I saw a gap in how people understand scaling.
As companies grow, the real challenges become human.
Having lived the intensity of scaling from the C-suite of two of Scotland’s fastest-growing scaleups, those experiences reinforced something I see repeatedly: the problems that slow growth rarely start as people problems, but they often become people problems if the organisation doesn’t evolve fast enough.
I’m here to help founders and leadership teams navigate those inflection points.
Increasingly, this also includes helping teams rethink how AI is reshaping decision-making, ways of working, and the capabilities organisations need to build next.
In 2025 I was part of the Scottish Scale-up Panel alongside Duggie Carlyle, contributing to the Talent Pillar of the report commissioned by the Deputy First Minister – Scaling Scotland: Building the Engine for the Next 50 Years of Prosperity. Through that work I’ve been able to explore scaling journeys across the ecosystem – giving me insight into the patterns that determine whether companies successfully scale.
I am also an Associate of Team-Up, applying its rapid-trust methodology – drawn from extreme teams – to help leadership groups accelerate alignment, decision clarity and results in demanding environments.
At its core, my work sits at the intersection of strategy, leadership and culture – helping ambitious companies remove the human barriers that can slow down scale.
Read the report from Shane Corstorphine & the Scottish Scale-Up Panel – Scaling Scotland: Building the Engine for the Next 50 Years of Prosperity.
Listen to my conversation with Sir Tom Hunter and Lord Willie Haughey on the Go Radio Business Show. Starts at 43.53.
I’m proud to be an Associate of Team-Up. Discover the Fast Teaming Formula that Professor Amy Edmondson, Harvard Business School, describes as “A compelling practical Formula to optimise team performance“.
Frequently asked questions
WHO do you partner with?
Founder CEOs and their leadership teams – often at critical inflection points.
People leaders who want to level up their impact as the organisation scales.
Accelerators, investors and board members supporting high-growth startups and scaleups.
Larger corporates looking to reignite growth by rebuilding cultures of autonomy, experimentation and innovation.
What types of companies do you typically work with?
High-growth start-ups and scaleups – typically between 30 and 200 people – where the pace of growth is starting to stretch the leadership team, structure and culture.
HOW do you partner?
As a strategic advisor and coach, supporting founders, CxOs and people leaders through the complexity and intensity of scaling.
As a Fractional Chief People Officer, helping design the leadership and organisational infrastructure required for the next stage of growth.
As a partner to investors, boards and accelerators, providing diagnostics, confidential advisory support and leadership upskilling for the companies they support.
As a right-hand advisor, helping leaders navigate difficult transitions – including when senior people need to move on.
As an Associate of Team-Up, applying the science-backed Fast Teaming FormulaTM through high-impact sessions that help teams accelerate trust, alignment and effectiveness.
What Founder CEOs most often ask me for help with
- Help me build a team with an AI-first mindset
- Help me navigate conflict in the top team
- Help me align the whole organisation
- Help me unlock more from my people
- Help me retain my key talent
- Help me build a culture that reflects what I stand for
- Help me exit people in difficult circumstances
- Help me transition to leading a 100+ company
- Help me reshape the organisation for growth
- Help me navigate a personal leadership inflection point
How do I know when my company needs this kind of support?
Usually when things start to feel harder than they should.
Decisions slow down, the leadership team isn’t fully aligned, tensions appear, and the structure that once worked begins to strain under the pace of growth.
For many founders this happens at an inflection point – when the business is accelerating but the organisation hasn’t evolved fast enough to keep up.
Is this HR consulting?
No. This work sits much closer to strategy, leadership and transformation than traditional HR. It’s about ensuring the organisation evolves fast enough to support the next stage of growth.
How is your work different from traditional consulting?
I’ve lived the reality of scaling from inside high-growth companies, not just advised them. Alongside that, my work with the Scottish scaleup ecosystem has given me insight into the patterns that determine whether companies successfully scale.
Will this slow us down?
Quite the opposite. Most of the challenges that emerge as companies scale – misalignment, decision bottlenecks, unclear roles, leadership tension – already slow the business down.
My work is about removing those friction points, so leaders can move faster, make clearer decisions, and keep the organisation aligned as complexity grows.
The goal is always the same: speed with clarity.
What is ‘grit’ and ‘grace’?
Grit and Grace is the yin and yang of the leadership style you’ll need to simultaneously use, both pushing and pulling your people towards the goals you’ll need to deliver to grow, and at the same time navigating them through the rollercoaster of scaleup life. Read More
How do we get started?
Usually with a conversation about where your company is in its scaling journey and what challenges are emerging. From there we can decide whether working together would be useful.
