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Insights

Insights are where we explore the latest learnings from the fields of organisational, leadership, and neuroscience studies and what they mean for leaders today. Get curious and come explore “next practice” with us.

Activating our Presence – the greatest challenge for today’s leaders

If someone asked you to “make time” for something at work, how would you react? I’m guessing you might feel a tightening in your chest, or your head may throb. Perhaps your thoughts fly to your backlog of tasks and…

Dr. Chris Rowell & Gretel Bakker & Dr. Marianne de Pierres
Insights, Leadership

AI, the Erosion of Cognition and Capability, & the Future of Leadership 

While many leaders are embracing AI at full speed, few are considering its cognitive, cultural, and developmental implications. AI is not just transforming how we work; it’s reshaping how we think, learn, and grow. As leaders we face a crucial…

Dr. Chris Rowell
Insights, Leadership

Keeping Things Interesting in the (Hybrid) Workplace: The Power of Curiosity 

“Because a stimulated intellect is a sine qua non to carry out challenging tasks, managers must consider establishing the right conditions in the workplace that encourage and foster vigorous social exchanges among the employees in their pursuits of intellectual curiosity.” …

Marcus de Courtenay
Culture, Insights, Leadership

The Human Cost of Rapid Change – Why Organisational Design Must Become Human Design

We live in a world where change is constant, relentless, and sometimes overwhelming. Here in Australia, employees today face an average of 19 organisational changes per year: a number that’s almost hard to fathom. No wonder the willingness to support…

Gretel Bakker & Sarah West
Insights, Leadership

Compassionate Leadership: A Catalyst for Regenerative Futures

The recent 2025 Australian elections were charged by much stronger undertones than normal. They weren’t simply a nod to a particular party platform, but a vote by the majority of the Australian people affirming a set of national values, i.e.,…

Gretel Bakker & Dr. Marianne de Pierres
Insights, Leadership

Why Scarcity is Our Default: evolving from survival to self-direction

Scarcity mindsets, rooted in vigilance, fear, and defence, were once essential to human survival. Today, however, they are increasingly maladaptive when now, more than ever, we need collaboration, openness, and creativity. This article explores how scarcity remains our neurological and…

Dr. Natasha Budd
Leadership

Leveraging Micro-Coaching for Busy Leaders

Learning development design and practices have changed. There’s not only a significant mindset shift towards continuous learning, and a slew of new technologies to assist with that, but our preference in “how” we learn is also evolving. Think: gamification, immersion…

Dr. Marianne de Pierres
Insights, Leadership, Learning and Development

Unlocking Potential: Bridging the Gap Between Performance and Possibility 

Do you have a team with potential that just isn’t quite reaching its stride? You see glimpses of brilliance, but something is holding them back. If your team is not performing optimally, how do you bridge the gap between their…

Dr. Natasha Budd & Tina Biro
Insights, Leadership

Adaptive Leadership: Thriving in Complexity

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, it is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”– Charles Darwin Our world is a complex, unpredictable ecosystem, teeming with interwoven networks—natural and man-made—that…

Gretel Bakker & Dr. Hayley Linthwaite
Insights, Leadership

Faciliative Leadership: The Art of Holding Space for Transformation 

Over the many years of working in the field of transformation, I have formed the opinion that facilitative leadership is not just a skill, it’s an art, a way of being, and a constant act of self-awareness, self-regulation, and attuning…

Gretel Bakker
Insights, Leadership

Leading Under Pressure to Avoid Threat Rigidity

“Every leader is at a different level for their window of tolerance for things like change, pressure, stress, complexity and uncertainty… When they get thrown outside their window of tolerance, that’s when their executive functioning goes out the window. And…

Dr. Chris Rowell & Dr. Marianne de Pierres
Insights, Leadership

Change Environments: Immunity to Change and New Years Resolutions

Did you know that up to 50% of New Years Resolutions fail? Change is hard. And yet our lives are filled with change. Even if we try our best to keep things the same, the inevitable march of aging, relationship…

Marcus de Courtenay
Insights, Leadership