executives already operating at the top. Both run on defined intakes, by application — designed to produce something you use, not content you consume.

01

The BRAVE Leader

Decision Intelligence · All Four Pillars

A structured programme for senior leaders navigating the decisions that define their next chapter. How you operate, how you decide, and how you lead organisations rather than manage them.

8–12 weeks · Max 20 per cohort · May & October intakes
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02

LEADERSTORY

Reputation Capital · Narrative Intelligence

For executives ready to manage reputational capital with the same deliberateness they apply to financial capital. Research-led intelligence on how you are actually perceived.

12–16 weeks · Max 8 per cohort · Spring & Autumn intakes
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Not every situation warrants
this level of work.

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

No pitch. No proposal sent in advance. Share your context and I will respond within 2–3 days.