Defy Expectations creates and develops Great Leaders

 

And Great Leaders get the right people, in the right places, doing the right things, at the right time

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Lead with Love. Transform with Purpose. Deliver Results. 

Welcome to Defy Expectations, where leadership meets humanity, love drives results, and adult learning principles ensure lasting impact. We are a leadership development company committed to reshaping how businesses achieve success—by putting people at the heart of leadership. In today’s fast-paced world, companies need more than traditional leadership strategies; they need human-centred, love-driven leaders who inspire engagement, spark innovation, and achieve sustainable business outcomes.

Why Human-Centred Leadership Matters 

Leadership is about more than managing tasks—it’s about empowering people. At Defy Expectations, we believe that when leaders genuinely connect with their teams, foster trust, and lead with empathy, the ripple effect transforms entire organizations. Human-centred leadership focuses on listening, understanding, and acting with authenticity to create environments where people thrive. When your people thrive, your business soars.

Love as a Leadership Strategy 

Love in leadership? Absolutely. At Defy Expectations, we’re redefining love not as sentimentality but as a conscious choice to prioritize care, respect, and mutual growth. Love-driven leadership builds meaningful relationships, drives unparalleled loyalty, and creates cultures of excellence. It’s not just a feel-good concept—it’s a proven approach to enhance productivity, retention, and overall business success.

How Busy Adults Learn 

We know your leaders are busy professionals juggling multiple priorities. That’s why our learning programmes are designed with the principles of andragogy—the art and science of adult learning—in mind. Our approach ensures that learning is practical, relevant, and deeply engaging, helping busy adults retain knowledge and immediately apply it in their roles.

Here’s how we make learning impactful for today’s leaders:

 • Relevance: We connect learning to real-world challenges your leaders face every day, ensuring the content feels immediately valuable.

 • Experience-Based Learning: Adults learn best when they can draw on their own experiences. Our programs encourage reflection, dialogue, and problem-solving to deepen understanding.

 • Self-Direction: Busy leaders crave autonomy in their development. We design flexible, self-directed learning journeys that respect their time and empower their growth.

 • Action-Oriented Outcomes: Our training doesn’t stop at theory; we focus on actionable strategies that can be implemented right away to create measurable results.

By integrating these principles, we create engaging, high-impact learning experiences that fit seamlessly into your leaders’ demanding schedules while delivering meaningful transformation.

Delivering Business Results Through People 

At Defy Expectations, we bridge the gap between people engagement and business outcomes. By aligning leadership practices with organizational goals and leveraging adult learning strategies, we help you achieve measurable success—whether it’s boosting employee satisfaction, improving team performance, or driving bottom-line growth. Our approach ensures that the well-being of your people is never sacrificed for the sake of business goals; instead, they become the driving force behind your results.

What we do

Leadership
Mastered

Creating leaders that build and operate successful and sustainable businesses

  • Leadership & Management Training & Coaching
  • Executive Coaching
  • Benchmark your Leadership & Management capabilities
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Business 
Unpacked

Success Amplified.  Personal access on a regular basis to a senior business leader who understands first-hand what you are going through and can bring their experience to help you be a better leader. All for just £2000/m +VAT

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Leadership Defined

Understand your leadership & management capabilities with our diagnostic designed to measure your leadership skills, behaviours, competencies and mindset. Giving you the insight and understanding to create a clear plan of where to focus your development plan.

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Leadership Defined - How do you know you are a great leader & manager?

Find out your leadership & management strengths and develop a step-by-step plan to become the leader & manager you have always wanted to be.

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Defy Expectations knows great leadership & management because we are Great Leaders.

We work with companies that have the vision and the courage to reinvent themselves for today’s world.

They are the ones who will survive and thrive in the future.

Why we are different

  • We are all experienced senior leaders, realists and hard challengers of woolly thinking
  • Straight-talking, innovative thinkers, we simplify the complex
  • We know how the external world and existential risks impact your business
  • We are data-driven and insight-led, focusing on outcomes to drive the bottom line and change behaviours for real impact
  • We dive deep into your ambitions and challenges in creating customised solutions
  • We work with high integrity and respect to help you survive and thrive

The value we bring

  • Transformational Change Management & Organisation Design - getting the right people in the right places
  • Culture Creation and Implementation - the right people acting in the right ways
  • Strategic Planning & Implementation - the right people doing the right things at the right time
  • Innovation & Strategic Risk Planning - helping you thrive, not just survive
  • Leadership Development Programmes - embedding great leadership at all levels of the organisation

How we do it

  • Organisations with winning capabilities have an edge and this drives our work
  • Our approach builds Leadership Capability at all levels of your business to plan and profit from the future
  • We benchmark by identifying areas of opportunity using our own diagnostic tools
  • Our unique suite of solutions helps you address key leadership and management competencies
  • We use a combination of one-to-one, team coaching, consulting and training at all levels in the organisation to build capability and capacity
  • We create playbooks to document and embed great practice, make learning stick and deliver measurable impact

Our Leadership Team

Helen Honisett

"Leadership's important because it's a responsibility to use your skills wisely. With power comes responsibility and this is something that I hold dear because leaders can ruin lives or they make lives."

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Pat Chapman Pincher

"Great leadership is the difference between success and failure in business. Leadership is a learned skill. So ensure that you learn from the best teachers who have sat in your chair." 

 

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Vicky Hampson

“Great leadership is knowing how to get out of your own way and clear the path so that effective decisions and real impact can be made. Great leaders create the time and space to make this happen.”

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Fiona Dewar

“Great leadership is about driving progress in organisations and ‘getting things done’."

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Chris Farnath

“In simple terms, Leadership is the discipline to impact outcomes by enabling collaboration within your team, department or organisation.  Great leadership is the creativity, resourcefulness, and mindset to succeed in adversity.”

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Our Locations

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