I'm an executive and leadership coach, facilitator and speaker, working with leaders across the globe. My work joins timeless Japanese wisdom with modern leadership practices, and it started a long way from a coaching room.

Where I began

I was eight years old when my family left Burma during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. Overnight, the map we had lived by was no longer relevant and I learned what it takes to find your footing when everything familiar falls away.

That experience set the course for everything I do now. Years later, a deep connection to Japan through skiing, language and time spent in its culture, gave me a different way of seeing strength, stillness and imperfection. It reframed what leadership could be: navigation.

What I believe about leadership

Across more than twenty years leading teams, I noticed that the leaders who came through uncertainty best weren't the ones with the most answers. They were the ones who could stay steady, stay human, and keep moving when the path wasn't clear.

That's kokoro (心) - the Japanese idea that real leadership integrates heart, mind and spirit, not one at the expense of the others. It became my framework: the Michi no Kokoro Compass, eight directions for leading when the map no longer works. It's how I coach, how I facilitate, and the heart of my book.