Steve was introduced to Clean Language by Judy Rees in 2008, on a long walk that turned into a lifetime partnership in life and work, and a wedding too. From the outset He was fascinated most by the practical application of Clean Language, with taking it away from what he perceived as too much of an  ‘in the lab’ process, to where the rubber hits the road of human complexity, so to speak.

“Somebody is going to chew all this up, digest it and make it into something else’ he said, half thinking it should be so, whilst also acknowledging that the brilliant insights of David Grove should never lose his attribution, nor be undermined by poorly executed ‘rethinking’.

And so began a journey, of gaining an increasingly deep insight of the potential of Clean Language, in a world of application away from the therapeutic, whilst observing closely the respect due to the originator and his colleagues.

The Collaborative Influence Cycle* is central to his way of working with Clean Language in everyday life, be it professional or personal. For the first ten years of study and application he used it in cross-cultural environments around the world, working in humanitarian safety and security. The capacity afforded to develop improved cross cultural and language understanding was a game changer. He started by seeking to be understood better, but eventually learned that Clean Language is even better at gaining understanding of others, and, when well used, in helping others understand their thoughts and ideas even  better than they already did.

Since 2017 Steve has worked full time with Judy in developing, delivering and training Clean Language based and inspired solutions. Still firmly focussed on practical application, schooled in the Grovian tradition, and able to co-create and deliver Clean Language inspired insights and actions to training and consulting clients in humanitarian action, social impact work, and commercial organisations.

Prior to this, Steve founded and led a humanitarian risk management and training business called Safer Edge (2003-2017). He worked with aid workers to help them stay safer in challenging places. His work took him to many parts of the world, many of them potentially dangerous.

From graduating (Manchester, Literature) in 1987 until 2003 Steve was an Army Officer for five years, a UN Logistician in the Balkans for 2 years, he succeeded and then failed in International sales roles before finding a place in Project and Management Consultancy from 1997-2003.