Partners in transformation

Purpose-driven.

Future-focused.

Co-created.

Human-centred.

Leading through COVID-19

Right now, we’re in the midst of a global event unseen before in our lifetimes. We will make it through this unimaginable moment in time, but not as we were before.

Times of great disruption often make way for great learning.

We are all having to think and do things differently, planting the seeds of innovation.

Many are witnessing what it means to self-organise, come together, and rapidly problem-solve in service of a shared purpose. Even through digital screens, we’re inviting each other into our homes, our lives and our moments of vulnerability, creating a more human workplace. And we’re taking stock of what’s really important: for society, for business, and for a life well-lived.

Now is the time to be intentional about the future we’re creating. We’re here to help you do just that: to take whatever moment you’re facing and awaken possibility.

Performance Frontiers work with leaders committed to transformation and dedicated to a meaningful impact in the world.

Like you, we’re discovering new ways of working.

Take a look at how we’re evolving our services to support you through COVID-19 and beyond.

How we can help

Our clients

Latest news

Scaling Excellence | Adaptive Systems for Knowledge Transfer

When most people think about scaling a business, they think about acquiring more of a certain tangible resource: talent, capital, ... read more

Bodies of Knowledge | What if your body has the answers you’ve been seeking?

By my actions teach my mind. ~ William Shakespeare Remember when you were a child, and the world was not something just for your mind ... read more

De-escalating with CALM

After years of doom scrolling our way through the day, we are in many ways tired. One part of this is just the loss of our normal ... read more

Improv for Agile Mindsets

As leaders are increasingly required to facilitate more collaborative, agile workspaces, so too must our skill bases and the focus of ... read more

Amping Your Somatic Intelligence

To remain relevant, competitive, and buoyant, organisations need to change the frequency of their actions into increasingly shorter ... read more

Expanding Our Repertoire | Future-Proofing with Coaching

The acronym ‘VUCA’ – meaning volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous - has wedged itself into the language of organisational ... read more

What is Strategy?

Mike Tyson once famously said: “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” And it can certainly feel that way when we ... read more

The Ties that Bind Us: External Social Capital and Innovation

Few partnerships could be considered more profitable than that of “Wintel”. Microsoft and Intel dominated the PC-era and led the ... read more

What is Attunement?

Curiosity and empathy are familiar terms in personal and leadership development. It could be argued that, to a degree, curiosity ... read more

Cultures of Recognition

"Social capital is fundamentally about how people interact with each other." Dekker and Uslaner The Coronavirus pandemic has tested ... read more

Growing Pains: What The Science Behind Hybrid Working Tells Us

Zoom fatigue, back-to-back meetings, and lack of commute time to decompress… Hybrid working has brought with it a whole new raft of ... read more

PF By Design | Togetherness Toolkit

Social cohesion activities for hybrid workplaces When it comes to cohesing in the hybrid space, we are finding that being more ... read more

The Social Animal: Finding Fulfilment

Many years of sociological research have identified a number of primary social needs that drive human behaviour. During periods of ... read more

Regenerative Teams: Rhythm and Reach

Few interpersonal relationships are more important to organisations than the dynamics of teams. It’s uncontroversial then to say that ... read more

PF By Design | In Conversation with Rami Saab

This month, as the greater Performance Frontiers team explore diversity, equity and inclusion with an open heart and people-focussed ... read more

Amplifying Voices: Optimal Feedback Loops

A San Francisco-based executive consultant recounts a conversation he overheard about Steve Jobs’ feedback style while at Pixar. Jobs ... read more

Headwinds and Tailwinds

If you're serious about diversity and inclusion, pay attention to the winds. Many of us have experienced exclusion at some point in ... read more

The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Shift is a Learning Shift

The case for diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in organisations has been made extensively. To start, in our practice at ... read more

What If Your Boss Was A Computer?

Depending on who you speak to, you might receive any number of predictions for the future of work. Lists, prophecies and projections ... read more

Regenerative Leader Mindsets

What can you do to become a Regenerative Leader? Nature has been practicing the art of regeneration for eons. Salamanders and newts ... read more

The Hybrid Equation

We are in the second of the two great work transitions brought on by the pandemic. The first: a mass movement to work from home. The ... read more

Who’s Got YOU? | Self-Care for Leaders

An iconic moment in Superman: The Movie still resonates decades after the film’s release in 1978. Lois Lane, dangling precariously ... read more

Regenerative Leadership: The Logic of Life

“Life creates conditions conducive to life.” - Janine Benyus Inspired by the harmony and energy of life as it moves through cycles ... read more

Buffered Learning | Affect & Effect

Picture this: it’s 1pm on a Wednesday and you’re sitting in a training session. You’ve had a stressful morning where your boss snapped ... read more

Leading Through Ambiguity

Are you climbing the ladder, spinning your wheels, or up the creek without a paddle? The use of simple analogies in business are ... read more

The Power of a Kindness Ecosystem

The power of kindness to bring us joy is a tale as old as time. The Buddha teaches: “If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also ... read more

Trust in the Age of Affinity

We are living in an Age of Affinity and when it comes to work, people are attracted to organisations and teams that share their ... read more

Atomic Presence: IRL Connection in URL Learning Environments

How do we connect virtually with the same dynamic presence that we do in real life? The learning and development community is asking ... read more

Purpose-led Giving

As the end of another extraordinary and disrupted year draws closer, many of us are thinking about ways we can give back this festive ... read more

Valuing Intuition in a Wicked World

Intuition is regarded by some as the summit of human judgment. Studies have shown how chess masters are able to recognise patterns ... read more

The Power of Shared Language

Have you ever had a cryptic conversation with a close friend? The kind where you only need a few key words and phrases for them to ... read more

Crypto Credentials | Blockchain Breaking Through Bias

As learning professionals, we put our hearts and minds into designing programs that uplift, educate and transform. Often these ... read more

Reading Between the Lines | Ask vs. Guess Culture at Work

Are you a Guesser or an Asker? It’s still a conversation topic over a decade after the question was first posed back in 2007 by ... read more

How to Make a Success of Succession Planning

During the pandemic, some leaders have found themselves in situations that have seen their teams depleted of people to perform important roles, due to the impact of lockdowns or other Covid related events. This kind of global disruption is a timely reminder of the importance of understanding the critical nodes within our workflow and of constantly building resilience into our whole system through methods such as succession planning. read more

Change is not Transition

In our work life, we are experiencing a high rate of change as we adjust to the fluctuations in the business landscape. The stress of ... read more

Being Agile | Closing the Gap Between Methodology and Mindset

Agile is one of the most revolutionary business models in the last twenty years. It is liberating organisations from vertical, siloed ... read more

Pushing Back Without Pushing Away

If we all speak up and push back more often, we contribute to creating cultures of open knowledge-sharing and an ever expanding ... read more

Courageous Conversations

Embedded within constructive conversations are “courageous” conversations - the tough ones that we avoid if possible. Whether we are ... read more

Addressing Unconscious Bias

When facing a tough decision, we are often encouraged to listen to our instincts. But have you ever wondered how your ‘gut’ makes a ... read more

The Age of Affinity – values-based decision making

As we leave behind globalisation and profit-only mindsets, we find ourselves in a new age of values-based leadership and decision ... read more

Belonging – the power of inclusivity

Research tell us that a sense of belonging is the key ingredient in maintaining a relatively stable workplace. Find out why it's so ... read more

Immunity to Change

There is a mysterious gap between our intentions and our actions that often prevents us from making the changes we seek. ... read more

Racheting Up Resilience

How to grow your resilience muscle to do the heavy lifting in the new normal. read more

Talking High Performing Teams with Laura Clemesha

Performance Frontiers are thrilled to welcome our new associate, Laura Clemesha. Laura is a former member of the Queensland Firebirds ... read more

From Prophesy to Strategy

Gaze into the crystal ball with us in our latest article for Training & Development Magazine. read more

Award-Winning BIG W Optimum Program

We won Best Learning Culture in an Organisation for our work on BIG W Optimum! read more

Three Questions with Principal Dr Hayley Linthwaite

We’re delighted to announce Dr Hayley Linthwaite has been appointed Principal of Performance Frontiers. Hayley joined us in 2017 and ... read more

Just Transitions – Interview with Dr Matt Beard

Performance Frontiers talk leadership and the next frontiers in ethics with Dr Matt Beard of The Ethics Centre. read more

Ethics in the Digital Age

What does ethical leadership mean in our evolving digital workplace? read more

ANZ Mental Health Association Feature: Job Crafting Your Nine to Thrive

Natalie Richardson's latest piece offers practical tips to craft a better working life for you and your team. read more

The Dance of Partnering

In this article, we learn the "dance" of business partnering: joining and differentiating read more

Problem or Polarity?

Sometimes it's not a matter of "either or?", but "yes and"... read more

We are AITD Award Finalists!

Our partnerships with BIG W, and Logan City Council, have both been nominated for an AITD Award. read more

Join us at The Great Wave, Oct 16-19 2020

Hayley Linthwaite and Natasha Budd are facilitating "Here Be Dragons" an immersive online experience at The Great Wave Melbourne Hub. read more

Job Crafting: Redesigning Your 9 to Thrive.

Performance Frontiers are presenting at the Workplace Mental Health Symposium. read more

Empathy Mapping: The Road to Innovation

Good design begins with empathy. In this article, we explore how to place empathy at the heart of our problem-solving and innovation processes. read more

Spring with Hope

Why is hope so important? And how do you lead with hope? read more

Power and Leadership

How do we lead with new types of power in our evolving landscape? read more

The Power of Story

Story is a powerful, but often under-appreciated leadership tool. Here's are some need-to-knows about unleashing the power of story. read more

Building Self-Esteem: From Self to Whole Team

How can we sustainably instil a strong sense of self-esteem in ourselves, our team and our whole organisation? read more

Bridging the Strategy Execution Gap

You've set your strategic focus, now it's time to take action. This is often where things fall apart. When it comes to strategy execution, how do we bridge the gap? read more

Dynamic Decision Making: How to Beat the Tortoise

We're often told that quick decisions are reckless; that slow and steady is the wiser way. We all know the tale of the tortoise and the hare. But what if we could beat the tortoise and make wise decisions at pace? read more

Strategic Prioritisation

It's common to find ourselves asking, which - from our array of strategic initiatives - should receive the most attention and why? read more

Sharpening our Strategic Focus

How do we share our focus between how we operate our organisation today, and how we innovate and implement strategies for the future? read more

Workplace Today Interview: Business Innovation During COVID-19

Alis speaks to Workplace Today about the necessity of innovation in this landscape, and how leaders can cultivate workplace cultures primed for innovation. read more

Hayley Linthwaite to present at Global Cyber Conference for Peace

Senior Associate, Dr Hayley Linthwaite, is co-hosting a session this Saturday June 27th at the Global Cyber Peace Conference. This ... read more

Learning From Living Systems

There is much wisdom to be found in the natural systems that surround us. Here are 4 Leadership Lessons captured in a brilliant living document, courtesy of the DAC lab. read more

ATOMIC Presence for Digital Learning

In our latest article for Training & Development magazine, Hayley explores how the human connection can be strengthened online. read more

Energising Performance Conversations

Performance conversations can be tricky. How do leaders re-energise the process for better outcomes? And how do we navigate post-covid? read more

Introduction to Whole Systems Thinking

It took a pandemic to see how connected and interdependent we are as a global community. As leaders, we need to understand what it means to lead with whole systems awareness, so we can make sure our ripple effect is a positive one. read more

10 tips for Facilitating Online Learning with Zoom

One story of how we fast-tracked our digital strategy and pivoted to 100% online learning in less than a week. read more

Three Questions with Marianne de Pierres

In 2020, PF celebrated our 20th birthday. With over 20 years' of leadership, learning and transformation carefully crafted and collated content under our belts, and a brand new vision to scale our positive impact, we were looking for the perfect voice to share our great work with the rest of the world. In walked Marianne. read more

Political Astuteness: “Dirty Word” or Vital Leadership Skill?

What does it mean to be politically astute and why is this a key skill in today's business environment? read more

Transformational Leadership in the Age of Epidemics

COVID-19 is not a blip in the system. Disruption is new normal. To thrive, we need leaders with buoyancy and purpose. Leaders who are not afraid to challenge convention. Leaders dedicated to transformation. read more

Training Industry Magazine Feature: Psych Safety

To get the best out of teams, the modern leader must nurture psychological safety. Yet this is particularly hard in remote teams and fast-moving organisations. Our latest article, published in the March edition of Training Industry Magazine, outlines five tried and tested safety tools you can use to help teams rapidly develop psychological safety. read more

Adaptive Leadership

Our world is a complex, unpredictable ecosystem. Now with the added gravity of a pandemic in our lives, we can hardly ignore the VUCA reality that envelopes us. Without minimising the current realities we’re experiencing, how might we find a way to adapt and thrive? read more

Creative Brainstorming Tools

To solve for new and unprecedented challenges, we need new ways of thinking. Here are three tools to spark it... read more

From ‘Fake It Till You Make It’, To Cultivating True Joy

In name of making it through COVID-19, you may feel pressure to “put on a brave face”. However, forced positivity can add to the overall levels of strain. How can you cultivate true joy and remain buoyant? The answer may surprise you. read more

Adapting Learning Online: 6 Emerging Priorities

In these difficult times, it’s important to carve out clear space for the leadership development that will help us adapt and ... read more

Pause with PF

We're all going through a lot. To be the leaders we need to at this time, it helps to find a moment of calm in the storm. To support ... read more

Leading Through COVID-19 With Buoyancy

Everyday, it seems we are confronted with new and unprecedented challenges. As we recover from the bushfires, and as the impact of COVID-19 unfolds, how do we lead through crisis and disruption? One answer lies in buoyancy. read more

We’re speaking at Atlassian Summit 2020

Important update: We regret to announce that Atlassian Summit 2020 has been cancelled amid escalating concern around the COVID-19 ... read more

Is Your Caterer Killing Your Learning Potential?

In our latest article for Training & Development magazine, Natalie Richardson explores how leaders can use the science of nutrition to enhance learning and development outcomes. read more

Partnering for Value Creation Pt 2: The Dance

This is Part 2 of Optimising Value Creation Through Partnership: an exploration into the value of creating partnering relationships. read more

Partnering for Value Creation Pt 1: The Case

Here, we present our case for partnering: why creating partnerships is a key contemporary leadership skill, and one of the greatest resources for value creation. read more

Horizontal Leadership

In 2019, we are sharing our Horizontal Leadership research anew. New model, same sentiment: What we achieve alone cannot compare to what we achieve together. read more

Cultivating Personal, Leadership and Cultural Buoyancy

Our worklives are often characterised by many up and downs - some more severe than others. How do we move through tough times more constructively? read more

Curiosity: A Primary Leadership Discipline Today

Much has been written about the power and importance of curiosity in organisations today. And yet, despite the benefits, curiosity deficits are common. How do we make the shift? read more

Woolworths Group’s Eco Transformation

Today Sydney Morning Herald acknowledged Woolworths Group for their transformation into a dynamic retail ecosystem. This transformation means a lot to us. read more

PF to present at PMIAC 2019

Calling all Project Managers, Project Teams, and anyone interested in the power of story. PF will be presenting on project storytelling at PMIAC 2019. read more

Focus on the Learner Experience Not Engagement

PF's article explores what happens when we shift our focus from learner engagement to the learner experience. (published in Training Magazine, March 2019) read more

Can #libspill Teach us Something About Leading Transformation?

Another day, another leadership spill in Australian politics. Can we learn something from this chaos in the Coalition about steering transformation and the human side of change? read more

PF Present at Get BIM Right: bSA Management Series

We were recently invited to present at the buildingSMART Management Series around the topic 'Get BIM Right". Our Managing Director, ... read more

Giving and Receiving Feedback: It’s a Gift

Mention the word “feedback” in a professional setting and you will find many people shaking in their boots or running for the hills . The kicker is that people actually crave feedback. Even if it scares them. We encourage people to see feedback as a gift: one worth receiving and sharing at every opportunity. read more

Courage in the Boardroom

Courage involves saying what needs to be said to the right person, at the right time, and in the right manner. As leaders, our observations are vital, yet many of us find it difficult to speak up, particularly if our message could be hard to hear. How do we back ourselves for the benefit of our entire organisation? read more

Feature Article: The Age of L&D Content Curation

In the age of information, learners often feel overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information at their fingertips. Is content curation a new priority for learning and development teams? Check out PF Senior Associate, Natalie Richardson‘s, new article published on Training Industry online. read more

Leadershift: Leading Horizontally and Vertically

Modern organisations are highly matrixed and rely on partnership and interconnection to deliver business outcomes. The leadership required is one that not only sees vertically, but horizontally as well, delivering outcomes for your function or business, balanced with a considered understanding of what is best for the whole organisation. read more

ACE-ing Customer Experience at BWS [CASE STUDY]

For the last three years, our team have partnered with BWS to transform the business, boosting engagement in a team of 7500 across 1300 stores and creating a customer-centric culture through a handful of initiatives, including the Revolutionary Authentic Customer Experience (ACE) Program. read more