Global Leadership Foundation

We are very excited to report that our Global Fellow Marina Mele, who is also Founder and Managing Director of Global Leadership Foundation Italy, has been invited onto the panel of the upcoming TedX Bellinzona event on May 17. The theme of the event is 'balance', and Marina will speak on the topic 'Head, Heart, Body: looking for reliable balances'. We'll share a link to Marina's talk as soon as we can. In the meantime, find more information, and ticket sales if you happen to be in Switzerland, here:

Gayle will be taking part in a panel hosted by the Institute of Managers and Leaders and Swinburne University (Hawthorn campus) next month on May 9. The topic of the evening will be 'Building a Sustainable Future: Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Impact'. From the event's page: "Join Swinburne University and the Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia and New Zealand for an exclusive panel session discussing innovation, research and trends in sustainability. In this session, we’ll explore how you can have an impact on environmental and social sustainability from both an individual and organisational level. We’ll also look at the key role sustainability is having in corporate governance." For more information or to reserve your place:

As you may know, Global Leadership Foundation collaborates with a worldwide network of Fellows with significant expertise in leadership development, strategy, executive coaching and culture change (to name a few of their talents). We are all focussed on raising the emotional health levels of people on the planet and do this in a variety of ways. Our Fellows are passionate about making a positive difference through the work they do. They are recognised by their clients and peers for the contributions they make to individuals, organisations and communities worldwide. You can read about each member of this amazing group of people on our website at https://buff.ly/4cS4jXM. In addition, we recently compiled a list of links to their individual websites where you can dive into everyone's background and talents a lot more. We encourage you to explore the incredible diversity of this talented group.

Over the dozen years since we started our blog, there have been certain 'cornerstone' posts that we continually refer back to in newer posts. The article below is a good example. It introduces a concept we use repeatedly in our work, one which is really fundamental to understanding the wider concept of emotional health. First published in October 2011, but as relevant as ever, it is well worth reading (or re-reading). ------- Imagine you are in the car, driving along happily, when from out of nowhere someone cuts dangerously in front of you. You are forced to brake quickly to avoid an accident. How would you react? Like most people you would probably react in one of the traditional ways: a heavy hand on the horn, a tirade of abuse, the flashing of headlights, or all three of the above. This typical reaction to a typical situation is a classic example of what we call an automatic response. It’s a ‘default’ behaviour: we don’t consciously think about honking, swearing or flashing headlights – we just do it. In a situation like this, there’s a good chance that, on later reflection, you recognise that your behaviour was ultimately unnecessary and unhelpful. But you also wonder whether it is really possible to avoid these situations. After all, the responses are automatic, aren’t they? Read more:

For many years now, Global Leadership Foundation has provided leaders with unique opportunities to visit remote locations in order to explore, reflect on and gain new insight and perspectives about themselves, others and their impact on the world around them. During these leadership experiences, participants have time to critically and thoughtfully look at themselves and uncover ways in which they can evolve their leadership practice and make a difference to others. This is achieved through completing a personal leadership challenge or by connecting with other leaders through environmental and socially sustainable projects. Our most recent Leadership Experiences, since 2021, have centred around Ikara–Flinders Ranges National Park and its surrounds, including the Ediacara fossil beds, featuring one of the oldest and most intact fossil beds in the world. This area has recently been incorporated into the brand new Nilpena Ediacara National Park. The 2024 version of the Ikara–Ediacara Leadership Experience will take place between June 13 and June 17, 2024. This unique 5-day experience has been designed for leaders who are: * exploring meaning and purpose for themselves as individuals and as leaders * rethinking the way in which they relate to others, their organisations and the communities in which they operate * prepared to have their current thinking and experience around leadership challenged. This is a small group experience so numbers are very limited. Find out more and reserve your place at the event page below. We would love you to join us.

This month we welcome a guest post from our friend and colleague Dayle O’Brien. Dayle is an organisational ecologist whose specific interest is in working with organisations to help create living systems in which both people and the overall business get to thrive. "The twenty-first century has been an enormously exciting time in the world of business. It’s been the era of the start-up, when a budding entrepreneur with a great idea could grow from a garage-based operation to a national or even global enterprise seemingly overnight. We’ve seen this in technology companies, of course, but also in what might be called contemporary craft industries making everything from clothing to beer. With this shift has come new ways of doing business that look well beyond the profit motive. The contemporary way of doing business is to have wholeness, or what David Cooperrider, pioneer of the Appreciative Inquiry Model, refers to as being ‘net positive’. A net positive business is one that contributes to better outcomes for all its stakeholders, thrives as a whole organisation and provides an atmosphere in which individuals can show up in their entirety and explore their potential. In the language of emotional health, such an organisation is operating above the line with a high level of organisational development. All of this creates a challenge for the growing business that senses the opportunity to take the next leap, but isn’t quite sure what that is going to look like..." Read the whole article here:

Assembly 2024 is a gathering of B Corps from across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, the first such gathering for five years. The three-day event will be held at Cape Schanck in Victoria from February 26 to 28. Malcolm will be presenting at this year’s conference, on the topic ‘Head, heart, and gut: Where we make decisions’. From the program: “As leaders, there is often no playbook or guide for the hardest decisions we need to make. Malcolm from Global Leadership Foundation will take you through an exploration of the three centres — head, heart, and body — to understand what normally drives your decisions, and how you can access other approaches to create a more balanced approach.” Global Leadership Foundation has been a certified B Corporation since 2016, and Gayle Hardie currently sits on the board of B Lab Australia & Aotearoa New Zealand.

Leadership is complicated, so where do we start in developing leaders to be more effective within an organisation, a community, a region or even a nation? What we know is that the answer lies in vertical development, a field in which Global Leadership Foundation has been instrumental in measuring and sharing with clients, sectors and communities for the past 15 years. Vertical development is about developing more complex and sophisticated ways of thinking, greater wisdom and clearer insights. It contrasts with more traditional ‘horizontal’ development that focuses on skill building, typically around areas such as conflict management, facilitating effective meetings, managing priorities and so on. Read the full article...

Registrations closing! Don’t miss the Melbourne/Narrm IDG Hub’s Open Space Event happening next week:  Thursday, Feb 1, 2024 9:30am - 5pm Abbotsford Convent $50pp Book now: https://buff.ly/3HoETCA info here: https://buff.ly/3HeB5Ut  *** Join the Melbourne IDG Hub to stay updated: https://buff.ly/48F98RO Hop over to the Melbourne IDG Hub LinkedIn Group here: https://buff.ly/3RZneGF Melbourne IDG Hub is an initiative of Donkey Wheel Foundation, Epoch Institute, Global Leadership Foundation, and TDi #DifferenceMakers #MelbourneIDGHub #OpenSpace #InnerDevelopmentGoals #IDGHubMelbourne

Get involved in the Melbourne/Naarm IDG Hub – join us for an ‘Open Space’ event where we begin to co-create the future of the Hub: continuing our own inner development while participating in a global movement for change.   Registrations for this event are closing soon, book your place today to avoid missing out: https://buff.ly/3Hho1xH  Thursday, Feb 1, 2024 9:30am - 5pm Abbotsford Convent $50pp More info here: https://buff.ly/3HeB5Ut  *** Join the Melbourne IDG Hub to stay updated: https://buff.ly/48F98RO Hop over to the Melbourne IDG Hub LinkedIn Group here: https://buff.ly/3RZneGF Melbourne IDG Hub is an initiative of Donkey Wheel Foundation, Epoch Institute, Global Leadership Foundation and TDi #DifferenceMakers #MelbourneIDGHub #OpenSpace #InnerDevelopmentGoals #IDGHubMelbourne