Welcome to the home of the
renowned Lasting Difference and
Lasting Leadership Guides.
Our free guides and the consultancy practice we base them on aim to be:
- Clear: Easy to understand and use, with straightforward ideas for action.
- Practical: Grounded in practice, with tried and tested tools and templates.
- Provocative: Reframing your key challenges with new definitions and fresh perspectives.
- Powerful: Transforming the way you think about – and run – your organisation.
- Relevant: Suitable for projects or organisations, large or small, in any part of the non-profit world.
Please note: our services are now fully booked for 2023. If you’d like to enquire for 2024 please check your vision fits with our strategic plan and give Graeme a shout!


Lasting Leadership® defines and demystifies sustainable leadership. Made up of four guides focusing on succession planning, lateral leadership, equalities, and self-care, it addresses the key issues of the day. Perfect for managers, trustees and anyone wanting to develop leadership capacity. Your writeable PDF copies await!
New to sustainability?.. Start here
The Lasting Difference
Graeme Reekie, author of the Lasting Difference resource, explains where the ideas and toolkit originated, and some of the principles that underpin it.
The paradox of change
Sustainability isn’t easy. The challenges are complex and often paradoxical – more of one thing often means less of something else. First up, the paradox of change: only by changing can we stay the same.
The octopus paradox
If sustainability requires us to change and develop, can we do this without getting pulled out of shape? There are good reasons many organisations are octopus-shaped, as Graeme explains in this short clip.
The yes/no paradox
We often say ‘yes’ to things because we think they will help us survive. Yet most organisations have sustainability challenges because of saying yes, not in spite of it.
The efficiency paradox
To be sustainable, organisations must be efficient. But if they are too efficient, they won’t have the spare capacity, resources or headspace to be sustainable.
‘Lasting Leadership’ overview
A 15-minute presentation on Lasting Leadership®, the guide to non-profit sustainable leadership. Shorter, specific clips are available on the dedicated Lasting Leadership page.
Lasting Leadership: building sustainable capacity
In summer 2022, Sacro invited us to develop a bespoke leadership development programme to support their managers and team leaders from across Scotland. Building leadership capacity Following the launch of their strategic plan Sacro were keen to continue...
From services to system change
Shelter Scotland has committed to a 10-year strategy designed to transform not just the charity, but the housing system and the country. These ambitious goals are grounded in evidence, backed by actions and clear measures of success to which it – and the wider system...
Advance? Retreat!
In 2019 we came up with a way to create capacity for people to do the things they never get done. It was so good that after successful pilots and amazing feedback we even trademarked it – Advance Retreats. The idea is simplicity itself – but very powerful. We book a...
A sense of belonging
Collaborative and inclusive strategy development Health in Mind recently invited us to support a collaborative approach to the development of their new strategic plan for 2023-2028. The process - and end product - are great examples of sustainable strategy in action....
Shaping organisational and system change
The power of collaborative learning and commissioning Future Pathways recently invited us to facilitate a six-month Action Learning Programme, involving delivery partner organisations and Future Pathways’ team members. Here is the learning that emerged: an example of...
Sustainable Funding with the Gannochy Trust
How can funders best support charities? Is funding enough or should they provide capacity building support? It might seem a no-brainer: ‘Give us the money’, as Bob Geldof famously said. But every time I’ve reviewed a funding programme, the call from charities has been...
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