Meet STEVE McNICHOLAS
THE LEADERSHIP SUCCESS ENGINEER!
Steve is a two-time author, keynote speaker and continues to facilitate his own unique leadership programmes. After a thirty-year career in leadership, a mix of highs and lows, he began to pursue his passion, what is it that 'really' enables leadership to succeed.
That research led to the creation of Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™, a system of installing the critical leadership behaviours, mindsets and systems that create consistent and scalable organisational success. Effectively, it's enabling the power of a leadership 'operating system’.
Today, Steve speaks, consults and facilitates programmes that help leaders gain clarity, elevate their mindset and strengthen the behaviours and methods to drive measurable success. He remains clear, he is still very much a practitioner in leadership than a so-called guru!
Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™
After several years of research and more than one hundred interviews with high-performing leaders across multiple industries, sectors and countries, Steve uncovered a consistent pattern in how the most successful leaders operated.
Most organisations fail not because of weak strategy, market factors or lack of talent. They fail because the leadership effectiveness, at every level, is inconsistent, misaligned and confused.
You see this in performance misses, delayed projects, colleague attrition and a whole suite of metrics and outcomes.
Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™ doesn't ask you to ‘hope’ your leaders improve. It builds the capability for success into the organisation itself, turning leadership from a personality trait into an organisational capability and key enabler.
Organisations no longer have to chase performance – they can engineer it and sustain it at scale.
“A powerful communicator who can make you think, laugh and commit to action with just one insight.”
Alex Mollart (CEO & Investor)
The Leadership SUCCESS Engine™
Steve does not believe he ‘trains’ leadership. His view is that he helps install the critical and foundational themes, mindsets and systems that 'produces' leadership and that’s how success and performance is enhanced and scaled.
There are seven core components that Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™ is founded upon, with three fundamental themes that anchor the framework back to the leader, namely:
• Self-Leadership…how they think, reflect and improve with pace and accountability
• Team Leadership…how they engage, enable and elevate the people they lead
• Business Leadership…how they drive performance, results and sustainable success
When leaders at all levels can self, team and performance-lead effectively, everything changes. Teams align, accountability flows, execution becomes predictable and momentum accelerates. Leadership becomes scalable and sustainable.
If you’d like to understand how your current leadership approach compares to Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™ principles, click below to take the free assessment and receive a detailed and personalised report in seconds.
Does it Really Make a Difference?
Effective leadership is the single biggest driver behind every target you hit — and every target you miss. When leaders change how they think, act and prioritise, and effectiveness is enhanced, the results show up fast and stay consistent.
Here are some real-world outcomes achieved using the Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™ frameworks:
▶️ New Revenues: B2B, Financial Services
A regional leadership group adopted the frameworks across their teams. New business ARR rose from £5.2m to £8.1m within two trading years, helping secure a significantly higher sale multiple during acquisition.
▶️ Sales Productivity: B2B, UK Insurance
Working with a senior sales leadership team of eight: BDM performance increased from 64% of quota to 91% within 11 months, and to 95% within 18 months, driven by strong implementation and individual change plans.
▶️ Account Management: Public Sector, SaaS & Consulting
Embedding new leaders and applying the frameworks cut recurring revenue erosion dramatically. Annual churn reduced from £3.2m to £1.6m in year 1, forecasted at £0.95m next year.
▶️ Transformational Change: B2C, Consumer Lending
A leadership cohort of 30+ used the methods to integrate three separate entities into a single aligned organisation, a major transformation in under a year, achieving national recognition!
Leadership Programmes
The Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™ Accelerator is a transformational development experience delivered directly over some 100 days. This immersive leadership development programme is intentionally different from traditional programmes. In addition to the critical time to understand and consider the frameworks, there is considerably more time dedicated to implementation, behaviour, accountability and real-world progress.
Delegates begin with two immersive days exploring each element of Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™ to understand the foundations, identifying their current patterns and building a personalised roadmap for change, impact and growth.
Days 3, 4 and 5 take place some 30, 60 and 100 days after the main session. These intensive follow-up reviews focus on practical implementation, overcoming barriers, reinforcing habits and evidencing tangible change and results.
The full programme brochure can be downloaded using the button below.
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Keynote Speaking
Recently recognised as one of the UK’s most inspiring voices on the ‘science of leadership success’, Steve delivers keynotes and seminars that are energetic, practical and deeply relevant to the challenges leaders face today.
Steve believes that leaders today face unprecedented complexity and expectations from every angle. To perform and thrive, they must develop self-leadership, team-leadership and performance-leadership foundations and empower their people with ownership, responsibility, and accountability.
With several keynotes to address the messages an audience is needing to hear, Steve seeks to deliver keynotes that blend insight, humour and practical insights on the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ as well as the ‘what’, giving audiences clear actions they can apply immediately, especially when performance, growth and real progress truly matters.
For full details, keynotes themes and information on how to book Steve, visit the Speaking page here or book a call below.
Organisations Enabled by SUCCESS Engineering™....
Steve McNicholas’ Best-Selling Books
The Recipe for Success - Published 2019
Unlocking the SUCCESS Code - Published 2020
Leadership Engineering™ - Due Q1 2026
