Leadership matters most when things are difficult.
EmpathyWorks Leadership Consultancy works with leaders and organisations facing pressure, complexity, change and growth.
Through coaching, consultancy, ongoing leadership partnerships and powerful leadership conversations, we help people lead with greater confidence, clarity and effectiveness, bringing humanity and accountability together without compromising performance.
Good leadership is both human and accountable.
EmpathyWorks was founded on the belief that leadership is tested most when circumstances are difficult.
Our work is informed by decades of senior leadership experience in some of the most complex and demanding environments, combined with postgraduate study of Humanitarian Leadership at the University of Cambridge.
We understand the realities of leading people through pressure, uncertainty, organisational change, conflict and challenge. We also understand that compassionate leadership cannot mean avoiding difficult conversations, lowering expectations or compromising performance.
That experience shapes the way we work today. We bring together evidence, lived leadership experience and practical insight to help leaders and organisations create cultures where people can perform, develop and thrive.
We don't offer leadership theory for theory's sake. We help people apply it where it matters.
Meet the people behind EmpathyWorks →Leadership challenges are rarely one-size-fits-all. EmpathyWorks offers different ways to work together, from individual coaching and specific organisational support through to an ongoing leadership partnership.
Dedicated space for leaders to think, reflect and develop.
Our bespoke coaching combines honest conversation, our Leadership Diagnostic Assessment and practical challenge to help you understand your leadership more deeply, navigate difficult situations and lead with greater confidence and effectiveness.
Independent insight when your organisation needs to understand, change or move forward.
We work alongside leadership teams and organisations on culture, strategy, organisational development and leadership effectiveness. Through diagnostics, strategic reviews, facilitated conversations and bespoke consultancy, we help turn insight into practical action.
An ongoing leadership partnership, not a one-off intervention.
Our flagship service gives organisations ongoing access to EmpathyWorks leadership expertise throughout the year. Depending on the partnership, this can include coaching, leadership diagnostics, consultancy, facilitated development, senior-team support and access to practical leadership resources.
Instead of waiting until something goes wrong, we become a trusted leadership partner who understands your organisation, your people and the challenges you are facing.
Leadership conversations that stay with people long after the event has finished.
Drawing on extensive experience of leadership in demanding environments, we deliver keynote and after-dinner speaking, leadership workshops, facilitated events and bespoke sessions exploring the realities of leadership, compassion, accountability, culture, trauma, resilience and performance.
EmpathyWorks brings together decades of senior leadership experience from some of the most complex, demanding and high-pressure environments in the UK and internationally.
Founder and Director Steve Robertson and Senior Consultant Neil Lavis are former Prison Governors and experienced senior public-service leaders. Between them, they have led major organisations through crisis, organisational change, cultural transformation, operational challenge and sustained performance improvement.
Their experience includes leading HMP Guys Marsh, HMP Swansea and HMP Leyhill, national leadership responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and international leadership of the HM Cayman Islands Prison Service.
That operational experience is complemented by academic and professional learning, including Steve's postgraduate study in Humanitarian Leadership at the University of Cambridge.
Different careers have reinforced a remarkably consistent philosophy:
Organisations perform at their best when strong leadership, humanity, accountability and high expectations coexist.
Today, that collective experience sits at the heart of EmpathyWorks, helping leaders and organisations navigate complexity, strengthen culture, develop their people and improve performance.
We believe effective leadership requires all four.
Leadership rarely becomes difficult when everything is going to plan.
It becomes difficult when an organisation is changing, when pressure is increasing, when relationships become strained, when performance begins to slip, or when a leader feels the weight of responsibility that comes with being the person others look to for answers.
You may be leading an organisation through significant change or growth. You may be trying to strengthen a culture that no longer feels quite right. Your senior team may need greater clarity, confidence or cohesion. Or you may simply need somewhere confidential to think, challenge your own assumptions and work through difficult leadership decisions.
Sometimes the challenge is organisational. Sometimes it is about the team. And sometimes it is about you.
EmpathyWorks provides the space, challenge, expertise and independent perspective to help you understand what is happening and decide what needs to happen next.
We won't arrive with an off-the-shelf answer.
We start by listening.
You don't need to know exactly what support you need before talking to us.
You may be looking for coaching, considering support for your leadership team, facing a wider organisational challenge, or simply trying to work out what needs to change.
That's where the conversation starts.
We'll listen, ask questions and help you think through what is happening. If we believe EmpathyWorks can help, we'll explore what that might look like. If we're not the right people, we'll tell you.
No off-the-shelf solution. No unnecessary programme. Just an honest conversation about what you need and whether we can help.
The Leadership Coach Academy develops the next generation of confident and compassionate Leadership Coaches.
Six months. 12 live, two-hour online sessions, delivered fortnightly.
Founding cohort: £995 + VAT
Expected to begin in November 2026.