The Centered CEO
The greatest strategic advantage is always forged in the stillness.
David Haydon
Non-Executive Director | Former International CEO
20 years in the global C-suite across FTSE, ASX, and Private Equity-backed businesses in 9 sectors. Now serving on boards and partnering with CEOs navigating transformation.
What differentiates me: Everyone’s selling speed. I bring strategic restraint.
About Me
I'm David Haydon. When the board is panicking about the losses, I'm seeing the move that matters. The answer is always in the stillness.
Every executive faces the same trap: mistaking urgency for strategy. Velocity for progress. Complexity for sophistication.
I’ve spent 20 years at the top of organisations where this mistake cost hundreds of millions. Here’s what I learned: strategic failure isn’t an intelligence problem. It’s a restraint problem.
The leaders who move fastest aren’t the ones chasing speed. They’re the ones who’ve mastered strategic restraint – the discipline to pause when pressure mounts, to say no when everyone expects yes, and to trust clarity over consensus.
This isn’t theory. It’s operational discipline forged in environments where the margin for error was zero. Where board pressure was intense. Where the noise was deafening.
The result: Leaders who act with confidence at 80% information, not paralysis at 100%. Boards that challenge with strategic clarity, not political positioning. Decisions made from stillness, not reactivity.
Board Appointments & Strategic Advisory
I work with boards and CEOs who need independent oversight, strategic challenge, and governance discipline during transformation, succession, or scale.
Currently accepting board appointments and CEO partnerships.
In a world chasing speed at any cost, the competitive advantage isn't how fast you move. It's knowing when to stop.
I don't provide answers. I create the clarity for you to make the decision you already know is right."
My Experience
Topics I Discuss
01.
Urgency Blindness
Moving with confidence, not certainty. I help leaders overcome Analysis Paralysis and make high-stakes decisions quickly and effectively, knowing when to pause for clarity and when to move decisively.
02.
The Leadership Echo
Mastering the signals you send to your organisation. I help leaders close the gap between stated strategy and actual cultural behaviour, ensuring consistent trust and accountability across the C-suite and workforce.
03.
The Immutable Compass
Examines how leaders navigate decisions when external pressures conflict with strategic integrity – and provides the SAILS framework to ensure choices are driven by core principles, not board politics or competitor fear.
04.
The Strategic Lie of 'Yes'
Simplifying strategy through restraint. A methodology for cutting through overwhelming complexity by establishing non-negotiable strategic constraints. Focuses on the courage to say no and the Strategic Stop List required to achieve clarity and speed.
05.
The Art of the 80% Decision
Moving with confidence, not certainty. The framework for overcoming Analysis Paralysis and making high-stakes decisions quickly and effectively. Teaches leaders when to pause for clarity and when to move decisively.
06.
Scale with Soul
The ethical path to sustainable growth. How to scale a business without sacrificing human capital, integrity, or long-term culture. Focuses on balancing profitability metrics with legacy metrics to build lasting enterprise value.
07.
The Integrity Tax
The hidden cost of tolerating dysfunction. Quantifies the financial and cultural damage of keeping toxic high-performers because “the numbers are too good to lose.” Provides a framework for making the hard calls that restore trust and protect culture.
08.
The Legacy Framework
Leading beyond your tenure. A comprehensive view of how to design an organisation, choose a successor, and instil a culture that ensures purpose and performance outlive the founder or CEO. Your organisation survives you; that’s the definition of legacy.