Category: Only Team Member

Ursula began her career as a professional actress. With years on stage and screen that gave her a practical, hard-won understanding of voice, presence and what it takes to hold an audience. That craft remains the foundation of her work today: helping leaders communicate with clarity, confidence and authenticity.

She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree, with research in social constructivism and feminism. A lens that continues to shape her work in women’s leadership and inclusive communication.

Ursula is the founder of Confident Voices, a business and leadership communication company. As a COMENSA-accredited coach, she works with executives, leaders and teams across sectors including financial services, technology, engineering and professional services, specialising in executive presence, leadership communication, presentation skills and sales communication. She is also a keynote speaker and the author of the upcoming book Soft Power, which explores how to influence without force.

As an Ambassador for Legitimate Leadership, Ursula partners with client organisations to build leadership cultures where managers can shift into higher trust environments.  She was drawn to Legitimate Leadership because it puts into a rigorous framework a pathway to building trust and excellence among leaders.

Ursula lives in Johannesburg, where she loves running with her run club at 5am most mornings. Followed by coffee of course!

Mike Sealy is a leadership development coach and inclusive culture expert. With over twenty-five years of senior leadership experience across some of the world’s most demanding organisations, he now works with people who know they are capable of more, even when their inner critic insists otherwise.

Mike’s career began in technology. A Computer Science background and early operational roles at HP marked him out: he was selected for HP’s Accelerated Development Programme for high-potential leaders and sponsored through executive education at leading business schools. At the BBC, he carried full profit-and-loss accountability across software delivery and content production, designing a performance reporting framework adopted across the corporation’s commercial divisions.

His most senior roles were global. At Microsoft, he held a global position leading its Advertising Operations and global outsourcing partnerships. At Informa Markets, he served as Vice-President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, leading people and talent strategy across more than 30 markets, having earlier directed customer experience for more than 100 events. At Achilles, he held global operational leadership, delivering significant efficiencies and introducing the governance, performance and reporting frameworks the business came to rely on. Across these roles, he has led large, multi-disciplinary teams through restructuring, transformation and growth.

As co-founder of X-INC GLOBAL, Mike now turns that experience towards developing others. He is the author of the Lead Well, Last Long eBook series, comprising Morning Habits of Confident Leaders, Before You Break, The New Rules of Leadership, and The Growth Mindset Leader, brought to life through X-INC GLOBAL’s workshops and development programmes. Together, they give leaders practical, evidence-based tools to lead with clarity, accountability and purpose, and to do so sustainably, building the habits, resilience and sense of belonging that allow leaders and their teams to perform well and last long.

His approach sits naturally alongside the Care and Growth philosophy at the heart of Legitimate Leadership: the conviction that people give of their best when they are genuinely cared for and deliberately grown. Calm, open, and quietly challenging, Mike helps leaders turn insight into action and lead with clarity, confidence, and purpose, not just when things feel easy, but when it really matters.

Mike enjoys relaxing with family and friends, as well as cooking. He is on a mission to stay fit and healthy through regular exercise and nutritious eating, although he does enjoy fine dining, a guilty pleasure he shares with his wife.

Gail is a certified Life Coach through The Academy of York (COMENSA-recognised) with over 25 years of experience in the customer experience sector. She partners with leaders to strengthen accountability, enhance performance, and cultivate values-driven cultures.

As Founder and Director of Generation G, she leads coaching and consulting initiatives focused on leadership capability, cultural alignment, and sustainable transformation.

A published author, Gail draws on her own journey of personal growth, transformation, and resilience, underscoring her belief that sustainable organisational change begins with individual growth and a renewed mindset. She is also a motivational speaker and mentor, engaging both corporate and community audiences on principled leadership, intentional living, and personal accountability. Her work is grounded in integrity and purpose, and in empowering leaders to grow both professionally and personally, providing strategic insight into behavioural alignment and long-term organisational value.

Gail is a devoted wife and proud mother of two daughters who are professional dancers. She enjoys supporting them at their performances and celebrating their passion for the arts.

Beyond her professional life, Gail is deeply committed to uplifting and empowering communities. She serves as a mentor with the NPO Women Pay It Forward South Africa, where she dedicates many of her weekends to mentoring and encouraging high school girls, helping them build confidence and pursue their goals.

In her free time, Gail has a strong appreciation for the performing arts and enjoys visiting the theatre to watch dance and acting productions.

Michelle brings her extensive experience in talent strategy, leadership development and executive coaching across global organisations to the Legitimate Leadership team.

Originating from Australia, Michelle has spent a significant part of her adult life living abroad and currently resides in the UK. Growing up in Melbourne, Michelle was fascinated by the diverse cultures she encountered. At the age of 16, Michelle had the opportunity to visit Japan, which marked the beginning of her love for travel. Michelle first moved overseas at 21, living and working in the UK, primarily in HR. After a brief stint in Italy, Michelle returned to Australia to work for Coles and the National Australia Bank, holding various HR roles. During this time, Michelle also completed her Master’s in Commerce (Human Resource Management) at Swinburne University of Technology.

In 2013, Michelle returned to the UK, where she is currently based. Initially working for the Duke of Westminster in his private property company, looking after HR Systems and Processes globally. In 2015, Michelle moved to Tesco, working as an Organisational Design Manager, having previously held a similar role in Australia. Michelle had always had a passion for talent and leadership and in late 2016, Michelle had the opportunity to move into Tesco International as a Talent Manager, identifying and developing talent in Europe and Asia.

A year later, Michelle also began leading Diversity & Inclusion for all of Tesco, creating a three-year strategy that spanned the UK, Central Europe, and Asia. She ensured Tesco maintained its market-leading stance on inclusion through externally recognised bodies such as Stonewall and Disability Confidence.

Michelle then transitioned into manufacturing, working for Johnson Matthey, where she was responsible for talent and performance across Europe and Africa. She later moved into a global role covering emerging sectors, including Battery Materials, Fuel Cells, and Green Hydrogen. This is where Michelle was first exposed to Legitimate Leadership. During her time at Johnson Matthey, Michelle completed her Master’s in Executive Coaching at the British School of Coaching and became registered with the EMCC and Association for Coaching.

Returning to Retail, Michelle worked for Marks & Spencer within the Talent Centre of Expertise, leading on both talent development and succession planning. Michelle ran several large projects and supported the senior executive team, providing the Executive Committee, Board and Remuneration Committee with insights into talent across M&S.

In 2023 Michelle spent almost 2 years working for RELX as the Head of Talent and Capability for Elsevier. This was a global role supporting 9,000 employees across 30 countries before joining Legitimate Leadership as an ambassador in 2025.

Based out of St Albans, Michelle is a dual UK and Australian citizen. Outside of work, Michelle enjoys travelling, keeping active and spending time with friends.

Tony Ogden brings a wealth of experience in operations leadership, organisational development, and cultural transformation across high-risk industrial sectors. With an honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sheffield, his career began with Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) through their prestigious graduate engineering programme. From early line management roles in biotechnology and hazardous chemical plants, including those involving ammonia, cyanides, and petrochemical refining, Tony quickly established himself as a trusted leader. He was selected to lead an independent investigation into a major accident at a third-party plant in Libya, a formative experience in accountability and leadership under pressure.

Following his transition into operations on Paraxylene V at ICI’s Wilton Site, Europe’s most significant of its kind, Tony continued to evolve as a leader. His involvement in the divestiture of the Petrochemicals business to Huntsman marked a pivotal shift—serving as an organisational psychologist driving cultural change. During this time, he completed a master’s degree in Manufacturing Leadership at the University of Cambridge, where he encountered the Legitimate Leadership model that has shaped his leadership approach ever since.

Tony’s passion for operational excellence led him to senior roles in the pharmaceutical sector, including Rhodia and Shasun. As Site Director at BOC Special Products in Immingham, he applied Legitimate Leadership principles to deliver dramatic performance improvements. These included a nationally recognised reduction in workplace injuries, industry-leading productivity and service, profitability growth, and significant capital investment.

At Croda International, Tony further expanded his impact—first as Group Safety, Health and Environment Manager, then overseeing Group Quality and contributing to strategic acquisitions, including Avanti Polar Lipids in Alabama. His dual experience in pharmaceuticals and post-acquisition integration led to his appointment as Managing Director of Operations for Croda’s Pharma business, followed by a turnaround role on a Consumer Care site.

In March 2025, Tony founded his consultancy and became an Associate of Legitimate Leadership, bringing decades of practical insight and transformative success to organisations seeking purpose-led growth and performance.

Rooted in Manchester and now based in North Lincolnshire, Tony enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and two dogs, playing the guitar, and is currently learning Danish.

Joe has over 15 years of experience in data analytics and geospatial solutions, including strategic and operational management through the COVID years. He studied management development at GIBS with two kids and a newborn in the house. He earned accolades for best syndicate and best project while achieving individual commendations for strategy, finance and innovation. Always a voracious learner, Joe added this latest qualification to his first-class Bachelor of Arts Honours in Geography and an array of short courses, including a negotiation masterclass with David Venter, Behavioural Design, and platform business design.

In Joe’s earlier career, he introduced enterprise mapping solutions in the banking sector. He managed multiple data projects for navigation systems at Nokia’s HERE division, earning him the Nokia Global Impact Award and a trip to Berlin. Later, back in South Africa, Joe became the Head of Location & Commerce Solutions at Lightstone, leading a team of specialists serving clients across retail, media, energy, and commercial property sectors. While there, he coordinated various commercial and technical teams around the design and development of SaaS applications, developing his expertise in product roadmaps and Agile methodologies. Here, he first encountered Legitimate Leadership and readily applied the principles in caring for and growing his team and peers.

Another significant career highlight is the founding of Broad and Cambridge, a consulting company which helps Southern African companies with business development strategies, location analytics, and customer value propositions.

Known for fostering strong client relationships and delivering innovative solutions, Joe is a thought leader and passionate mentor in his work and church contexts. He is committed to growing individuals and teams while driving organisational success. Indeed, his passion for meaningful results and people empowerment precipitated his appointment as an Ambassador for Legitimate Leadership offerings in the market.

In his downtime, Joe enjoys penmaking and woodwork, organising his Johannesburg workshop, reading thought-provoking books, and making his kids laugh. He also makes a mean pizza.

Russell graduated from Pretoria Boys High School and studied Accounting at the University of the Witwatersrand. After completing his articles with KPMG, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)). Following his qualification, he travelled extensively across the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Russell has held various leadership roles, including serving as Chief Financial Officer for a law firm with an annual fee income of R240 million and over 60 partners. He also worked as a Group Accountant for a pan-African investment bank.

In 2010, Russ founded his executive coaching practice, where he has had the privilege of coaching a diverse range of C-Suite executives. He is the Executive Head of Accounting at a local private high school. He has facilitated courses on Finance for Non-Financial Managers and has appeared on OFM radio.

In 2025, Russ became a Legitimate Leadership Ambassador. He is happily married to his beautiful wife Catherine and has two sons. He has completed two Comrades marathons to stay fit and enjoys walking the beautiful trails in and around Johannesburg.

Paulette hails from Johannesburg, South Africa. She began her career in a recruitment consultancy.

She has since had 25 years of experience in leadership, human capital, and consulting in the pharmaceutical, banking, and insurance sectors. In the past decade she has been employed in banking group Barclays/Absa and insurance group Sanlam.

As an executive she has overseen and implemented strategic planning, talent management and employee engagement initiatives to align HR with organizational goals.

Later, as a senior consultant, she has provided tailored solutions for clients, focusing on strategic planning and operational efficiency.

Paulette is passionate about coaching, mentoring and developing others – particularly people from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 2024, she founded her own consulting business.

She is guided by spiritual truth, faith, a deep sense of gratitude and abundance, which underpin her commitment to serving others. Paulette cherishes her family life with her husband and two sons in Johannesburg.

Dieter grew up in Johannesburg as one of two sons to German parents. After completing his undergraduate degree and compulsory military conscription, Dieter moved to the Western Cape where he worked in the defence industry and subsequently completed his Master’s degree at UCT.  From there he moved back up to Pretoria where he worked in research before joining the team at Tiger Wheels Manufacturing, an international supplier of automotive aluminium wheels.  Here his career went from design to 24hr production management, and finally an appointment to the board as the company’s HR Director.

It was during this time that Dieter began to appreciate the inevitable interplay between people, process and technology to achieve desired outcomes, and spent much of his time training himself and his team in leadership skills, specifically servant-leadership.  Dieter describes this period as one of the most rewarding growth phases in his career.

Dieter then went into the consulting industry, where he has spent almost two decades, consulting initially on business process optimisation, where he was the Western Cape regional manager for a boutique consulting firm, and then in leadership development and coaching after attending an intense program with Maxwell Leadership in the USA.

Dieter lives in a small village outside of Mossel Bay with his wife Marita, and is a keen trail and road runner.  While they enjoy exploring the off-the-beaten track areas in the Garden Route, they are often found elsewhere in the country for both work and personal reasons.

Dieter believes the style and culture of future leadership depends on us all to be good role models for future leaders, and is therefore passionate in developing himself and others to be just that, which prompted him to author his book Decision Point: How the decisions you make, make you.  He was introduced to the Legitimate Leadership framework in 2023 which strongly resonated with his beliefs, leading him to join the Legitimate Leadership team.

Ntsako was born and bred in Giyani, a northern area of South Africa. After graduating in 2003 she worked for a number of leading South African corporates as an HR professional.

She established a solid record of effectively setting up, embedding, and managing HR structures, building relationships and leading teams in multiple African markets.

In 2019 she set up her own HR consultancy, Ntsumi HR Partners.

She joined Legitimate Leadership in 2023.

Ntsako is a certified Neuro Linguistics Programming (NLP) Life Coach, and an executive coach.

She is a regular contributor to South African radio stations such as 702, VOW FM and Munghana Lonene, giving career and HR advice to listeners.

Ntsako lives in Johannesburg with her son and husband. She likes exploring new places, cooking, reading and gardening.