CEO

I believe passionately in the power of entrepreneurial thinking and courageous purpose to unshackle the biggest corporations.

I’ve developed this belief over a 30 year career spent in both huge corporations like Unilever and Diageo and as CEO of loads of entrepreneurial and even start-up businesses. I think this gives me a useful perspective when I’m working with business leaders in big companies to clarify and implement strategy and transform the way their organisations think. I write a lot and speak on purpose, ethics and entrepreneurship and I’ve been a guest lecturer at Cranfield, Henley and Cambridge Judge Business Schools. One of my main interests at Contexis in recent years has been to pursue the ‘holy grail’ of measuring the commercial impact of purpose and show exactly how it drives performance in real businesses. I’ve had the huge honour to work closely with top academics mainly at Cambridge and Plymouth Universities in this ambitious project.

Chair

I am fanatical about building work environments based on trust allowing individuals to bring their true selves to work.

Having spent over 20 years in leadership and Board roles across Europe in Mars Inc, one of the globe’s largest, most successful and sustainable family businesses I’ve seen what is possible when senior executives create a culture of trust and ownership within their organisation. I’ve learned how, by developing work environments which engender  agile and responsive “followship”, leaders can transform their business; not only making it a place where everyone truly contributes but a company they can feel proud of. I understand the secrets of how to evolve a leadership team that is considered by stakeholders as outstanding, is respected by their workforce and has an authenticity of style. I specialise in supporting “C suite” executives to create clarity around their strategy, and to recognise the refinements required to facilitate  successful and sustainable implementation across their business.

Chief Operations Officer

I believe that a sense of ownership is a massive discriminator of performance in all organisations.

As Licensing Director for Unilever, I expanded many Unilever brands into new markets by partnering with fast growth entrepreneurial business and giving them access to Unilever’s brands, knowledge and finance. This was a hugely successful venture, creating a rapid innovation cycle for the company and a new business model for growth. Since then, I’ve worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs bringing clarity and energy to help them build brilliant businesses that they love working in. I’ve seen how the people and behaviours make the most difference to corporate agility and how purpose-led organisations outscore purely profit-led organisation in all aspects of business, regardless of the size of the company. At ContexIs I really enjoy putting together client programmes which drive strategic clarity, trust and ownership into exciting businesses.

CEO, Contexis Australia

I passionately believe magic happens for our communities and planet when employees are empowered in their roles to make courageous decisions that are aligned to just and purposeful outcomes.

What inspires me about Contexis is the privilege of working with clients to ignite individual purpose at leadership level, as they make the transformational shift towards being a purpose-driven organisation. It’s about journeying with them as they uncover their “aha” moments and tying it back to the organisation’s ‘North Star’. I’m driven by the current systems challenge we’re facing at a corporate governance level, and how we bring empathy to the individuals making those moral decisions within the corporate structure. We’re at the most interesting point in history where there is a shift to align decisions to sustainable principles. “Suddenly” we are increasingly seeing systemic changes, at an organisational and project level, creating space for individuals to contribute from a place of genuine ethics. And there is something very inspiring about getting up in the morning and doing something to accelerate and amplify that shift. I’ve always had a deep appreciation for ecology. I admire nature’s iterative approach when solving problems. Nature has no waste. She’s efficient, and constantly evolving solutions by capitalising on the ‘waste’ she produces. I apply these ecological principles in my work by identifying where “waste” has accumulated, and flipping this into an opportunity to innovate.  

Head of the Engine Room

I think it’s obvious that we all share a heartfelt need to be connected and to be useful, and that we all lose out if we can't bring this to our work.

Having spent 18 years working in consumer marketing and innovation for Irn-Bru, Premier Brands and Bacardi-Martini then running my own coaching consultancy, I understands from experience the pressures and rewards of the corporate and the entrepreneur's life. I’ve worked in companies with a genuine long-term perspective and ones for whom next week might as well not exist. Now I lead the Contexis Engine Room – designing and producing systems and transformational programmes that run like clockwork and are easily scalable.

 

I believe that people have the potential to make a lasting contribution to our world through their work.

A thoughtful and customised employee experience has the power to unlock the potential in people to contribute with their whole selves. And so, it follows that an engaged employee will contribute to their organisation’s success and align themselves to activating its purpose. Other than being an employee myself, I first encountered the power of employee experience through supporting organisations as an employment lawyer. I quickly realised I would make the most contribution by proactively shepherding people’s experience at work. For the past 10 years, I partnered with leadership teams in professional services, healthcare and for purpose organisations to positively influence organisational performance through a focus on people and their experience at work. I do this through deep listening, insight coaching, developmental facilitation, human centred design, and nurturing trusting relationships.  

I believe the world longs for guidance and stewardship on how to stick through our shared learning journey.

This world is getting more complex by the day. (Think about it: the speed of change will never be as slow as it is today.) Constantly, we need to find new ways. This challenge is true for us as a global community, for every organisation and for each of us individually. I believe that most people are motivated and willing to step up. I provide guidance and support that enables them to convert their intent into impact. I help organisations to make their aspirations reality. Allergic to jargon, I’m pushing my clients to actually empower their workforce; to create true alignment, and to really change mindsets. I help everyone involved to step into the inevitable tension that this will bring, to find new ways to collaborate and to lean into the uncomfortable. My job is to guide you into this journey, through it, and out of it. For the last 20 years, I’ve been deeply involved in leadership and capability development. An expert in human learning as well as in systems thinking, I bring a perspective that is both strategic and pragmatic. After an academic career in business education and instructional psychology, I was a capability expert at Boston Consulting Group in Germany and Australia, working across industries, sectors and regions. I’m a leader at WYSE, a non-for-profit organisation that enables young leaders to make a difference in their communities.

I believe that by attending to both health and productivity, we can directly improve performance for business leaders and their teams. 

I’m a life scientist by background but with a passion for entrepreneurship. I am inspired by working with business leaders and their teams to overcome issues hindering their progress and to develop a clear and very do-able strategy to achieve their vision. In 25 years experience, in a mix of commercial and consulting roles, I have worked with entrepreneurial leaders in businesses large and small, private and listed, throughout Europe and North America, India and China. My special area of interest is in applying my original research background with innovative tools to help business leaders and their teams to feel more energised and be more productive.   Using heart rate variability technology by Firstbeat™, I give clients an in-depth means to understand their physiological response to stress and a heavy workload and to manage their resources more effectively, in and outside of work.

I am driven by the belief that an enabling ecosystem of connections, resources and knowledge, can empower individuals to drive 'purpose aligned action' within their organisations to create social and environmental value.

An Architect by background, I now work as a professional ‘generalist’ across the areas of strategic and participatory design, facilitation, social innovation, business and enterprise development, corporate social responsibility, shared value, partnership brokering and capacity building.

I draw on over 10 years of national and international experience in both the private and for-purpose sectors developing successful programs and initiatives within organisations and delivering value on major projects for clients.

I have a deep understanding of the social sector, including the existing and emerging challenges facing communities in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.  I also understand the drivers and pathways to influence business practice and create shared value.  My work focuses around initiatives and collaborations that look to shift social and environmental challenges through building new capabilities, developing new ways of doing business and creating opportunities for purpose aligned innovation.

 

I believe that it takes courage to truly lead.

Courageous leaders dare to go where they have not gone before. I love to work with leaders who want to achieve more; for themselves, for their businesses, and for the people in them. Previously I worked for nearly ten years with DMS as Senior Vice President, tasked with transforming operational efficiency, managing teams through complex projects and several organisational evolutions. I recognised then the interconnected nature of strategy and execution. Ever since, I have worked to bridge the gap between strategy and implementation by understanding both the technical and commercial requirements of the task and the human beliefs and behaviours that can derail progress. I am fortunate to be based in the Cayman Islands but I work around the world, with a particular focus on the US. My aim in advising any client is to connect the human with the commercial, to improve alignment, accountability and to deliver sustainability change.

I’m a business psychologist and PhD with a fascination for what motivates and drives human behaviour and how this can impact business outcomes.

My work challenges individuals to address the real issues which deliver business outcomes through personal growth. In particular, how attitudes and personality influence and inform decision making and the process of change. I have many years experience in academic research and working as a business psychologist and coach, and I’ve discovered that there are a number of key factors which stand out above others, namely because of their impact on behaviour – CONFIDENCE, OPENNESS and COMMITMENT. Working with different cultures and industry sectors across the globe, these core elements remain constant factors.

I believe the power of your message is in its authenticity, authority and energy. It’s more about how you communicate than what you actually say.

I began my coaching career after many years as a producer and manager at the BBC and in the independent sector. I’ve since found myself training people in an amazing mix of locations – from the back of speed boats to a shoot with the Sugarbabes – and in a range of situations – from helping authors handle a political media storm to preparing CEOs and board directors to deliver/deliver high profile strategy speeches with confidence and conviction. I work with with many top executives and businesses, transforming the way they communicate both internally and externally. I believe in presenting with authenticity, authority and energy and that the credibility and impact of your message is as much about how you communicate, as it is about the power of your content.

I firmly believes that change comes from within and that this is far more effective and sustainable than external consultants telling you what to do.

I am based in Amsterdam but work across Europe. I’m completely at home in a number of languages including French, German, Dutch and English. My way of working is pragmatic, open and frank, and this clarity of approach allows clients to focus once again on those things that truly add value for them and their customers; devising strategies that are useable and effective throughout the whole company. I have spent over 20 years in corporate functions in sales and strategic business development. My passion for innovation enabled me to lead the development of the worldwide mobile applications business at a large IT services company – the precursor to what we know today as apps. I was also part of an internet startup and have helped several startup companies since then. These experiences have given me the skills needed to be able to help companies help themselves, and I’ve experienced at first hand that bringing back the entrepreneurial mindset to a company has resulted in amazing outcomes.

I love to build relationships of trust so we can work on the things that really matter.

My passion is to empower business owners to fulfil their potential; building their businesses while helping them explore their dreams and fears so they can have high growth from a more relaxed, happy business, in which the owner/founder is doing far less. I like a bloody-minded client and a boardroom tussle - they are a sign of commitment and determination to achieve more. Over the last 16 years I’ve delivered thousands of hours coaching, mentoring and advising businesses in a wide variety of sectors. Prior to this I spent 25 years as an entrepreneur, founding and growing a number of businesses nationally and internationally that were sold successfully.

I believe that a clear, compelling vision has the power to inspire others to take ownership.

I’m passionate about leadership, and have seen many times that a clear, compelling vision has the power to inspire others to act without the need for line authority. And I’ve built and led many strong teams which have challenged processes and hierarchies and done what it takes in order to single-mindedly deliver against their commitments. As an engineer originally, I moved into brand marketing, market research, back into product innovation, and then into strategy development. I’ve seen a company change from a pioneering, big-thinking, risk-taking exciting ‘family’ to a sluggish, narrow, risk-averse big corporate enterprise and is clear about what has been lost: real leadership and real teamwork. Now, I love to help teams develop clear and compelling strategies that make change inevitable.

I believe it is not just about the money, it’s about what makes a business tick.

I’ve worked in the SME market for over 18 years now, and love understanding what makes a business tick and seeing how I can add extra value to my clients by molding a tailored service. A methodical planner who loves to be organized, the challenge of managing the finances for a fast-growing business like Contexis is the kind of work that gets me out of bed in the morning.