How The Strategy ✦ Culture ✦
Leadership Accelerator Works
The Method
The SCL Accelerator™
The definitive framework for accelerating strategy, culture & leadership.
A business is the sum total of just three parts: its strategy, culture & leadership.
The SCL Accelerator™ removes constraint & increases capacity in those three levers so you can take your business to the next level.
This is not:
Done-for-you consulting (because that creates dependency & leaves capability gaps), or
Cookie-cutter training (that feels good in the room but doesn't change how work gets done.)
The SCL Accelerator™ is an operating system for high-performance strategy, culture and leadership – installed directly by your own top talent, in the flow of real work.
What’s unique about The SCL Accelerator™ is the speed and efficiency with which it combines theory with practical application to ensure a platform for behaviour change is delivered. This element surpassed that of other courses we’ve embarked on — placing people in an environment which allows for real-time immediate growth. Some of my team’s comments were: ‘I have taken away skills I know I will use for the rest of my career as well as in my personal life.’ Through deep insights and observation, David identifies the underlying drivers of your behaviour to identify simple and easily implementable solutions.
~ Jennifer Arendse, General Manager, Discovery (parent company of Vitality)
What’s unique about The SCL Accelerator™ is the speed and efficiency with which it combines theory with practical application to ensure a platform for behaviour change is delivered. This element surpassed that of other courses we’ve embarked on – placing people in an environment which allows for real-time immediate growth. Some of my team’s comments were: ‘I have taken away skills I know I will use for the rest of my career as well as in my personal life.’ Through deep insights and observation, David identifies the underlying drivers of your behaviour to identify simple and easily implementable solutions.
~ Jennifer Arendse, General Manager, Discovery (parent company of Vitality)
THE 3 LEVERS
Strategy
Do the right thing (what we choose to do and why)
People Focus
Done the right way (how we relate)
Leadership
Action and accountability in the service of positive change
The best investment you can make is to shift all three simultaneously, and that’s what The SCL Accelerator™ does.
The SCL Accelerator™ Blueprint
The 4 Stages — an in-depth look
Each stage has a clear focus, defined outputs and a simple process your Executive stakeholders can understand and buy into. Here's how the Blueprint plays out when we run an Accelerator with you.
STAGE 1 –
DIAGNOSE AND ALIGN
Identify ExCo-level challenges and quantify potential ROI from solving them in the flow of work
Build a simple ExCo business case: bottom-line impact, measurable uplift in leadership, and culture
Secure senior stakeholder selection of priority problems to drive buy-in and Exec alignment (not “another HR initiative”)
Run diagnostics to baseline talent behaviour and capability
STAGE 2 –
DESIGN THE ARCHITECTURE
Define the measurable outcomes first — then design the programme architecture and immersion backwards from them
Set clear criteria for success (behaviours and competencies to shift, strategic challenges to solve) and how talent will evidence it
Add leading-edge psychometrics, team dynamics interventions, skills-gap coaching, learning labs, and a custom designed immersion to create a transformational step-change
Provide sponsor oversight, expert guidance, and implementation coaching to prepare teams for high-stakes strategic work
We engaged David to support our leaders on their leadership journey. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many experiencing tangible results in themselves and with their teams after the first workshop. A number of our leaders have also engaged in coaching, with some finding it so beneficial, they have requested further sessions. Highly recommend David as a modern, forward-thinking, inspirational leadership expert and coach!
~ Natalie Clare, Chief People Officer, The Co-Op
We engaged David to support our leaders on their leadership journey. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many experiencing tangible results in themselves and with their teams after the first workshop. A number of our leaders have also engaged in coaching, with some finding it so beneficial, they have requested further sessions. Highly recommend David as a modern, forward-thinking, inspirational leadership expert and coach!
~ Natalie Clare, Chief People Officer, The Co-Op
STAGE 3 –
DELIVER IN THE FLOW OF WORK
High-potential leaders operate as internal consultants in cross-functional teams on the chosen strategic challenges
Teach high-performance teaming principles and embed them through live delivery (team coaching and 360 feedback to surface blind spots fast)
Use sprints, milestones, and check-ins to maintain momentum, manage scope, and keep stakeholder support
Faculty support to unblock delivery, accelerate learning, and protect political alignment
It’s difficult to distil into words the impact David has had on me towards being a more influential leader. I learnt so much from David… If you are on the hunt for leadership development in a safe space, on any aspect related to personal mastery, look no further.
~ Dudu Moloko, Group Head of Learning and Development, FirstRand Bank
It’s difficult to distil into words the impact David has had on me towards being a more influential leader. I learnt so much from David… If you are on the hunt for leadership development in a safe space, on any aspect related to personal mastery, look no further.
~ Dudu Moloko, Group Head of Learning and Development, FirstRand Bank
STAGE 4 –
EMBED, SHOWCASE AND SCALE
Teams pitch solutions to senior stakeholders in a Dragons’ Den-style forum — creating visibility on talent progression and investable projects
Talent leaves with Exec-level operating experience and clear view of strengths and development edges
CHRO gains a flagship intervention that demonstrates ROI — plus a repeatable blueprint to scale future cohorts and elevate L&D credibility
Result = impact that’s evidenced.
You see:
Tangible improvements in leadership behaviour, team performance and cultural engagement — with hard data to evidence the shift.
Strategic challenges either successfully solved, or a recommendation where to go next
Ways of working improvements that stick — because they are internally generated and proven in the flow of real work.
An ExCo that values your work as a strategic value driver — instead of a cost centre
We don’t run prefab programmes. This work is bespoke, anchored in the core principles that drive strategic success, leadership excellence and high-performing teams.
How We Work
The Blueprint describes the architecture of an SCL Accelerator. The next sections explain what it’s like to work with us as a partner: how we show up, how engagements begin, and what you can expect along the way.
Our advisory work isn’t “scalable” in the way most people mean it.
It’s deliberately focused, intense and immersive. Whereas most providers sell pre-built curriculums without single points of accountability. Our model is the opposite: we only run a maximum of two SCL Accelerators at a time, because that’s the only way to achieve the level of transformation we guarantee — making us as invested as you in achieving a successful outcome. In practice, this means hands on support through team dynamics and skills gap coaching, and regular check-ins to unblock constraints, clarify next steps, and drive momentum on project milestones.
There are:
No packages.
No generic “service stacks.”
Our work is bespoke, designed around you, your firm and your goals.
We will:
Help your Execs diagnose what’s really constraining strategic execution.
Teach, coach and guide your talent how to solve challenges successfully while learning the principles of high-performance teaming.
Refresh, codify and embed your culture’s unique blueprint — creating centres of cultural excellence leaders can roll others into when they return to BAU.
Set leaders up for success by ensuring they:
Hit milestones
Get expert guidance when blocked
Implement proof-of-pilot concepts, &
Exceed expectations in the Dragons’ Den when pitching results to senior stakeholders.
This isn’t a cookie-cutter curriculum or abstract theory.
It’s a clarity-giving, buy-in-building, culture-forging, engagement-elevating and solution-implementing process delivered live alongside you – with data to evidence the impact.
David proved to be exceptional… Feedback from the C-Suite [of a $bn tech company] was full of praise for David’s energy, adaptability, presence, attentive listening and ability to lead discussions and interactions between participants, allowing tools to be applied immediately — resulting in a perfect feedback score over the six half-day sessions.
~ Larissa Takayama, Lead L&D Design, Wellhub
David proved to be exceptional… Feedback from the C-Suite [of a $bn tech company] was full of praise for David’s energy, adaptability, presence, attentive listening and ability to lead discussions and interactions between participants, allowing tools to be applied immediately – resulting in a perfect feedback score over the six half-day sessions.
~ Larissa Takayama, Lead L&D Design, Wellhub
Principles of the Method
Launching an SCL Accelerator means committing to a small set of non-negotiables:
If you don’t know what your burning platforms are, nothing else matters. We help you identify them, then build the Accelerator around them.
Strategic Focus
How people feel determines what they do — and what they see modelled, tolerated and rewarded is your cultural standard. We design the Accelerator to make those standards visible, modelled and rewarded.
Culture by Design
You can only empower leaders when they have confidence, competence and clarity. Those are best cultivated through experience, in a contained environment where execution risks are mitigated and opportunities to innovate are high — exactly what an Accelerator provides.
Leadership Empowerment
Breaking through your constraints means changing systems, processes and ways of working that widen competitive advantage, decrease cost and increase profitability. The Accelerator exists to deliver those outcomes, not just log learning hours.
Results Focused
Once each Exec has identified a core challenge they want solved, we gamify the process by forming diverse teams of talent from across the business. We give them the insights, tools and coaching they need; they own the work. The goal isn’t just recommendations, but implemented pilots — and leaders who’ve practised high-performance teaming in the flow of work.
Internally Powered
Your ExCo get first hand insight into who has turned opportunity into results, and performance into potential at a Dragons’ Den, where teams showcase their work directly to your senior stakeholders.
Leadership Empowerment
What to Expect (and What Not To)
You can expect:
Immersive advisory, not ivory-tower consulting. No silver bullets; we install better systems, culture and leaders alongside you in the flow of work.
Applied learning, not edutainment. Real projects, real stakes, real outcomes — not just interesting slides.
Your talent does the work. We guide, coach, teach and hold stakeholders accountable — but the insight and solutions are internally generated.
Clarity over comfort. We press where it hurts: strategic focus, cultural failings, leadership gaps.
Evidence-led, outcomes-focused. From problem ID to verified ROI, decisions are data-informed and grounded in results — including simple business case packs detailing forecasted ROI HR can take to ExCo.
The Accelerator works best when:
There is visible senior buy-in (which is why we start with an Executive Vision + Clarity + Alignment session).
You’re ready to commit discipline, budget and focus.
You’re ready to treat your top talent as grown-up, high-potential consultants, not spectators on tick box L&D courses.
If you’re looking for motivational away days, “do it for you” consulting, or strategy as theory and theatre — this isn’t for you.
The SCL Accelerator™ is advisory, coaching and teaching, built to create competence and capacity — not dependency.
Next Step – Apply to Work With Us
If you want to:
Break the constraints in your business across strategy, culture and leadership
Give your top talent career-defining experiences solving real Executive-level challenges
And walk into ExCo with a clear, evidenced ROI business case for your leadership and culture spend
Break the constraints in your business across strategy, culture and leadership
Give your top talent career-defining experiences solving real Executive-level challenges
And walk into ExCo with a clear, evidenced ROI business case for your leadership and culture spend
…the next step is simple:
Apply to work with us by setting up an SCL Discovery Session.
From there, we’ll explore whether an SCL Accelerator is the right operating system for your context — and, if it is, what a first cohort could deliver for your business in the next 6–12 months.
Break the constraints in your business across strategy, culture and leadership
Give your top talent career-defining experiences solving real Executive-level challenges
And walk into ExCo with a clear, evidenced ROI business case for your leadership and culture spend
David was able to unlock a part of me that was blocked for such a long time… I am forever grateful that I got such a grand opportunity to work with someone as unique as David… What a gift you are David — may everyone be lucky enough to take something from you.
~ Jenna Pypers, Risk Leader, FirstRand Bank
David was able to unlock a part of me that was blocked for such a long time… I am forever grateful that I got such a grand opportunity to work with someone as unique as David… What a gift you are David — may everyone be lucky enough to take something from you.
~ Jenna Pypers, Risk Leader, FirstRand Bank