We are organisational repair specialists who repair damage, rebuild trust, and restore performance.
When crises, disputes, entrenched conflict or staff layoffs damage people and performance, repair is needed; The WayFinders Group responds at pace with restorative expertise.
Legally informed, we go further than mediation or consulting, converting pressure into constructive clarity and safe accountability.
The outcome: board-credible, time-bound repair commitments that restore delivery fast while building lasting capability.
Who we help
private sector: boards, CEOs, middle management, teams
public sector: Government-funded bodies
third sector: university leaders, unions, NHS trusts, charities and community leaders
Where it matters
post-crisis stabilisation
post dispute, grievance tribunals
after staff redundancies and layoffs
when the leaders and boardroom relationships breakdown
After crises, scandals, grievances, investigations, tribunals or mediation, formal outcomes rarely repair the underlying damage. The case closes, but the breakdown lingers—and it shows up in your organisation’s performance and culture.
The human cost
institutional groupthink — protecting reputation becomes more important than serving people, stifling innovation and honest dialogue
tarnished leadership credibility — unaddressed misconduct weakens trust and creates repeat scandals
fractured teams — resentment lingers, relationship breakdown goes unchallenged, and psychological safety collapses
The operational cost
repeat cases drain resources — the same people, the same teams, new complaints — £15K–50K per case in HR time and external spend
broken team performance — unresolved conflict shows 10-15% productivity decline in affected teams
attrition spikes — replacement costs average 6–9 months’ salary, strategic HR capacity drains into firefighting
Our approach
We repair the human system after crises and disputes, resolving relational damage so performance returns and results stick.
Every engagement follows the same four-step arc:
acknowledge the damage clearly, identify who was impacted or involved
apology paired with operational change
accountability with visible cadences leaders can trust
amends delivered through practical action
Our method:
legally-informed, restorative interventions
impartial in process, not neutral about damage
time-boxed delivery with defined exit — we stabilise, repair, build capability, then leave
four light metrics leaders trust
Services
Helping you to repair damage, rebuild trust, and restore performance through rapid, metrics-led interventions
Emergency crisis response
Stabilise and contain (immediate deployment)
Rapid intervention when crisis breaks publicly or escalates beyond internal containment. 48-72 hour deployment to stabilise acute damage, restore decision-making capacity, and transition to sustained repair.
Board repair
Restore governance function (2-5 days)
Concentrated board-level intervention when directors can’t work together, governance has broken down, or competing factions prevent decision-making. Intensive applying four A’s framework to board relationships.
Repair scan
Acknowledge to plan (1-3 weeks)
Diagnostic service that surfaces truths, validates impact, specifies immediate amends and defines scope for a 90-day repair plan.
90-day repair engagement
Apology – accountability – amends
Live intervention delivering weekly movement on metrics through micro-mediations at scale, leader advice, one-to-one and team resets, targeted amends and accountability cadence (30/60/90).
Practitioner development
Apology – accountability – amends (3 months)
Live intervention delivering weekly movement on metrics through micro-mediations at scale, leader advice, one-to-one and team resets, targeted amends and accountability cadence (30/60/90).
Restorative training
Embed restorative approaches (as needed)
A four-stage training programme for organisations that have reached crisis points where traditional HR solutions and change management approaches have proven insufficient, and where systematic interventions are needed rather than damage control.
Background
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From boardroom battles to CEO scandals, Leah Brown FRSA has been at the centre of some of the most challenging organisational crises imaginable.
Starting her career with ‘The Chicken King’ and progressing through M&A deals, hedge fund management buyouts, and fraud investigations at sovereign wealth funds, Leah discovered that organisations need more than crisis management – they need genuine repair.
After founding The WayFinders Group in 2023, Leah is now the UK’s leading specialist in repairing damage, resolving conflict, and restoring performance through rapid, metrics-led interventions.
A qualified solicitor, accredited mediator and lecturer, Leah specialises in boardroom mediation, post-crisis repair and high-stakes disputes using legally-informed, restorative methods. She is routinely called into high-heat, high-stakes contexts to stabilise delivery fast and set accountability cadences for leaders, and convert acknowledgement, apology, accountability and amends into credible, time-boxed results that rebuild trust.
This places Leah and The WayFinders Group beyond standard mediation or organisational development – we are the team you brief when outcomes must be visible within 90 days.
Leah brings both academic rigour and practical application to organisational repair as a guest lecturer, a TrustBuilder® facilitator, and sits on the faculty of The Society of Mediators.
Leah hosts The Longest Day Podcast® and Address The Harm® podcast. She published the political white paper “From harm to healing: rebuilding trust in Britain’s publicly funded institutions” earlier this year and is spearheading a cross-party coalition on institutional accountability.
Leah is an experienced and sought-after speaker on organisational repair, leadership accountability and conflict resolution. She took to the TEDx stage recently as part of the TEDxGlobal Ideas Search presenting a blueprint for workplace repair.
Why choose WayFinders®️?
We work with you to control the damage and repair what is needed most
Our team combines legal expertise, meditation with restorative skills, HR advisory, organisational psychology and change management experience.
Our way is embodied in excellence and empathy, courage and conviction, creativity and pragmatism.
Each client offering is made up of a unique combination of multi-disciplinary practitioners to ensure you have the right expertise to advise and support you and your people.
When systems fail and relationships fracture, we focus on organisational repair because we know what happens when trust breaks down – and more importantly, we know how to rebuild it stronger than before, empowering you to embrace the art of possible.
What you can expect when working with us:
You will have a partner
We are fun and interesting people to work with
🔥 We have courage to say hard things
🔥 We give each client time and attention
🔥 We serve you with dignity, grace and kindness.
You will have peace of mind
We never overpromise then underdeliver because
✅ We are never satisfied with the bare minimum and always strive for the best solution to complex problems.
✅ We keep our word and do what we say we are going to do when we say we are going to do it.
Core team
Leah Brown FRSA
Founder & CEO
Rebecca Leppard
Chief Marketing Officer
Aida Habibi
Business Development Manager
Sammy Gildroy
Head of Partnerships and Community
Joannah Lodico
Administrator
Sarah Boulton
Head of Client Engagement
Advisory Board
Ray Mia
Senior media executive
Shaun Sawyer QPM
Former Chief Constable and Senior Detective
Dr Rachel Owusu-Ankomah
NHS
Dr Lerita Coleman-Brown, PhD
Former Harvard Psychology Professor / Author
Stephen Ruttle KC
Commercial mediator
Sue Halliday
Academic and operational marketing
