Stepping Back. Looking Forward.

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At the beginning of this year, I made a decision that felt simultaneously terrifying and exciting: after nearly 20 years prioritising work, I decided the time was right to take a break... not a long weekend or a holiday, but genuine, unstructured time to recharge and reset.

Speaking candidly, at first (counter to what you might expect!) it didn’t feel the way I expected it to. I questioned the decision, worried it was self-indulgent, feared I’d harmed my future career prospects, and at times contemplated whether I was being selfish. When you're used to being structured, busy, and working through each day with a clear purpose and intent; stepping back feels like you’re abandoning your post. Slowly though, that discomfort gave way to something more valuable: perspective.

What I Found in the Quiet

Naturally it gave me precious time with family and the opportunity to be more present at home, but it also allowed me to reconnect with what mattered vs. what didn't, contemplate the things that energise me vs. those that don't, and to notice patterns I'd been too busy to see before.

I've spent years watching smart, capable leaders wrestle with technology decisions that shouldn't be this hard. I've seen brilliant teams second-guess themselves because they're drowning in conflicting advice. I've watched organisations make expensive mistakes - not because they lacked capability, but because they couldn't cut through the noise to find trusted guidance (or space to reach the right decisions for themselves).

The more I reflected, the more a single word kept surfacing: trust.

Not trust in the latest framework or the shiniest platform. Trust in having someone who understands both the technical reality and the business impact. Someone who'll articulate the truth, even when it's not what you want to hear. Someone who shows up without an agenda beyond helping you succeed…

The Gap That Keeps Growing

The gap between what technology leaders need and what they can actually access is getting wider.

On one side, you have vendors with polished presentations and solutions that sound perfect (on paper). On the other, you have internal teams who are talented but stretched thin - often lacking the senior strategic perspective needed for big decisions. Meanwhile, the volume of generic advice keeps growing… feeds full of insights that sound clever but offer little substance when you're facing real decisions with real consequences.

In the middle? Leaders trying to navigate complexity without a trusted guide. Making critical choices based on incomplete information, conflicting recommendations, or advice that serves someone else's interests more than their own.

I've been there. I know what it feels like to carry the weight of technology decisions that could make or break business outcomes. I also know the relief that comes from having someone experienced in your corner - someone who's seen these challenges before and can help you think them through clearly.

That relief, that sense of having capable backup, became the foundation for what I'm building next.

What Actually Matters

During my reflection, I kept coming back to a conversation with a client from a few years ago. They told me their team felt more confident when I was in the room. Not because I had all the answers, but because I could help them work through complex problems methodically, without panic or politics.

That comment stuck with me - not out of pride, but because it captured something important about effective technology leadership:

Confidence doesn't come from having perfect information; it comes from having someone you trust help you make sense of what you know.

There's a skill to creating the right environment for good decisions. It comes from having seen these challenges before, understanding how technical complexity translates to business risk, and knowing how to ask the questions that matter. It's about bringing structure to messy problems and helping smart people think clearly under pressure.

The best technology decisions aren't made by the smartest person in the room. They're made when smart people have the right support to think clearly, weigh trade-offs honestly, and move forward with conviction.

Building Something Different

All this thinking led me to a simple question: what would technology advisory look like if it was built entirely around trust, independence, and genuine partnership?

That question has become Enable Great.

There's a missing layer in how many organisations approach technology decisions. Too often they find themselves relying on what incumbent partners and providers tell them, without access to a truly independent perspective. Enable Great is about filling that gap - delivering impartial, experienced advisory that helps leaders to navigate technology strategy and decisions with confidence.

What Good Looks Like

With all of this in mind, I’ve started thinking differently about what good really looks like in this space.

I think the measure of success needs to be different. It's not about how sophisticated the strategy sounds, or how elegant the solution looks (important as those things are) - it's about whether people come to feel more confident and capable afterwards, and whether their technology goes on to enable a genuine competitive advantage.

Will they sleep better knowing their technology decisions are sound? Will their teams have clearer direction? Will they make progress on what matters instead of getting lost in what looks impressive? Most importantly, will their technology enable them to move faster, serve customers better, and outpace competitors who are still struggling with the basics?

If the answer is yes, then we're doing something right. If not, we need to do better.

Good technology leadership should translate complex possibilities into practical capabilities. It should bridge the gap between what's technically possible and what's commercially valuable. When organisations can adopt and leverage technology more effectively than their peers, that's when real competitive advantage emerges.

Looking back, that decision to step away was exactly what I needed. Not just to recharge, but to reconnect with what drives me: helping people understand and embrace technology in ways that unlock real progress for their organisations.

Enable Great is quietly taking shape and will launch more fully over the course of the summer. You can find the company page here on LinkedIn if you want to follow progress, and you can also learn more about what I’ll be doing and the rationale / intent behind the vision on the website at enablegreat.com.

If you're navigating complex technology choices, feeling overwhelmed by vendor noise, or just trying to work out what good looks like in your specific situation - I'd genuinely love to hear from you. I want to build something meaningful over the coming months, and early conversations will help to shape that direction.

Here’s to enabling something great.

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This article was originally posted on LinkedIn. You can read and comment on it here.