Meet Leanne
25 years in settings where getting it wrong had real world consequence
Medical emergencies, road trauma, floods, fires, storms, pandemics - some of it I sought out, some of it found me early and never really let go. What it gave me was a particular way of viewing the world, how people deal with stress, how systems behave under pressure, where things fail and what it actually takes to make the right call when conditions are no longer familiar.
The track record
The career path wasn't traditional
Paramedicine. Emergency Management. Critical Infrastructure. Essential Services. Agencies, Departments, Organisations.
Across 25 years and multiple sectors, the roles kept getting bigger, more complex, and more consequential. Several were greenfield - built from nothing with no template. Many were things others said couldn't be done.
I was first in many instances, first female manager, commander, assistant chief - and I was among a select group of leaders who were the first to be endorsed for Regional Control for fire, outside a fire agency.
I got promoted early, and kept getting promoted, not because of tenure or seniority, but because I was good at fixing hard things fast, and bringing people along with me while I did it.
What I'd picked up along the way wasn't unique to any particular sector. The patterns of how systems fail, how leaders behave under genuine pressure, and what it actually takes to hold things together - those translate and I saw it time and again.
Leanne's why
It doesn't need to be that way
Throughout my career, I watched capable, experienced leaders get put forward to front situations well outside their experience and comfort zone. Too often, they were damaged by. The ability was there. The structures, support, and preparation that would have made a difference simply weren't.
That stayed with me. I knew it could be different.
I also kept finding something else. The structures and systems that enable organisations to perform well in normal conditions need to be reorganised and reset to do different work under disruption - regardless of its origin. That's something I've always been able to see quickly, and act on.
Critical Connections exists because of both of those things. Leaders who are capable, experience, and well- regarded should be able to perform at their best when the stakes are highest. The goal is always the same: leadership, structures, and systems that enable people to do their best work on their worst day.
The move to advisory
The common thread
Pattern recognition. A genuine desire to see the best outcomes for leaders, teams, and organisations. The ability to ask the right questions - and then to move from that understanding all the way through to implementation.
Discovery. Co-design. Development. Implementation. In complex operational settings, under pressure, repeatedly.
Most people do one or two parts of that pathway well. I do the whole thing- and I've done it repeatedly, under pressure, in environments where the cost of getting it wrong was real and immediate.
At a certain point it became obvious that the most useful place to do this was alongside leaders navigating situations they hadn't faced before - not inside one organisation, but across many.
It's what gets me out of bed in the morning. Good work with good people.
What it's like to work with me
I ask questions that are sometimes uncomfortable. I'll tell you what I see - not what's easiest to hear. If I think the framing is wrong, I'll say so. If the real issue is different from the one you walked in with, we'll find it.
That's not a style choice. It's the only way this kind of work is useful.
What you won't get is managed communication, hedged advice, or a relationship built on telling you what you want to hear. What you will get is someone who has operated in genuinely high-stakes settings, knows how these situations develop, and will work alongside you with no agenda other than to surface to help you work towards the best available outcome.
Critical Connections advises leaders working in the space beyond business-as-usual.
Critical Connections is not an emergency service. If there is immediate or emerging threat to life, safety, or critical infrastructure, contact 000.
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