A system, not a course
Leadership becomes an engineered organisational capability — not a personality trait that walks out of the door.
Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™
Close the gap between intention and results.
Most organisations don't underperform because the strategy is weak or the talent is thin. They underperform because leadership is inconsistent and unengineered. I install a leadership operating system that turns intent into results — at every level.
30 years leading, team to boardroom
130+ leaders researched globally
Bestselling author with Jack Canfield
30
Years of leadership practice
130+
Leaders interviewed in research
100
Days of accountability per cohort
up to 60×
Documented return on investment
My perspective
There is a gap between what leaders say and what they actually deliver.
That gap — between intent and outcome — is where 95% of leadership actually happens. It's tough, messy and complicated, and in most organisations nobody owns it. It's quietly tolerated until plans drift, forecasts fall short, and good people leave.
I'm a truth machine, not a hype machine. No gurus, no jargon — just the practical disciplines that close the gap and make leadership consistent, predictable and scalable.
Where it begins
Intent
Plans, declarations, commitments, good intentions.
The
Gap
95% of leadership lives here
What counts
Results
Outcomes, delivery, value actually created.
Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™ is the discipline of systematically closing that gap.
3,000+
copies of Unlock the SUCCESS Code sold in the UK & US
Who I am
A practitioner with the scars — not a guru with a slide deck.
I'm Steve McNicholas, founder of SUCCESS 371 and creator of Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™. Across 30 years I've led at every level — from team leader to boardroom executive — in financial services, consumer data and information, and private equity-backed organisations. I've failed and recovered, and I've built and scaled. I bring both.
After two years of research grounded in 130+ conversations with effective leaders worldwide, one pattern was undeniable: consistent leaders weren't relying on charisma or talent. They operated against the same foundational disciplines. That insight became my methodology.
- Co-author of Recipe for Success with NYT bestseller Jack Canfield (2019).
- Author of Unlock the SUCCESS Code — The Leadership Operating System follows in 2026.
- Trusted by CEOs, chairs and PE operating partners across the UK and internationally.
Why it's different
I don't train leadership. I install it.
95% of leadership development is theory delivered and then abandoned. The growth lives in the doing. Here's what sets my approach apart.
2 days theory, 100 days doing
Unlike providers who deliver the theory and run, I stay for the critical 100 days — holding every leader to account.
Built for every layer
One consistent operating system across 10–100+ leaders — not a workshop for a handful of "high potentials".
Tied to outcomes
A clear line of sight from leadership behaviour to the results your board and investors actually care about.
The methodology
Three foundations. Seven enablers. One operating system.
Leadership SUCCESS Engineering™ installs three strategic foundations — self-leadership, team-leadership and performance-leadership — and embeds them through seven practical S.U.C.C.E.S.S. enablers. The result is one shared playbook for how every leader operates, decides and delivers.
- Self-Leadership — accountable, self-aware, disciplined.
- Team-Leadership — aligned, united, enabled.
- Performance-Leadership — candid, courageous, results-focused.
Executive sponsors
Trusted by the leaders who set the standard.
CEOs, chairs and non-executives on what changes when leadership is engineered.
“
Steve's work completely reset our perspective and thinking on how we should approach the leadership of the people we lead. Be warned — he does not hold back in making delegates completely rethink leadership. The response has been significant.
Alex Mollart
CEO & Investor
“
A powerful and inspiring leadership practitioner who adds emotional context to bring his compelling framework and unique success themes to life. Even more important in such challenging times for leaders at all levels.
Chris Brindley MBE
Chairman & Non-Executive
“
A transformative thinker whose unique model offers a fresh approach to success for leaders of any level. The only programme I've ever seen where leaders are held to account after the classroom. There's no hiding place with Steve!
Karen Wilkinson
CEO & Non-Executive
“
A game-changer in how Steve simplifies the core elements of successful leadership into clear components. The power is in his energy to get every leader to accept the opportunity to improve — and then his drive in making you do it.
Paul Morris MBE
CEO & Board Adviser
Let's begin
Is the gap between intent and results costing your organisation?
Find out in minutes, or talk it through with me directly. No pitch — just an honest conversation about where your leadership stands today.