⚡️ LinkedIn Top Voice ⚡️ Be happier and more fulfilled by changing how you work ⚡️ Former People Partner at KPMG

I help teams to improve their performance by changing how they work.

When teams work differently, companies get the performance they want and people get work that feels more fulfilling.

My approach combines behavioural science, leadership psychology, and real-world experience.

That real-world experience comes from over 20 years at KPMG, where I was a Partner, COO, and Head of People for a major division, alongside leading complex client work. I have seen first-hand what actually drives performance in high-pressure, high-accountability environments.

I work with organisations where:

Productivity is falling despite longer hours and bigger teams
High performers and future leaders are leaving
Engagement and discretionary effort are declining
Cognitive overload is driving poor decisions
Burnout and stress-related absence are increasing
Client experience and service quality are slipping
Innovation is squeezed out by constant busyness
Leaders are stuck firefighting instead of leading

The solution is not greater effort.
It is working differently.

Organisations including HSBC, M&G, and Royal London work with me globally on leadership and management development programmes, offsites, and all-company events, both in person and virtually.

“𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴.”
– 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘊𝘌𝘖, 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘱𝘭𝘤

If you are a senior leader exploring how to improve the performance of your team through better ways of working, feel free to message me.

Mostyn Wilson

Rude people win at work.

Not because they're better.

Because we let them.

When someone is blunt, dismissive, or aggressive, it creates an illusion of urgency.

People think they must be important.
Under pressure.
Getting things done.

So they get more space, airtime, and influence.

Meanwhile, respectful people wait their turn.
They don't interrupt.
They trust their work will speak for itself.

It hardly ever does.

Teams tend to adapt around the loudest voice, not the best one.

When we stay quiet, we reinforce it.
When leaders look away, they allow it.

I've broken down exactly why this keeps happening in the carousel.

And what changes when we stop accepting it.

The moment someone speaks up, the dynamic shifts.

Because everyone else was thinking it too.

Your co-workers are waiting for someone to say what they're all feeling.

That person could be you.

Follow me Mostyn Wilson for more ways to be successful at work.

The Real Reason Rude People Keep Winning at Work

Management is not a promotion.

It’s a trade.

I’ve spent 25 years leading teams.

Here’s what that trade really costs.

You stop being measured by what you produce.

You start being measured by what others become.

That shift sounds inspiring.

Few people are ready for what comes with it.

Here’s what that trade really looks like:

Emotional labour becomes your real job.

👉 You manage confidence. Doubt. Conflict. Unspoken tension.

Decision fatigue becomes normal.

👉 By late afternoon, your brain is tired from non-stop decisions.

When the team wins, they get the credit.

👉 When things go wrong, you carry it.

Friendships change.

👉 The same people you grabbed lunch with now look to you for direction.

Your calendar stops being yours.

👉 Deep work moves to the end of your day.

And you will miss being an individual contributor.

Because there was a time when finishing your own work felt like progress.

Now progress only happens through others.

Most people chase management for status.

Few understand the exchange.

But when it’s done well, management multiplies your impact in a way being an individual contributor never can.

You don't just deliver outcomes.

You start building people.

You leave the team stronger than you found it.

And that scales far beyond anything you could ever deliver alone.

That is the trade.

And that’s the real promotion.

💾 Save and repost this so your network sees this.
And follow Mostyn Wilson for more like this.
__

Get weekly 'work secrets' here:

https://lnkd.in/eE287NTG

6 Brutal Truths About Management

A lot of people try to impress their manager by doing more than they need to.

I know this because I used to do it myself.

When I was earlier in my career at KPMG, I’d jump into every topic whether it was mine or not.

I thought adding my input made things better.

Sometimes it did, but often it just created noise.

Eventually I realised the real value wasn’t in doing more.

It was in doing the things that genuinely moved the team forward.

And doing them well.

That shift helped me focus on what mattered, protect my time, and make life easier for the people I worked with, including my manager.

It also freed up hours each week that I didn’t realise I was losing.

And funny enough, my relationships improved too, because I stopped unintentionally slowing down other people’s work.

So I put together a simple carousel with the 6 behaviours that help you look good to your manager in the right way – without overworking, overstepping, or overcomplicating your day.

Small changes, big impact.

Especially when you apply them consistently.

If you find this useful, save the carousel, or share it with someone who’d benefit.

Follow me Mostyn Wilson for more ways to be successful at work.

How to Make Your Manager Look Good

Competence is judged in the first 20 seconds.

Not over the full meeting.

Not after your slides.

The first 20 seconds.

And I’ve seen incredibly capable people lose authority before they even reach their point.

Not because their idea was weak.

Because their delivery was.

They begin with context.
They walk through the background.
They explain every variable.

By the time they reach their actual point, they've lost the room.

Here’s what most people miss:

– Clarity is interpreted as intelligence.

– Structure is interpreted as leadership.

When your thinking feels scattered, people assume your judgement is too.

Strong communicators flip the order.

They start with the conclusion.
Then they explain the reasoning, if needed.

That one shift changes how you're perceived.

It signals control.

It reduces cognitive load for the listener.

It makes decision-making easier for everyone else in the room.

Authority is not usually about knowing more.

It’s about making your thinking easy to follow.

The biggest rule I use now is simple:

If I can’t summarise my point in one clean sentence, I’m not ready to say it out loud.

I'm still working on it... but that rule forces clarity.

And clarity compounds into credibility.

Over time, people start describing you differently.

Decisive. Clear. Sharp.

Not because you got more intelligent.

Just because you changed the order of what you say.

Pretty cool.

Take a look at the whiteboard for more.
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Want smarter ways to get ahead at work?

Get weekly 'work secrets' here:

https://lnkd.in/eE287NTG

Whiteboard titled “The Communication Framework That Makes You Look 10X More Competent” by @mostynwilson. It presents nine boxed sections with blue and red headings outlining tips for clearer communication: why people sound less competent, speak in conclusions, a four-part formula (Context, Point, Reason, Next Step), one-sentence-first technique, stop rambling, weak vs strong example, adapt by channel, remove hesitant phrases, and questions to ask before speaking. Key highlights stress leading with the point, reducing filler words, and structured messaging. Bottom line reads: “Clear thinkers sound competent.” Markers and an eraser sit on the tray.

AI is creating a new productivity trap.

Because of what we do while it’s thinking.

You ask AI to do something:

Write a report
Review a document
Generate code

Then you wait.

10 seconds.
30 seconds.

Sometimes longer.

And that tiny pause creates a new behaviour.

You open another app.

Email.
Teams.
WhatsApp.

By the time the AI response arrives…

Your brain has switched context.

Now you need to reload the task again.

The workflow ends up looking like this:

Ask AI
Check Email
Read AI response
Write new AI prompt
Reply to email
Read AI response
Write another prompt
Jump to Teams
Return to AI
Try to remember what you were doing

Tiny interruptions.

But repeated hundreds of times a week.

The irony:

AI is designed to remove cognitive load.

But the waiting time actually increases context switching.

Which destroys focus.

I catch myself doing this constantly.

The real productivity skill in the AI era might be this:

Ask AI. Then wait.

No app switching.

No dopamine scroll.

Just stay in the task.

But much harder than it sounds.

Have you found yourself doing this?
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Follow me (Mostyn Wilson) for more practical insights on professional work.

Illustration of a bald man with a black beard wearing a black polo shirt sitting at a desk with a laptop and holding a smartphone. The laptop screen shows “AI Thinking…” with a spinning loading wheel and a progress bar, indicating an AI response is generating. Around him, colourful notification cards float in the air including Slack (3 new messages), Email (17), WhatsApp (2), a calendar reminder saying “Call starts in 5 min,” and an “LI message.” The man looks upward toward the WhatsApp notification with a distracted expression while motion lines around his head suggest his attention is jumping between alerts. The scene uses a vibrant, energetic background with lightning bolts and movement to illustrate the chaos of task switching while waiting for AI to respond.

Co-Chair & Founder KPMG Social Mobility Network | Podcast Host | 20th Most Entrepreneurial Scot | Ranked UK's 20th Top Accountant Under 35

What do I do? I trade in Origin Stories - the pivotal moments that turn ordinary into remarkable.

Mine started in a Glasgow council-estate bedroom, age 21, smack in the middle of lockdown. My mum had just passed away. Grief, zero network, less than zero confidence. So I did the only thing that felt like connection: I opened a laptop, hit “record,” and asked strangers to tell me how they got from there to here.

A few late-night edits and a mountain of imposter syndrome later, Origin Story was born.

🎙️ Since then, I’ve:
Unpacked the beginnings of Jimmy Carr, Seth Godin, Example, Sir Tom Hunter, Sinitta, Rory Sutherland, the Founder of Reebok - and even shared my own story with HM The Queen.

Now clocking 2,000,000+ listens and peaking at #3 in the UK charts.

Learned that the best “networking strategy” is radical curiosity and immense authenticity:


My badges that impress gatekeepers (but don't define me):

🤝 Founder & Chair – KPMG Social Mobility Network (1,200 members)
📰 Business Insider – 20th Most Entrepreneurial Scot
📰 Accountancy Age “35 Under 35” – #20
🏆 UK Social Mobility Awards – Winner
🥇 Management Consultancies Association Awards – Winner
🗣️ 100+ keynote talks on social mobility
🎭 Occasional stand-up comedian
📖 Seth Godin’s altMBA alumnus

Speaking/Keynote Enquiries: david@davidmcintoshjr.com

David McIntosh

Most companies are looking for “diverse talent”.

Very few are building cultures where working-class talent actually thrives.

That’s the uncomfortable truth.

We talk about social mobility like it’s a recruitment issue.

It’s not.

It’s a storytelling issue.

If people from lower-income backgrounds can’t see themselves reflected in leadership…

If leaders can’t clearly articulate why opportunity matters to them personally…

If the narrative is corporate rather than human…

Then nothing really changes.

I remember hearing a few senior mentors of mine that about their background. They were Partners at KPMG.

Their storytelling enabled my career more than the technical knowledge I learned on the job.

My first role model, and subsequent podcast guest and friend, Sir Tom Hunter came to my school at 13 - his story is what made me realise that my poverty was a verb not a noun. 

I could do something with it.


Over the next year I’ll be speaking more about this :

• Origin stories - and how owning yours changes culture
• AI and Social Mobility: friend or foe?
• Social Mobility as a hidden talent strategy

Because when leaders explain what they’re doing and why it matters in a way people trust retention improves, innovation increases, and talent stays.

But most importantly people feel attunement to their work & colleagues.

I’ve spoken at Gymshark, bp, Taylor Wessing and across 100+ events, blending 150 podcast interviews with stand-up storytelling.

If you’re planning Social Mobility Day in June 2026 (or rethinking talent strategy entirely), I’m taking bookings.

But more importantly we need to get better at telling the truth about class at work.

It’s not just the data, it’s not just the policies, it’s not just the hiring campaigns.

It’s the lived experience in the workplace.

Heres a picture of me and my first role model Sir Tom Hunter in his castle 14 years since he shared his story with me..

David McIntosh Jr.

Host of Origin Story (4.5m+ streams) | 5 x Award-winning & 2 x 35 Under 35 Entrepreneur | Keynote Speaker

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Childhood Dog Named Struggle - A poem about poverty. 

I wrote this in a sauna
at the posh University of Glasgow gym,
listening to a GP and a surgeon
debating flavours of gin.

And I thought to myself,
what has my life become?

There’s a part of me that misses poverty.
When did it end — this childhood friend?
The chaos.
The hunger.
The dream of one day.
The heels dug finding a way
whenever I saw my housing decay.

Back then I was chasing survival,
and somehow that chase gave me meaning.
Each setback was scripture,
each bruise and scar worth keeping.

Now I live in Glasgow’s plush West End,
where markets are organic,
accents refined,
and the silence of comfort
rings louder than the noise I left behind.

I’ve got a desk job now — a comfy one —
surrounded by haves, not have-nots.
I don’t check when I spend,
just the balance now and then.

I know billionaires and celebrities.
My idols became friends.
This comfort crisis is my time’s disease.
I ran from struggle, begging for ease.

I spent my youth escaping rain,
only to crave the growing pains.
I was happier in pursuit
than I’ve ever been with the prize.
Happier starving for purpose
than full-bellied compromise.

So sometimes I whisper to the ceiling,
half a joke, half in prayer,
to meet an old friend:
Can something terrible happen again?

Give me another mountain,
another storm, another snare,
another Goliath at which to stare —
just to meet my courage there.
Because I’m addicted to the pressure,
the tremor beneath my skin,
when everything could crumble —
but somehow I still win.

Now David, your Goliath is gone.
Your inbox full.
Your racing pulse withdrawn.
Where’s your fight? You’re tame.
Where’s your flame?
Has comfort made you lame?

Maybe this is the new test:
to stay hungry when you rest.
After all, I am David, built to fight,
the underdog against the light.
Hands once dirty, now pinky-ringed,
but the calluses still visible beneath the bling.

I’ve played my cards a thousand ways,
turned them into aces,
made it look proper easy, made it art,
my work put posh peers in their places.
Every miracle takes its toll,
each victory a tax for the soul.

You smile through burnout, charm through pain,
make theatre from what should drain.
I’ve been strong so long I forgot to feel,
like a veteran remembering the battlefield.

Every triumph has teeth that bite,
it takes a piece of you each night.
But maybe strength is not the climb,
nor the war, nor the mountain time.

Maybe strength is the quiet art
of hearing peace inside your heart.
Not every story needs a fight,
not every day needs to prove you’re right.

Sometimes the bravest thing you’ll do
is live when the war is through.
The toll’s not paid in cash or crown,
but a childhood dog named Struggle
that needs put down.

— David McIntosh Jr.

I’m on the hunt for ORIGIN STORIES. 

You can tell a lot about someone by what they don’t put in their bio.

I’m interested in the bit before the title.

Before the CEO.
Before the founder.
Before the board.

I’m just flying out of London after interviewing a CEO (and a friend) whose origin story genuinely stopped me in my tracks when first heard it on a zoom call half a decade ago.

It’s been five years ive been mentored by him and finally I got to hear it in its full colour. 

In the conversation i realised..

There’s a version of leaders stories that boardroom has never heard.

Organisations and their culture are the sum these stories.

But they are rarely shared or known.

Especially the “scrappy” parts:

The first job.
The money stress.
The accent they softened.
The rooms where they felt it.
The pressure to prove themselves.

I host a podcast called Origin Story.

And I’m looking for CEOs, founders and senior leaders who built success from adversity - particularly those from working-class or non-traditional backgrounds who’d like to document the full journey.

Not to be sensational or viral.

But to leave something honest behind.

To help the next generation of people like me.

Just like one of my mentors did today in London. 

When leaders tell the truth about where they started, three things happen:
	1.	The next generation sees what’s possible.
	2.	People understands you differently.
	3.	Your legacy becomes bigger than your title.

If this could be you, message me.

If it’s someone you work with, send this to them.

The title isn’t the story.

The origin is.

Get in touch:

David@davidmcintoshjr.com

Thanks to everyone who engaged so warmly with this ❤️

The response reminded me why this conversation matters.

Over the next year, I’ll be spending more time speaking about social mobility, origin stories, and class in the workplace.

Because here’s the problem:

Companies say they care about attracting and retaining talent from lower-income backgrounds but most don’t know how to talk about it in a way that builds community internally or real world impact externally.

Policies alone don’t shift culture.
Data alone doesn’t inspire belief.
And generic DEI messaging doesn’t move people.

The solution?

Story.

When people understand the why behind opportunity when leaders can clearly articulate what they’re doing and why it matters culture changes. 

Retention improves. Innovation increases. 

Hidden talent rises.

That’s what I speak about:
	•	Origin Stories and how to own them
	•	AI and Social Mobility: friend or foe?
	•	Social Mobility: The Hidden Talent Strategy

I bring the experience of 150 podcast episodes, 100+ speaking engagements and 100 comedy gigs to create something emotive, human and practical not corporate theatre.

I’ve spoken at Gymshark , bp , Taylor Wessing,  and more.

I’m now taking bookings for June 2026 around Social Mobility Day, including Making The Leap  national day of recognition.

A chapter closed. A bigger one begins.

10 years ago I did work experience at KPMG through The Social Mobility Foundation.

I walked in as a scruffy kid from a low-income household who didn’t know anyone in business.

I walked out as a Chartered Accountant, AI consultant, award winner, twice recognised in 35 Under 35, having met The Queen and having helped grow a network of over 1,200 people internally by simply sharing my story.

KPMG didn’t just give me a career.

It gave me a platform.

By speaking openly about social mobility, ambition and imposter syndrome, I saw something powerful:

Stories build trust faster than traditional PR ever will.

I watched how one personal story could:
• kick-start National campaigns around social mobility
• spark conversations like meeting The Queen
• bring people across grades and backgrounds together

and create organisational trust from the inside out..


Trust in institutions is shifting and we are a real moment in time.

People don’t follow logos anymore.

They follow the people.

That’s why I’ve decided to launch naro. 

naro.  helps leaders explain what they’re doing and why it matters in a way people actually trust through a digital content engine & data driven insight.

We turn big outcomes into clear human stories and share them through podcasts and digital content so organisations take their clients, communities and their people with them.

This is delivered through world class digital content by my co-founder & creative director Howie James Gardner - a talent so good even The Diary of a CEO tried to acquire him!

My work is at the intersection of my commercial experience and my chart topping podcast experience.

My show Origin Story has reached 4 MILLION views and 150 episodes attracting the worlds biggest names delivered by our proprietary storytelling methodology and data driven insights.

I’m deeply grateful to KPMG for the foundations, the belief and the opportunities. Most importantly, the mentors & connections ❤️

Onwards!

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The Battle

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