Making an impact by doing the impossible

Nigel Hughes is the founder of Outstanding.Global, a leadership development organization rooted in bold action, radical experimentation, and deep personal values. His company offers executive coaching, creative leadership training, and team-building workshops for individuals and organizations seeking growth, agility, and alignment. 

With a focus on diversity, creativity, and open-hearted leadership, Outstanding.Global works globally with companies ranging from startups to established giants like Deutsche Telekom and Barclays. With a career spanning decades, he has worked across sectors, from nonprofit activism to environmental education and corporate leadership development. 

His journey has taken him from organizing AIDS awareness campaigns in the 1980s to protecting the rainforests of Papua New Guinea, and more recently, to developing teams and leaders through an experiential, human-first approach to coaching.

Nigel brings a refreshing, energetic presence to the field of leadership consulting. At 75, he’s still building, still creating, and still inspiring. He launched Outstanding.Global at an age when many slow down, choosing instead to accelerate his impact and bring fresh energy to the idea of global kinship and inner alignment. His goal? To inspire people to stand up, speak out, and lead with authenticity.

In this Business Insights Series interview, we explored how one man’s courage to jump, literally, turned into a life of service, leadership, and legacy. We talked about the challenges of staying true to your values, starting bold initiatives, and why experiential leadership might be the key to both business growth and personal transformation.

We covered Nigel’s belief in the “accept, adapt, discover” philosophy, his bold “Just Do It” mindset, and how he uses personal storytelling to bring teams closer together. We also looked at the current challenges he’s facing: broadcasting his message, building new client relationships, and navigating a world that’s both complex and interconnected.

Nigel’s life reminds us that leadership can emerge from a rich variety of life experiences. A career pivot, a team-building exercise, or a courageous step toward a cause can each be a spark for transformation. Leadership often begins in personal and unexpected moments, shaped by intention, empathy, and the willingness to lean into life’s unpredictable turns with curiosity and conviction.

Let’s dig in.

Vision with a Spine: Inspire, Engage, Empower

Nigel summed up his work at Outstanding.Global with clarity:

“What I want to do is inspire people, engage them in new leadership development activities, and to empower them to really stand up for who they are, what they are, what they believe in.”

This triad of values serves as a foundation across all aspects of his work. It shapes how he structures his programs, how he engages with clients, and how he trains and develops his team. The sessions create space for lasting change, ones that shift how people lead, relate, and grow together within an organization. They focus on more than just the event itself, emphasizing development that continues long after the session ends.

More importantly, this approach emphasizes the full human experience in leadership. Nigel’s model draws on practical experience, deep reflection, and relational insight. It aims to activate a leader’s inner purpose and connect that to the actions and decisions they take every day. Many leadership programs focus on surface-level performance, Nigel’s approach goes deeper, fostering alignment that resonates on both personal and professional levels.

For many of the entrepreneurs and business leaders I work with at Serenichron, having a clear sense of mission is the first bottleneck. We can spend months caught up in tactics, forgetting to ask: What are we really standing for? Clarity of mission is like good posture, you only notice the pain when it’s missing.

“Helping people really standing up for who they are and what they believe in” is a powerful leadership strategy. It shapes how organizations approach hiring, partnerships, marketing, and internal culture. When these values are embedded into the core of a business, they generate alignment, clarity, and a shared sense of purpose that goes far beyond any tool or system.

When people feel seen and empowered, their approach to work often becomes more intentional and engaged.

This human-centered approach is backed by substantial research. A comprehensive study by the National Training Laboratories found that experiential learning methods achieve retention rates as high as 75%, compared to just 10% from lectures. 

They bring a sense of ownership and clarity that influences how they lead, connect, and contribute. This momentum spreads, helping shape companies and cultures where authenticity is encouraged and performance is grounded in shared values. This dynamic fosters both productivity and meaningful growth for individuals and their teams.

This is where Outstanding.Global makes its mark. Nigel’s impact has touched organizations of every size, from major corporations to scrappy startups. His team helps people reconnect with who they are, uncover buried confidence, and take courageous steps forward in both their personal and professional lives. Nigel’s work encourages people to uncover the leadership qualities that already exist within them. Instead of approaching development from a problem-solving mindset, he creates the space for reflection, experimentation, and growth.

From Rainforests to Radical Experiments

Nigel’s journey spans environmental activism, nonprofit innovation, and nearly three decades at Maynard Leigh Associates. His move into founding Outstanding.Global came as a natural continuation of a lifetime spent embracing bold challenges and leading with purpose. His career reflects a deep willingness to explore what’s hard, what’s uncertain, and what truly matters.

“I tend to go for the impossible… If there’s something impossible, let’s do it.”

That bold mindset has shaped his entire path. In the 1980s, he responded to the global HIV/AIDS crisis by founding a nonprofit initiative (AIDS Mastery) that provided interactive workshops for those infected and affected. It became a movement, spanning multiple countries and touching countless lives. Rather than react with anger or fear, Nigel chose action and empathy.

Later, he co-founded Green Light Trust, an environmental education charity born from a firsthand experience of ecological vulnerability. While exploring Papua New Guinea with his husband, they encountered indigenous communities under pressure to sell off their forests. Rather than simply bear witness, they acted.

Nigel’s environmental work reflects a “purpose-driven leadership”: an approach that research shows drives measurable business success. According to Harvard Business Publishing research, 83% of companies that outperform on revenue growth link everything they do to purpose. 

“We helped the people… not cut [the trees] down but conserve them.”

They partnered with the communities, developed conservation strategies, and laid the groundwork for what would become a deeper environmental mission, one that connects people back to the idea that we are not separate from nature, but a part of it.

Launching Outstanding.Global happened after a personal and deeply reflective road trip around the age of 70. Instead of attending his usual annual retreat, Nigel took himself on a solo road trip, giving space for deep reflection. He committed to asking himself two questions each day, on purpose, values, and identity, and through this quiet inquiry, he began to see a new chapter forming in his life and work.

The road trip marked a turning point. As Nigel reflected on global shifts in human rights and leadership culture, he recognized the opportunity to build something new, something aligned with his lifelong mission to help people lead with clarity, courage, and authenticity. That clarity became the foundation for Outstanding.Global, a platform designed to guide others in stepping forward with conviction and purpose.

Action Beats Delay: The Leadership Power of Taking the First Step

We talked about the hesitations that hold people back: family responsibilities, financial worries, fear of failure, or simply feeling unprepared. When I asked Nigel what he’d say to someone who wants to make a difference but feels stuck, his response was brisk, focused, and deceptively simple.

“Just do it. Whatever it is, you know, if you’ve got a passion, just do it.”

There was a calm determination in his voice, a quiet urgency rooted in clarity and purpose. For Nigel, waiting for the “right moment” often leads to waiting forever. Taking action helps clarify the doubts. They often find their proper place once you’ve already begun moving forward.

He illustrated this with a powerful story. At the height of his HIV/AIDS work, he faced a personal fear of flying and heights. So he organized a parachute jump to raise funds. “We raised £32,000 in an afternoon by us all being… courageous, if you like, jumping out of planes.” That event became an unexpected masterclass in trust, teamwork, and courage.

And behind this bias toward action is a deeply thoughtful framework that guides how he operates: accept, adapt, discover. It’s grounded in mindfulness, but it’s also strikingly practical. Before reacting, pause. Notice. Reflect. Then take the next step with clarity and intent.

“Accept that our mind will just keep tumbling… But as long as we’re in the moment and we don’t just react, we can begin to accept, adapt, and then discover.”

It’s a pattern of movement Nigel has followed in leadership, in activism, and in life. Courage takes shape in those moments when we choose to act, even while feeling nervous or unsure. It’s often the simple step forward that starts the momentum, not perfection or certainty.

Building the Future with Vulnerability and Soul

A standout part of Nigel’s team workshops? He asks people to bring two things: a photo of themselves as a toddler and their favorite song.

“It opens their hearts… And it’s a great leveler.”

Why? Because in business, we often forget we’re people. We show up in roles, titles, and responsibilities, but rarely in our full humanity. Nigel’s approach invites people to strip that away, if only for a few moments, and re-enter a space of emotional honesty.

These exercises often start as simple icebreakers but quickly evolve into opportunities to surface our shared humanity and collective experience. A childhood photo invites memories, playfulness, vulnerability. A favorite song uncovers rhythms of joy, identity, and emotional connection. In those small but meaningful moments, teams stop performing and start relating.

At Serenichron, I often see the same pattern. Digital transformation doesn’t work unless the people involved are actually in sync. No tech tool or platform can replace genuine connection and trust.

“We suddenly get lots of surprises about what people’s favorite music is and what floats their boat and rattles their cage.”

Nigel’s team-building approach encourages people to go beyond the surface, to reconnect with their inner child, their values, and their emotional core. These sessions avoid the usual awkward games and instead foster genuine human contact. This approach fosters rapport while also supporting insight, cohesion, and courage that help unlock stronger leadership.

The science behind Nigel’s vulnerability-based approach is compelling. Research from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences demonstrates that vulnerability and trust are interrelated constructs that significantly influence leadership effectiveness.

Facing Today’s Global Disruption with Purpose

Six years into running Outstanding.Global, Nigel still finds the external world the most challenging part of the job. The business has delivered transformative results for clients of all sizes, but sustaining that impact in a shifting landscape demands constant reinvention.

“Last year we had the best year, and this year it’s gone a bit  because of the extenuating circumstances.”

The “circumstances” he refers to include rising economic uncertainty, increasing anxiety across leadership teams, and a deeply unstable geopolitical climate. Nigel points to the way global conflict and political extremism have created ripple effects in how people collaborate, communicate, and lead. Many feel brittle, anxious, and disconnected. He recognizes this and sees it as an urgent call to lean deeper into his work.

“All I can do is do what I can do, to help people live in harmony… doesn’t mean to say we have to agree on everything, but at least we have to find a way to work together.”

To meet the moment, Nigel and his team have been working on what they call a “pivot strategy”, a new direction focused on increasing visibility and reach. Until now, Outstanding.Global has thrived on referrals and word-of-mouth. But Nigel sees the need for a stronger digital presence, clearer messaging, and a more proactive outreach system to ensure their message resonates with wider audiences.

The pivot includes exploring partnerships in digital PR, implementing modern CRM tools, and tapping into new sales enablement approaches. These updates represent structural shifts designed to support the mission while staying true to its core purpose.

Nigel’s greatest challenge now is one many purpose-driven founders will recognize: how do you scale a soul-centered business without losing its soul? It’s a delicate balance. But if there’s one thing Nigel has shown over and over, it’s that deep roots allow you to reach further, not less.

Conclusion: Courage is Contagious

Nigel Hughes reminds us that leadership takes shape through grounded commitment, thoughtful risk-taking, and purposeful action. His journey, from activism to environmental advocacy to founding Outstanding.Global, shows how sustained focus and a willingness to engage with what matters most can create real and lasting impact.

“If you’re doing the right thing, then the right people will come along, the right money will come along, the right conditions will come along, and it will happen.”

That kind of trust in alignment takes time to develop and is built through consistent purpose and follow-through. Over the decades, Nigel has seen that clarity of purpose has a way of cutting through noise, drawing in the support you need, and setting powerful ideas into motion. But none of that happens without the first move.

Whether you’re 37 or 75, you can make the jump. The excuses may never vanish, but the opportunity to take the first step is always yours. The work of making an impact often begins before all the pieces are in place, sparked by the decision that it’s worth beginning.

If you’re a business owner sitting on an idea that matters, but you’re not sure when or how to move, book a call. Let’s talk. Serenichron helps you connect the dots, make a plan, and walk with you step by step. Because support shouldn’t be hard to find when your idea is ready to fly.