About Behaviour Development with Arjmund Butt MBE

My Story: Why Behaviour Matters

I was born in Kingston upon Thames and raised in the East Midlands as one of five siblings in a working-class family.

Growing up in a predominantly white town in the 1990s, I experienced early what it meant to feel different. It wasn’t until I was 19 that I formed a close friendship with someone from a similar cultural background. Those formative years shaped my understanding of identity, belonging, and the importance of finding and using my voice.

Cultural Identity

My heritage reflects a rich intersection of cultures.

My father was born in Jinja, Uganda, and came to the UK shortly before the expulsion under Idi Amin. My mother was born in Karachi and moved to the UK in the 1970s.

Being a Muslim East African Asian woman has brought both depth and complexity, particularly in navigating cultural expectations, identity, and the freedom to make my own choices.

I experienced racism growing up, but this intensified when I chose to wear the veil. What had once been subtle became more visible and, at times, more direct.

These experiences shaped more than my confidence; they shaped my behaviours. They influenced how I saw myself, the decisions I made and the way I navigated the world. Understanding those behaviours would become one of the most important lessons of my life. I chose not to shrink but to stand firm.

Career & Purpose

Over the past two decades, I have built a career developing people, strengthening performance and leading change across banking and the Civil Service. Throughout that time, one thing became increasingly clear: behind every decision, every difficult conversation, every performance challenge and every act of leadership sits behaviour.

I spent 12 years in banking across mortgages, operations and training before taking a wellbeing career break and joining the Civil Service in 2017. Since then, I have progressed into senior leadership, leading high-profile projects, developing people and improving performance in complex operational environments. It reinforced a belief that leadership is simply one place behaviour shows up.

Alongside my career, I experienced workplace bullying and harassment. Instead of defining me, it fundamentally changed how I understood leadership, culture and psychological safety. It also strengthened my commitment to helping people recognise the behaviours that influence confidence, decision making and resilience, while creating environments where individuals can thrive without compromising who they are.

My work has been recognised through Credit Strategy's Public Sector Team Player of the Year award, alongside a number of internal recognitions. I was also honoured to receive an MBE for services to HM Revenue & Customs and the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community.

Personal Experience

I have been married for 19 years and now live in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

My personal journey has included overcoming both mental and physical health challenges, including infertility. My husband’s experience of forced marriage, and the abuse he endured in breaking free, also deeply shaped our path.

Together, we challenged cultural and community barriers to build a life on our own terms, and today, I focus on providing domestic abuse support to those in need.

These lived experiences now inform my work supporting individuals in their career progression, as well as safeguarding those affected by domestic abuse, honour-based violence, and human trafficking.

A Turning Point

A defining turning point came after the death of my father during the COVID-19 pandemic. It forced me to reassess how I was living.

Over the past five years, I have rebuilt my mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing with intention.

During this time, I also came to understand my neurodivergence including autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. This brought clarity to lifelong patterns in how I think, process, and lead, and strengthened my commitment to creating environments where difference is not just accepted but valued.

Internal Authority Framework™

Developing my Internal Authority Framework™ wasn't something I planned, it was born out of necessity. 

After years of leading people, navigating adversity and rebuilding my own life, I realised that behaviour sit beneath everything and most behaviours can be changed. Every decision, every relationship, every boundary, every moment of self doubt and every act of leadership is influenced by the behaviours we developed over time. 

The Internal Authority Framework™ brings those lessons together into a practical behaviour development methodology, helping people better understand themselves, strengthen their Internal Authority and create lasting behavioural change .

It is now the foundation of how I live, how I lead, and how I support others.