The long version

How do you understand leadership, culture and organisations?

A practical approach starts with some basic definitions. What is leadership? What is culture? The answers to these questions allows for the diagnosis of an organisation, to answer the question what is really going on here? so that a situation can be understood and positive changes can be made.

Understanding what an organisation is, what leadership and culture are, allows for choice – to engage and design these phenomena, rather than guess or, worse – be subject to them.

What is leadership?

A leader is someone who declares a future that others commit to.

The act of leadership is not just dreaming a vision. Leadership is realised when others commit to that vision. Leadership involves sensing, listening, understanding and speaking in a way that compels others to act.

Whether you hold a formal or informal role, learning to lead involves discovering a deep sense of purpose. Elevated sensemaking comes from living and growing yourself as you make real what you care about – an inside-out approach that is uniquely you.

What is an organisation?

An organisation is a network of conversations – in particular, commitments.

Nothing gets done without commitment. Organisations are networks of people who make promises to one-another in order to achieve more than the sum of their parts.

What is culture?

Culture describes learned behaviour used to survive and thrive in a given context.

Culture is learned behaviour, that makes meaning from a specific context (like an organisation). It shows others how to behave in order to belong and prosper.

These are some of the interpretations form the foundation for supporting people to see and understand how to understand leadership, teams, culture, strategy and innovation.

What supports you in this work? What theory, knowledge and influence inform your practice?

As a coach and facilitator, I have experience working at the intersection of leadership, strategy and design. In my practice, I’ve sought to bridge the gap between leadership development and culture change, aligning interventions with long-term organisational goals. It’s a holistic and systemic approach that creates lasting change.

I bring this approach to help everyone I work with. Whether individuals, teams or executives of established organisations, I love helping others navigate the complex, human challenges of leading a business, team or organisation.

I have over 15 years experience as a consultant, including experience leading innovation in an established company, and significant experience helping others do the same.

A lifelong learner, I’ve trained as an executive coach, and hold ICF accreditation.

There are many leadership, psychology and systemic approaches which I’ve studied, and that inform my approach to individuals, groups and organisations, including:

• ontological leadership coaching

• ontological design

• adult development (vertical leadership development)

• team and organisational coaching

• Process Oriented Psychology

• Adaptive Leadership

• Emotions Centred Coaching

• Human Centered Design

• Gestalt Psychology and Gestalt Coaching

Teaching others helps me learn, and I have been faculty for the Institute of Generative Leadership, US. I am becoming a faculty member for The Coach Partnership, Singapore.

What’s your theory of change?

A theory of change articulates assumptions about how change will unfold. My theory of change includes two key elements:

1. The paradoxical theory of change

2. An integrative, adult developmental approach

The paradoxical theory of change comes from Gestalt psychology. It’s based on the notion that the only time and place we can create change is here and now. My coaching approach pays careful attention to what arises in the moment, as this is the most powerful way for you to create change.

An adult developmental approach says that adult cognition continues to evolve. Our world is increasingly complex, and many of my clients are seeking to make more sense within that. Raising our ability to hold, be with and move in complexity supports the conditions required to create the future we want.

Some scholars call this increased ability to deal with complexity “raising consciousness”. It includes the ability to be with, hold and navigate ambiguity, paradox and the inherent tension that occurs from widespread collective and social change.

The change happens at individual, collective and systemic levels.

What values / principles underpin your work?

relational. One of the myths of our culture is that we can do deep work in a transactional way. Trust and safety take time to build, and are an essential part of any effective working alliance. We move towards the outcome at the pace of the relationship.

codesign. The most effective approach will be codesigned to create equal commitment, passion and confidence – together.

embodiment. A commitment to produce outcomes that help you show up and act differently, not just think differently. Embodied learning is trauma-informed and helps you show up and operate in a way that’s aligned with what you care about – it can’t be faked and it’s very powerful.

holistic. A holistic approach seeks to explore and incorporate the whole picture, including context, relationships, values and purpose.

My story

I grew up in East London, and combined my love of two things: music and how things work by studying Acoustic Engineering. I spent ten years designing theatres and concert halls to sound great. I love the idea that these places are “temples of listening”; sacred spaces where people sit and pay attention to what they hear.

A growing interest in innovation led me into management consultancy in a large multidisciplinary consulting firm. Human Centered Design helped integrate skill in design with strategy and organizational change. After a few years, I had the realization that the key factor in change is leadership conversations – conversations that are had well, had poorly or not had at all.

I spent the next five years researching and studying leadership, which is when I gained my Diploma in Ontological Coaching and Leadership. I’ve continued to research the merits of holistic, psychological approaches that result in lasting change, and view this process as a design process, with much broader parameters and scope than industrial design processes. I’m a current student of Gestalt Psychology, and use many Gestalt principles in my coaching.

I’m a firm believe that the quality of our conversations determines the quality of our lives. I continue to explore how good philosophy informs my ability to observe, listen and pay attention to that which matters most to another person, increasing presence, connection and shared understanding.

I live with my partner in Melbourne, and we enjoy cycling, hosting friends and occasionally escaping this beautiful city. Music remains a huge part of my life, a language that continues to evolve and inform my way of being in the world.

I’m in regular conversation with some generous Aboriginal elders who continue to model ways of being that include healing, generosity and a commitment to dialogue. Perhaps more than anything else, they give me hope for a better future.