Sean brings his passion and experience in organisational change management for global brands to the Legitimate Leadership team.
Having graduated in chemistry from Surrey University, Sean started the first phase of his career as an analytical chemist at Carlsberg, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). While he progress in those organisations he also observed major organisational change. This sparked his passion for Lean Manufacturing and , at GSK, he completed his green belt in Six Sigma and ran several “Lean Lab” projects to improve manufacturing efficiency and performance.
In 2010 he moved full time into Lean at Johnson Matthey’s Clean Air Division manufacturing facility for catalytic converters for the European market.
At Johnson Matthey he worked on quality engineering, focusing on product and process design robustness. This role was also customer-facing as he was often asked to attend customer visits to explain how quality requirements were met throughout the design process. He then moved full time into major problem-solving projects, running multiple teams to resolve high-impact customer issues using structured problem-solving methodologies. His team rolled out the training and development of structured problem-solving process across multiple manufacturing sites.
He then worked as operations manager at Johnson Matthey’s catalytic converter plant in Royston, UK. The site leadership team constantly had to handle soaring and unpredictable demand while contending with a legacy plant and a very large product mix, a new ERP (enterprise resource planning) deployment and multiple stock builds. In April 2020 he was appointed plant manager and immediately had to contend with COVID-19.
Johnson Matthey then began major restructuring, and he was given the sad task of closing the plant, which employed over 800 people.
Sean started working full time for Legitimate Leadership in May 2022.
Based out of Cambridgeshire, Sean is married with three young children. He’s also an avid sports fan with a Google-like ability for football statistics. He loves attending live events, especially at Wembley. And he has also picked up marathon running again after a few years off.
Born in Zambia and educated in both South Africa and the United Kingdom, Nigel began his career with Anglo American, then the world’s largest gold mining company, as a graduate trainee. Over the past 30 years, he has built an international career in HR leadership and Talent Management, in sectors including FMCG, Automotive, Construction, IT, and diversified industrials.
Nigel spent 17 years with Honeywell Inc., a $35 billion Fortune 100 organisation, where he held senior HR leadership roles across multiple global business divisions. His responsibilities spanned Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India. In his final role with Honeywell, he served as EMEA Talent and Learning Director, leading the region’s talent strategy and leadership development initiatives for a workforce of over 25,000 employees across 28 countries. It was while he was at Honeywell that Nigel was introduced to the Legitimate Leadership Framework.
Having achieved a Bachelor of Commerce Degree through the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Nigel went on to complete his MBA at Nottingham Business School – Nottingham Trent University in the UK. He has also completed his professional Executive Coaching certification through Henley Business School.
Nigel initially became an Associate with Legitimate Leadership in 2021, and after stepping back into leading the HR Function for two market-leading UK-based organisations, is once again part of the Legitimate Leadership Consultant team. Nigel’s passion and purpose are simple yet powerful: to inspire and enable people to reach their full potential—personally and professionally.
Nigel lives in Derby, UK, with his wife Lesley. When not working, he enjoys mountain biking and kayaking, and when in Africa, Scuba Diving and excursions camping in the African bush.
After studying engineering, Rachael spent over 20 years in the chemical industry, leading teams to deliver change within busy production environments while also serving as a member of a site management team. While technically interesting, it was always the people side of her work that was of particular concern and motivation for her. She thus took every opportunity to become involved in coaching and development.
Half way through her career she was exposed to the Legitimate Leadership framework. She recognised this as the leadership approach to which she had been aspiring.
In 2016 she became an independent consultant, assisting clients in delivering successful engineering projects through interim management, supporting studies, team capability and systems.
Rachael lives with her husband in the lovely Ribble Valley in the north west of England. Outside work she is keen on getting plenty of exercise, and jumps into any creative craft that comes her way. Recently, for instance, she has turned her enjoyment of doodling towards work-based visual facilitation and sketchnoting (note-taking using both words and visuals).
Growing up as a dual British-French national in the UK, Joolz developed a cultural sensitivity that has shaped her work as an adult. After graduating she joined a consulting firm which relocated her to California at the height of the dot com era to work with Cisco. There she led and launched their global Channel Training Partner sales certification program, before moving on to similar work with other Telecoms giants.
This was followed by the opportunity to set up and run a team in Houston for Compaq (pre-HP merger), to support their Enterprise-wide customer relationship management (CRM) roll-out. After identifying the change barriers and working with leaders across the US and UK sales organisations to drive adoption she then worked for the start-up arm of the consulting business to develop a CRM sales ‘plug-in’. In hindsight this was a very early version of an app!
Many sleepless nights later, she took a sabbatical to train as a yoga teacher and travel across Peru and to India (which she still loves to visit whenever possible).
Back in the UK, she continued to work as a project manager, business analyst and change management consultant in the CRM space. In 2008 she became an independent consultant focusing on leadership and culture.
Joolz has always believed that organisations need to become more human-centred, purpose and values-led. When she was introduced to the Legitimate Leadership Model, she instantly recognized that it addressed all the challenges her clients wrestled with, while translating the theory into practice in a real and structured way.
Now living in Somerset, England, Joolz loves walking in nature, yoga and gardening. She volunteers for an India-based charity that offers education and empowerment programmes to women who have no other means or livelihood. She lives with her husband, has a stepson and is an adoring aunt to her four nieces and nephews.
Tony began his career as an apprentice draughtsman in the shipyards in north-east England. He was nominated to join a graduate development programme at Newcastle University, where he attained the only first class honours degree in naval architecture in the UK in 1992.
After 10 years of designing and building ships he joined ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) at its Teesside (Middlesbrough) ethylene cracker as a technical engineer. He was subsequently promoted to maintenance management and then operations management roles.
In 1995 he moved to ICI’s catalyst business, initially in a techno-commercial role, selling consultancy services. In this role he gained valuable experience in various cultures in many regions, including the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
Tony was then appointed as the site manager in ICI’s UK catalyst manufacturing plant. He soon took on extra duties involving the acquisition and integration of new businesses and joint ventures, and had a role in the acquisition of ICI by Johnson Matthey (JM).
Soon thereafter he became global operations director of JM, during which time he gained a masters degree in manufacturing leadership at Cambridge University. It was there he came across the care and growth leadership framework, which he subsequently introduced in the JM operations function.
Tony then joined JM’s head office to implement a global manufacturing excellence programme. He was asked to focus on leadership aspects and so further introduced the framework into the global management development programme for JM.
Tony’s final position at JM was talent and development director, in which he further refined his skills in people development. After 42 years of full time employment he retired in 2021 to work as a consultant with Legitimate Leadership.
Tony’s other interests include property development. He fulfilled a lifelong wish to build his own house by converting a derelict barn which provides space for other hobbies such as older car and motorbike restoration, and getting stung by the bees he keeps!
Ian has worked with the Legitimate Leadership model for more than 2 decades, initially in various management roles in an IT and strategy consulting firm, and later as a consultant and partner at Legitimate Leadership. Ian has worked with clients internationally across diverse industries, including information technology, financial services, manufacturing, automotive and retail.
Ian’s passion for leadership began early in his life and continues to this day. Ian believes that caring for and growing one’s team is the primary responsibility of any leader, and that the solution to many of today’s most challenging business problems lies in building strong, sincere workplace relationships grounded in these two core values.
Ian spent most of his childhood in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. He studied and worked in Cape Town, earning bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in business, as well as valuable experience with an Internet start-up during the turn-of-the-century IT boom. Ian later lived in the US and the UK, ultimately settling with his family in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Peter Jordan grew up on the East Rand in South Africa. He was a high school teacher for nine years and then lectured in history at the Johannesburg College of Education. Peter then moved into industry, as a Training Officer at AECI Explosives and Chemicals (now AEL Mining Services) in 1989.
He gradually moved from training and development to become a human resources generalist, finally being appointed as Group Human Resources Manager. After nine years in this role, Peter retired from AEL at the end of 2010. However he thereafter returned to AEL as a consultant, particularly in organizational transformation.
For most his time at AEL Peter was closely associated with the Legitimate Leadership framework. In the 1990s he was deeply involved in the entrenchment of this model at the AEL manufacturing plants at Modderfontein, Johannesburg.
Leanne started her career in South Africa in the fast-food industry, then moved to the tumultuous security industry in the mid-1990s.
She was instrumental in the formation of a new employer organisation in the South African security industry and was later appointed vice-chairperson of this body; she also served on a regulatory body for the industry.
After a brief period in the construction industry in Zambia, Botswana, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates, she returned to the fast-food sector in South Africa as a shareholder and director.
Leanne’s key strength is converting business strategy into a measurable HR strategy.
Although a generalist, her passion is conflict resolution, change management and improvement of HR service delivery within an organisation.
Since 2012, Leanne has been consulting to various sectors including NGOs, the security industry, light engineering, manufacturing, aeronautics, hospitality, and fast foods. Projects have included disciplinary hearings, conciliation and mediation council representations, coaching and mentoring, policy and procedure re-engineering and implementation, equity reports, facilitation, and industrial relations training.
Leanne has been a Legitimate Leadership associate since November 2016.
Stuart Foulds has over 15 years of experience in change management, organisational development, communication strategy and organisational communications, as well as training and leadership development.
He spent almost 10 years as an expert consultant at McKinsey & Co. He was responsible for delivering communication strategy, change management and related advice to corporate and government clients in various countries and sectors. Thereafter he ran his own communication consultancy for three years, based in Luxembourg and serving clients in four continents.
Back in South Africa since 2015, Stuart was appointed as senior manager for organisational development at AllLife, a niche life insurance company. This role included creating the architecture to assess and build capabilities and effectiveness within AllLife’s management team.
Stuart then spent time with Sinequanon, a start-up people analytics consultancy, where he helped develop a suite of implementation products to enable clients to translate Sinequanon’s analytical insights into action. Focus areas included leadership development, employee communication/engagement, and optimising critical people processes like performance management.
Stuart has been associated with Legitimate Leadership since 2017.
Sylvania Sheppard holds a B Tech degree in Business Administration and began her career in administration at Ernst & Young before moving into labour law with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). After spending time living in the United Kingdom, Russia and Greece, she returned to South Africa and became the Business Manager of Pecanwood College, an independent school in Hartebeespoort Dam.
Since joining Legitimate Leadership in 2016, Sylvania has co-developed the Afrika Tikkun–Legitimate Leadership Give to Grow programme, focused on developing and empowering South African youth. Her primary responsibilities at Legitimate Leadership include marketing, sales and brand management, project management, client project quality assurance, and associate development.
Born and raised in Cape Town as the youngest of ten siblings, Sylvania now lives in Johannesburg with her husband, Dillon and their three children. She values family and community service, and is actively involved as Chair of her local football club, a non-profit organisation. She also loves football, cooking, hiking, running, and yoga.