How institutions work with us.
We offer several complementary channels of engagement, rather than traditional consulting alone: from high-level advisory to leadership development, board appointments and published thinking. You can begin with any one of them.
A small practice with a curated network.
We operate a flexible, low-overhead expert network model. Each assignment brings together a specialist team from a curated network of associates, covering organisational transformation, digital government, HR reform, public finance, procurement, economics, technology, monitoring and evaluation, behavioural science, leadership development and communications.
Two Counsel, One Engagement
Both principals are lawyers. Clients gain the combined judgement of two senior practitioners in a single, coordinated engagement.
A curated associate network
The right specialists for each assignment, assembled from the network rather than carried as overhead.
Client Acceptance and Conflict Review
Every engagement passes through a formal review. We do not act as a vehicle for commercial lobbying or influence-peddling.
Strategic Advisory
Counsel at the top of government.
High-level engagements with Heads of Government Administration, Ministers responsible for public-service reform, Heads of Civil Service, Cabinet Secretaries and major transformation programmes. Our principals advise on the decisions that shape an institution, and stay close enough to help see them through.
Who it is for
- Heads of Government Administration
- Ministers responsible for public-service reform
- Heads of Civil Service
- Cabinet Secretaries
- Leaders of major transformation programmes
When it helps
When a reform is too consequential for a conventional consulting brief, or a decision needs a trusted senior sounding board before it is taken.
What is involved
- Senior counsel from the principals
- Support with sequencing, stakeholder alignment and programme governance
- Specialist associates drawn in where the assignment needs them
Institutional Diagnostics
A clear view before a costly commitment.
Short, high-value reviews of institutional capability, governance, structure, workforce, leadership and reform readiness. Each review gives leaders a candid picture of where the institution stands and what to address first.
Who it is for
- Governments preparing a reform
- New heads of institutions taking stock
- Development organisations and foundations designing capability support
When it helps
Before a reform is designed, when one has stalled, or when a new leader needs an honest baseline.
What is involved
- A focused review of capability, governance and structure
- An assessment of workforce and leadership
- A view of readiness: what the institution can carry now and what must be built first
- Informed by the eight dimensions of the Walson-Jack Framework
Executive Leadership Programmes
Leadership development built for government.
Bespoke programmes for governments and international institutions, drawn from our signature programmes and frameworks. Each is shaped around the institution’s own mandate.
Who it is for
- Heads of Civil and Public Service
- Cabinet Secretaries
- Permanent Secretaries
- Directors-General
- Heads of regulatory bodies
- Newly appointed senior officials
When it helps
When an institution wants to build leadership capacity across a group of leaders, rather than one person at a time.
What is involved
- A programme drawn from one or more of the five signature programmes
- Content shaped to the institution’s context
- Format and duration agreed with the client
Supporting expertise
Leadership Retreats
Time away, with a purpose.
Facilitated retreats for cabinets, Permanent Secretaries, boards, agency heads and leadership teams. A retreat gives a team the distance to agree what matters and how they will work together to deliver it.
Who it is for
- Cabinets
- Permanent Secretaries
- Boards
- Heads of agencies
- Leadership teams
When it helps
At the start of a mandate, ahead of a major reform, or when a leadership team needs to reset.
What is involved
- A facilitated agenda designed with the client
- Structured conversation on priorities, roles and delivery
- Agreed commitments to carry back into the institution
Supporting expertise
Executive Mentoring
One confidential conversation at a time.
Confidential one-to-one mentoring for newly appointed Permanent Secretaries, Heads of Service, Directors-General, senior female leaders and senior executives entering public leadership. A trusted counterpart who has led at that level and can speak plainly.
Who it is for
- Newly appointed Permanent Secretaries
- Heads of Service
- Directors-General
- Senior female leaders
- Senior executives entering public leadership
When it helps
In the first months of a senior appointment, when the job turns out to be larger than the briefing.
What is involved
- Regular, private conversations
- Confidentiality by design
- A focus set by the mentee: decisions, relationships and priorities
Supporting expertise
Advisory Boards
Selective appointments, held with care.
Selective appointments with global institutions, foundations, universities and public-policy organisations. We accept only those where we can add real judgement.
Who it is for
- Global institutions
- Foundations
- Leadership organisations
- Universities
- Public-policy organisations
- Responsible corporations
When it helps
When an organisation wants senior, independent judgement on governance, leadership and the public-sector environment it works in.
What is involved
- Board or council membership
- Strategic counsel on governance, leadership and public policy
- Every appointment passes Client Acceptance and Conflict Review
Keynote Speaking
Addresses for the moments that set direction.
Addresses for conferences, institutions and leadership forums, on subjects from government reform to institutional delivery and the future of the African civil service.
Ten topics
Who invites us
- Conferences
- Institutions
- Leadership forums
- Universities and schools of government
When it helps
When an audience of leaders needs a first-hand view of what leading and reforming government actually takes.
What is involved
- An address tailored to the audience and occasion
- Ten established topics, listed above
- Can be paired with a retreat or programme for the same audience
Supporting expertise
Drawn from all seven areas of expertiseThought Leadership & Publishing
Ideas in circulation.
Books, essays, policy papers, podcasts, interviews and case studies, drawn from lived experience and offered to the wider public-service community. The thinking we publish is the thinking we bring to an engagement.
Who it is for
- Public servants and researchers
- Universities and schools of government
- Development organisations and foundations
When it helps
When an institution wants ideas it can use, or a partner for research and case-study development.
What is involved
- The Insights library: books, essays and more as they are published
- Collaborative research and case-study development with universities
Supporting expertise
Drawn from all seven areas of expertiseFrom first conversation to lasting change.
We listen first, shape the work together, and stay with it until it holds.
Begin a conversation
You tell us what you are trying to change. Every enquiry is read personally by our principals and passes through a formal Client Acceptance and Conflict Review. If we are not the right practice, we will say so.
- Direct principal enquiry review
- Client acceptance & conflict check
Shape the engagement
We agree the right service, or combination of services, and begin with a short institutional diagnostic where it helps. A specialist team is then assembled from our curated network of associates.
- Tailored service roadmap & diagnostic
- Curated associate team assembly
Deliver, and make it last
We work alongside your leaders, not around them, with both principals close to the work. We also help build the arrangements that let the change outlast a change of administration.
- Direct principal co-delivery
- Institutional continuity arrangements
What we hold ourselves to.
We measure our impact not only in consulting revenue but in concrete transformation results:
Institutions don't transform on their own.
We take on a limited number of engagements at any time, so that each receives the attention it warrants. Every enquiry is read and considered personally. If your institution's challenge sits within our seven areas of practice, we welcome the conversation.