In 2000 I walked away from the relative security of a large organisation to start my own business. People thought I was brave. Some thought I was mad. On certain days, so did I.
It wasn’t a sudden decision. For a long time I’d felt that I wanted to work more directly with people and organisations — helping them manage change, develop opportunities and turn good ideas into something real.
The large organisation gave me a great deal: experience, perspective, colleagues I learned from. But it couldn’t give me that.
Security is a feeling, not a fact
What I learned quite quickly is that the “safe” option isn’t always as safe as it looks. Organisations restructure. Priorities change. The security we cling to is often more about comfort than certainty.
That doesn’t mean everyone should hand in their notice tomorrow. It means it’s worth being honest about why we stay where we are — whether it’s genuinely the right choice, or simply the familiar one.
Sometimes the riskiest thing you can do is nothing at all.
What the leap taught me
Since then, no two projects have been the same — and that variety is one of the things I’ve enjoyed most. I’ve worked with individuals, teams and whole organisations, on everything from leadership and personal development to large-scale projects.
And I’ve learned that taking a leap isn’t really about courage. It’s about deciding that the discomfort of change is smaller than the discomfort of staying the same.
If you’re standing at the edge of a decision of your own, I won’t tell you to jump. But I’d gently ask: what is staying put really costing you?
