Communication

Ask to Lead: Mastering People-centred and Task-focused questions 

In different areas of life, we often use different language. How we frame up our conversations varies from home to the workplace, with family and with friends. When it comes to leadership, the central building block of our conversations, in...
Insights, Leadership

Boosting productivity in 2025: A neuroscience backed guide

The pursuit of productivity is a golden opportunity to foster deeper satisfaction and joy for both managers and their teams. This goal is not merely aspirational; studies consistently show that highly engaged teams can be up to 21% more productive,...
Insights, Leadership, Teams

Ways For Leaders to Supercharge Team Motivation Levels

While motivation is often regarded as an intrinsic attribute, there are some very real ways that leaders can influence the extrinsic factors that elevate engagement levels. And this is the moment to implement them. Studies throughout 2024/25 show declining employee...
Dr. Marianne de Pierres
Insights, Leadership, Learning and Development, Teams

The Art of Connection: A Curiosity for the New Year

As one year ends and another begins, we find ourselves in a unique space of possibility—a pause between the past and the future. This transitional moment invites questions rather than answers: What have I learned? What am I ready to...
Gretel Bakker
Insights, Storytelling, Storytelling

The Accountability Agreement

A question we often hear from our clients is: how do I keep my team accountable? At first glance, it seems simple – their role involves a task or a goal, and they should take responsibility for completing it. But...
Dr. Chris Rowell & Marcus de Courtenay
Insights, Leadership

Why Reflection, Recognition, and Celebration Energise a Workplace

It’s estimated that the average person spends a third of their lives (90,000 hrs) at work. If you subtract the time spent sleeping, this amounts to a significant portion of our ‘awake’ time. For most people, work is their dominant...
Dr. Marianne de Pierres
Culture, Insights, Leadership

Levers of Influence

“Leadership is influence.” – John C. Maxwell What Influences You? As Dan Pink reminds us, 40% of a leader’s job today is influencing. Given that in contemporary complex, interconnected organisations, we can’t get anything done by ourselves, one could argue...
Marcus de Courtenay & Dr. Chris Rowell
Insights, Leadership

Responsibility, Accountability and Leadership

“The price of greatness is responsibility.” – Winston Churchill  There’s no doubt that greatness and responsibility are inextricably interlinked. But responsibility is often connected with another concept. Business thinkers can use the words ‘responsibility’ and ‘accountability’ almost interchangeably. Either that...
Marcus de Courtenay
Culture, Insights, Leadership

Navigating the New Age of Workplace Learning

“When I think of the best of L&D, it’s about helping everyone find the way that they shine.” Maria Laws. “Career Development is fundamental to our employee value proposition, and learning is a key business metric.” Rajnish Borah. Global Head...
Dr. Marianne de Pierres
Insights, Learning and Development