About Dave

Introduction

I’m Dave Thorne, founder of SummitMind Leadership.

For more than three decades, I have worked in public service, first in outdoor education and teaching, and then through an extensive policing career that has included around seven years at executive level.

I have led people, teams and organisations through significant pressure, uncertainty and change. I understand the responsibility that comes with senior leadership, the expectation to keep performing and the personal impact that leadership can sometimes have behind the professional exterior.

SummitMind brings that experience together with professional coaching and leadership development to help people lead with greater confidence, perform sustainably and move purposefully towards what comes next.

I help leaders succeed without losing themselves in the process.

Leadership experience

My career began in education, working in outdoor education centres before spending six years as a secondary-school teacher. Teaching gave me an early appreciation of the importance of confidence, encouragement and adapting my approach to the needs of the individual.

I subsequently joined policing and progressed through operational, specialist and organisational leadership roles across Devon and Cornwall Police and South Wales Police.

My senior roles have included:

• Temporary Deputy Chief Constable and Chief Operating Officer;

• Assistant Chief Constable in Devon and Cornwall and South Wales;

• Chief Superintendent and Commander for the Plymouth policing area;

• executive responsibility for crime, justice, vulnerability and safeguarding;

• leadership of specialist crime, counterterrorism, regional organised crime and forensic-service portfolios;

• strategic command during complex and high-consequence operational situations.

I was also an accredited Counter Terrorism Commander and Strategic Firearms Commander, and have previously served as a Senior Investigating Officer for homicide and other major investigations.

These roles have required difficult decisions, organisational judgement and leadership in circumstances where performance, public confidence and people’s wellbeing all matter.

Delivering organisational improvement

Throughout my career, I have sought to combine a strong focus on people with an equally clear focus on performance.

I have led and contributed to programmes that have delivered substantial improvements in areas including:

• emergency and non-emergency call handling;

• response times;

• investigative standards and file quality;

• positive outcomes for victims;

• organisational governance and accountability;

• specialist crime and regional collaboration;

• workforce wellbeing and leadership development;

• support for vulnerable people and communities.

In one executive portfolio, the work of the teams I led contributed to improvements including improving 78% of all organisational performance metrics within a space of two years, and helped the organisation to exit from ‘special measures’.

I do not believe that focusing on people means lowering standards. Healthy leadership should create the confidence, clarity and capacity people need to perform well—particularly when the pressure rises.

National leadership

Alongside my force responsibilities, I have held a number of national leadership and representative roles.

These have included:

• national leadership for Citizens in Policing, covering Special Constables, Police Cadets, Police Support Volunteers and the Employer Supported Policing programme;

• leadership of national work relating to men’s health and wellbeing;

• membership of national strategic-command cadres;

• Chair of Police Sport UK Snowsports;

• supporting the development of senior and executive leaders through national leadership programmes.

These experiences have allowed me to work with leaders and organisations across policing and the wider public sector, and to understand the challenges of leadership from local, regional and national perspectives.

Why coaching?

My interest in coaching has grown from both professional experience and personal reflection.

I have seen the positive difference that good leadership can make. I have also seen how sustained pressure, organisational culture and difficult relationships can affect confidence, judgement, behaviour and wellbeing—even among highly experienced leaders.

Seniority does not make anyone immune to self-doubt, over-responsibility, exhaustion or losing sight of themselves.

Coaching provides something that senior leaders often have very little of: confidential time to think honestly, challenge assumptions and consider what they need—not simply what everyone else expects from them.

My approach is supportive without being uncritical. I will listen carefully, but I will also ask difficult questions, offer appropriate challenge and help clients translate insight into practical change.

Coaching approach

My coaching focuses on helping people to:

• understand themselves and their leadership more deeply;

• strengthen self-belief, self-value and self-trust;

• recognise the beliefs and patterns influencing their behaviour;

• respond more deliberately when pressure rises;

• build resilience and sustainable personal capacity;

• improve confidence, credibility and leadership impact;

• prepare for promotion or greater responsibility;

• navigate transition and determine what comes next;

• perform well without losing their sense of identity or purpose.

I do not believe there is one correct leadership personality. Effective leadership begins with understanding who you are, becoming more congruent in how you lead and developing the flexibility to respond appropriately to different people and situations.

Qualifications and professional development

My qualifications and professional development include:

• Paseda360® Advanced Practitioner Coach;

• MSc in Police Leadership and Management, University of Leicester;

• B.Ed. (Hons) in Science and Outdoor Education, Liverpool John Moores University;

• extensive senior and executive leadership development;

• advanced operational and strategic command accreditations;

• many years of experience developing, mentoring and supporting leaders at different stages of their careers.

My coaching draws upon professional coaching practice, positive psychology and evidence-informed understanding of how confidence, beliefs, behaviour and performance can be affected by pressure.

Where I use a recognised third-party methodology or technique, I do so within the scope of my training and with appropriate acknowledgement.

Beyond the office

The mountains have been an important part of my life for many years.

My early career in outdoor education, together with my experience as a ski instructor and my continuing involvement in skiing, has reinforced many of the principles that now shape SummitMind™: preparation, adaptability, self-belief, resilience and the importance of continuing to move forward when the route is not straightforward.

It is also where the SummitMind™ name comes from. Reaching a summit is rarely about one dramatic moment. It is usually the result of clear purpose, steady progress, appropriate support and the confidence to keep going.

Working with me

I work with individual leaders, leadership teams and organisations through:

• confidential one-to-one leadership coaching;

• leadership workshops and team facilitation;

• bespoke organisational leadership development;

• keynote speaking and interactive leadership events.

Whether you are carrying significant responsibility, finding that pressure is affecting how you lead, preparing for your next role or seeking to strengthen leadership across an organisation, the starting point is a straightforward conversation.

Lead with confidence. Perform with resilience. Build with purpose.