About Bontle Senne
I'm Bontle. I love solving problems that stress other people out.
Writing and organisation work have run alongside each other for most of my career. The strategy, facilitation, speaking, coaching, Board work and tools grew from them.
I've been a charity CEO, top-tier consultant, author, speaker, commercial farmer, journalist, AI tech bro, Board member, artist and coach. Right now, I mostly lead strategy development, transformation implementation and change management.
I've led 25+ transformations across three continents since 2013, from global banks and a £31bn telecoms merger to charities working in education, health, the environment and the arts. I've also written nine books for adults and children, because apparently one career wasn't enough.
My first name is Setswana and it's totally fine that you probably don't know how to pronounce that. "BOONT-leh" or "BOONT-laire" both work. My surname is pronounced SIN-neh.
The work
My career crosses organisations, books, technology and Boards.
I have led change from inside the organisation.
I spent five years at McKinsey in Johannesburg, led global software development and culture change at Deutsche Bank, and held an Executive Director role during the Virgin Media O2 merger. My later work has included acquisition integration for Tyme Group, transformation work at Teach First, leading OneLeap's London office and co-founding DEJI Digital.
I usually get called when the decision is stuck, the timetable is unreasonable or the organisation has already tried the polite version.
I kept writing while the organisation work grew.
I started in publishing and journalism in South Africa. I have authored or co-authored nine books: six works of fiction for children and teenagers, plus three non-fiction books. The Golden Baobab Prize shortlisted my fiction in 2014. My writing and interviews have appeared in Forbes, Fast Company, HuffPost UK, Stylist and Inc. Arabia.
I turn work I have done myself into coaching, talks and tools.
I'm a Certified Professional Coach through the Center for Coaching Certification and an ICAgile Certified Professional in Agile Coaching. I coach executives and adults with ADHD. I speak about transformation failure, power, resistance, AI adoption and neurodivergent talent. I build frameworks and AI products from problems I have had to solve inside organisations.
I choose Board roles because the cause matters to me.
I am currently Vice Chair of akt and a trustee of Glitch. I am also a non-executive director, minority owner and patron of Modjaji Books, and a Board member of Puku Children's Literature Foundation. I keep choosing the same causes: LGBTQ+ youth homelessness, Black women's digital rights, children's literacy and feminist publishing. Previous Board and advisory work includes St Mungo's, GirlCode and READ Educational Trust.
How I work
My values show up in how I work.
I go back to the facts.
When I'm dealing with conflict or a problem, I start by collecting evidence about the situation because you can't know what you have to work with until you understand the reality of where you are. A confident story about the problem is still only a story.
I'd rather start with what we have.
I consistently push people towards what they can do with what they have right now, instead of waiting for perfect conditions. The bird in the hand principle matters more to me than waiting for certainty.
I'll tell you what I think.
I don't sugar-coat feedback or avoid difficult conversations. You can disagree with me without managing my feelings, and I will concede as soon as someone has a better idea. I call out limiting beliefs when I spot them because pretending they aren't there doesn't help anyone move forward.
I look at the system before I blame the person.
When something isn't working, I look for what is blocking people in the system. Who gets to decide, what gets rewarded, the information people have, their capacity and their power all shape what they can do. Problems are usually more structural than personal.
I like frameworks because they free people up.
Good structure reduces decision fatigue and gives people enough holding to do their best work. I design around how brains work, including neurodivergent ones, because people shouldn't have to apologise for the way they naturally think.
Kindness sometimes requires a difficult conversation.
Kindness matters to me. It isn't the same as being nice. Sometimes the kind thing is making sure someone understands a difficult reality, then helping them decide what they can do about it.
See the work
You can judge the work for yourself.
The strategy facilitation page explains the focused offer. The case studies cover private companies, charities and public-sector work without naming the clients. The Books page includes all nine books. The FAQ covers fees, fit, timing, speaking, coaching and how I work.