Rebuilding Trust, One Leader at a Time

In this Business Insights Series conversation, I sat down with Tom Weaver, co-leader at Beam Training, a UK-based well-being and personal development company. Beam was founded 13 years ago by Leanne Weaver and initially offered holistic therapy. 

It has since evolved into a corporate training powerhouse serving organizations with 50 to over 12,000 employees. The company now delivers science-backed, customized training programs with over 100 unique workshops.

Tom brings a fascinating career journey into this mix: from carpentry and construction project management to leading operations and well-being initiatives at Beam. Our discussion covered leadership trust, AI-driven training strategies, and his passion for men’s mental health. At its heart, this talk was about building something deeper: trust.

Helping the Helpers

Beam’s core mission has always been to support those in people-focused roles, HR professionals, managers, and senior executives, who are often carrying the emotional and strategic weight of their organizations. These are the people at the center of culture, engagement, and performance, yet they’re frequently overlooked when it comes to structured support.

“Our current focus on the way that we deliver our mission is to help… the people that then look after everyone else in the company.”

These professionals are the first to absorb organizational pressure and the last to ask for help. Beam’s approach recognizes this hidden burden and addresses it with a unique blend of psychology, coaching, neuroscience, and positive psychology. 

Their programs are designed with intention and relevance, built to connect with the individuals who shape workplace culture and drive team performance.

“It’s rooted in science, how we help people. And it’s still evolving.”

Beam recently launched the “People People Network,” a community and peer support platform for individuals in HR and leadership roles. It’s designed as a space where members can share insights, discuss challenges, and access exclusive training tailored to their day-to-day realities. The network is built around the idea that those who support others need ongoing support themselves, a philosophy Beam is embedding not just in their products but in their business model.

This kind of ecosystem thinking allows Beam to go beyond one-off sessions. They’re creating continuous development environments that meet the real-world needs of their audience. It’s a strategy that blends empathy, evidence, and smart design to make sure the people driving company culture aren’t left behind.

The Quiet Crisis in Leadership

Imposter syndrome isn’t limited to junior employees. It’s often strongest in the C-suite. Tom and his team have seen this trend repeatedly in their work. What makes this more striking is how invisible the problem can be. These are leaders who appear confident, capable, and composed, yet inside, they’re battling the creeping fear of being found out as a fraud.

“The further you progress up your career, then the likelihood of feeling like an imposter is more prevalent.”

Beam began noticing a pattern across industries and leadership levels, prompting them to develop targeted workshops specifically focused on imposter syndrome and leadership mindset. These aren’t generic modules. They explore how deep-rooted feelings of inadequacy can impact decision-making, team communication, and even innovation. The sessions often trigger surprising breakthroughs as leaders realize they’re not alone.

The response from senior teams has been eye-opening. Executives are participating actively, sharing openly, and in many cases, initiating further conversations across their organizations, showing genuine interest and engagement in the process. It turns out that just naming the experience of imposter syndrome can be a powerful step toward reducing its hold.

By offering a safe space for leaders to unpack these feelings, Beam is helping reshape what strong leadership looks like, less about pretending to have all the answers and more about modeling authenticity, vulnerability, and growth.

Bridging the Trust Gap

Recent research from McKinsey reinforces just how vital trust has become in the business world. According to their findings, businesses are currently the most trusted institution, and people now expect societal leadership to be part of what companies do. 

To close that gap, Beam introduced a remarkably simple but powerful concept: DWYSYD, Do What You Say You’ll Do. It’s a small phrase with big implications.

In today’s environment, trust isn’t just a leadership bonus, it’s expected. And as McKinsey points out, many organizations are still figuring out how to build what they call ‘digital trust’, confidence that business interactions are secure, ethical, and consistent. 

This adds even more weight to Tom’s DWYSYD approach: following through on your word isn’t a soft skill; it’s a strategic necessity.

“There is often a disconnect between people that manage teams and the teams being managed.”

Trust in leadership is cultivated through consistent, reliable actions that align with what’s been promised. It grows each time a leader follows through, listens actively, and creates dependable patterns of behavior. When team members see their leaders following through, trust grows organically.

“We’ve seen incredible change when you just start implementing a really simple strategy… just doing what you say you’re going to do.”

This approach shifts leadership from command-and-control to a model based on reliability and respect. DWYSYD works because it meets people where they are, on the ground, facing the everyday realities of their work. Tom shared how this method has turned strained teams into collaborative units, just by aligning intention with action.

Beam has made DWYSYD a pillar in their leadership workshops. It creates accountability loops and opens up dialogue. More importantly, it helps teams feel seen and valued. When people know their leaders are truly listening, and acting, it changes the energy of an organization.

Culture Meets Resistance

Bringing in well-being training isn’t always smooth. Many companies still see it as a non-essential investment, especially when budgets are tight or when leadership prioritizes more tangible metrics like sales and productivity. The abstract nature of mental health and emotional intelligence makes it harder for organizations to justify in boardrooms focused on KPIs.

“There are politics inside any community of any description. So business is not exempt from that.”

Internal politics, bureaucratic layers, and misalignment between departments can all act as roadblocks. In some cases, HR might advocate for well-being initiatives, while finance or operations see them as ‘nice to have’ rather than essential. In the public sector, entrenched systems and red tape add additional hurdles, while in private companies, resistance can stem from a fear of disrupting established norms.

“You teach people how to manage their stress. That doesn’t directly relate to a performance metric.”

But this is where Beam’s strategic lens becomes vital. Beam presents well-being as a vital component of organizational health, showing how it connects directly to retention, productivity, and long-term cultural resilience. Tom explained that their goal is to help companies recognize that emotional health is infrastructure, not a side project.

To get buy-in, Beam reframes the conversation. Instead of asking, “Should we invest in well-being?” they help leaders ask, “What’s the cost of burnout, disengagement, and turnover?” By anchoring well-being in data and outcomes, they bridge the gap between people-first values and performance-focused priorities.

This approach also requires education, not just for employees, but for leadership. Beam often begins their engagements by building understanding and trust with decision-makers, creating a shared language that connects well-being to strategic outcomes. It’s a slow burn, but it’s one that pays dividends in loyalty, clarity, and human-centered growth.

The Role of AI and Data in Well-being

In a bold move, Beam has started integrating AI into its work. They partnered with a tech firm to analyze internal trends within organizations, helping them pinpoint real issues from employee data. This shift allows them to see beneath the surface, tracking patterns, uncovering employee sentiment, and identifying stress points that might otherwise go unnoticed.

“We’re now going on what that particular company is seeing as a struggle from the people that are in it.”

The power of this approach is its specificity. Rather than guessing what a workforce might need or relying on generic well-being trends, Beam can now deliver interventions precisely matched to what’s actually happening in that organization. It’s a shift from assumption to clarity, from generic training calendars to custom-built development paths.

This new approach shifts their services from general wellness content to laser-focused, data-driven training. For Tom, who thrives on systems thinking, this evolution makes total sense. His love of processes and operational efficiency finds its match in AI’s ability to automate insight gathering and pattern recognition.

“Creating systems that help things run smoothly so you’re able to spend more time on the reasons why you actually started the business.”

By automating parts of the diagnosis process, Beam frees up time to focus on delivering transformational experiences. AI helps them avoid reinventing the wheel for every client and instead enables them to scale their impact without sacrificing personalization. The end result? Quicker buy-in, more relevant content, and better outcomes for both people and performance.

At Serenichron, we believe strategy should simplify your business. Beam is walking that talk, applying AI as a practical, operational tool that enhances their value and reinforces their mission.

From Carpentry to Coaching

Tom’s background is a story of reinvention. He started as a carpenter, crafting timber frame houses across Europe, and later progressed to project managing high-value residential construction projects. 

Eventually, he took on the family business of holiday lets, adding hospitality operations to his growing toolkit of entrepreneurial skills. But six years ago, a new chapter began when he joined Beam Training and shifted his focus from physical structures to building human capacity.

“You have to play every single role to some degree… ultimately you want to spend as much of that time to help people.”

That sentiment defines Tom’s role at Beam. He wears many hats: co-owner, operations strategist, group facilitator, but the thread running through them all is his systems mindset. He brings precision, process thinking, and a craftsman’s attention to detail into a field often governed by emotion and abstraction.

Whether he’s facilitating a workshop, structuring operations, or designing a new digital workflow, Tom approaches each task with a mix of heart and structure. His ability to transition between hands-on leadership and high-level systems design allows Beam to function smoothly and grow sustainably.

Tom is especially passionate about men’s mental health, a topic that still doesn’t get enough attention in workplace well-being discussions. Recognizing the cultural stigma and lack of targeted support, he recently launched a men’s group in Cardiff. 

It’s a safe space where men can open up, connect, and start conversations that rarely happen in corporate hallways. For Tom, this work reflects a deeper commitment to making emotional support for men more accessible and culturally accepted, both within corporate settings and in everyday life.

Conclusion: Building from the Inside Out

Whether it’s a leadership workshop, AI-enhanced training, or a men’s support group, Tom and Beam Training are about building people up, systematically, compassionately, and sustainably. Their journey from holistic therapy practice to a scalable, data-backed corporate training provider is a masterclass in adaptability. It’s a story that proves innovation doesn’t have to mean discarding what works, it can mean deepening the purpose and sharpening the delivery.

At every step, Beam has stayed rooted in one idea: when you help the people who help others, you strengthen the whole organization. From rebuilding leadership trust with DWYSYD, to tackling burnout and imposter syndrome at the executive level, to empowering men to talk about mental health, Beam is filling gaps that too often go ignored.

If you’re a business owner or decision-maker wondering how to support your team in ways that actually move the needle, this story is a powerful reminder that progress starts with clarity. And clarity starts with asking better questions, listening closely, and acting with consistency. Beam is doing just that, and helping others do the same.

Because trust grows through consistent action and real connection. And Tom’s story is proof that when you combine intention with follow-through, people (and businesses) thrive.