Neucoach

26/08/2026

26/08/2026

This is Onyx and this little moment captures one of the reasons I love bringing horses into leadership development.

Anyone who spends time around horses knows how quickly they pick up on what is happening around them. They respond to our movement, tension, attention and consistency, and they have absolutely no interest in our job title, expertise or how convincing we think we are being.

When a horse chooses to settle with you like this, there is something quite lovely about it because it hasn’t been instructed or persuaded. There is a sense of trust and safety in the interaction that has developed through what the horse is experiencing from you.

I often see parallels with leadership.

People are constantly picking up information from us too, much of it outside the words we use. They notice what happens to us when we are challenged, whether we really listen, whether our behaviour matches what we say, and whether it feels safe to disagree with us or tell us something we may not particularly want to hear.

We can talk about trust, psychological safety and leadership presence in a workshop, although experiencing the impact of your own presence can bring a very different level of awareness.

That is what I value about working with horses. They provide immediate feedback on what is actually happening in the interaction, without being influenced by hierarchy, status or intent.

Sometimes the most useful leadership insight comes from noticing how others experience us, rather than concentrating on how we intended to come across.

24/08/2026

My latest article for **Forbes Coaches Council** is now live:

**Before You Correct the Behavior, Read the State**

This piece gets to the heart of something I see repeatedly in leadership development. We are often quick to respond to the behaviour we can see, without paying enough attention to what may be happening underneath it.

Pressure. Uncertainty. Threat. Frustration. A lack of clarity. A loss of connection.

All of these can shape what eventually shows up as behaviour.

For me, one line captures the whole idea:

**Behaviour is the output. State is the source.**

The article explores what changes when leaders learn to read state before they correct behaviour, and why accountability can hold both clarity and humanity.

Seeing this thinking published through Forbes Coaches Council feels pretty special.

I’d love to know what resonates with you.

**Link to the full article in the comments.**

28/07/2026

Another beautiful living systems leadership session at the Natural Boardroom in the Gold Coast Hinterland. Real time leadership development for real behavioural change.

28/07/2026

I am delighted to announce my membership in the Forbes Coaches Council.

With over three decades of experience in leadership development across Australia and internationally, I see this as an exciting opportunity to engage in broader discussions about the future of leadership, accountability, and the human systems that underpin organizational life.

In the coming months, I will share insights from my work with leaders and teams, my integration of neuroscience and nature, and concepts from my upcoming book, Living Systems Leadership™.

Central to this work is the belief that leadership involves shaping conditions:
- The conditions for trust.
- The conditions for contribution.
- The conditions for accountability.
- The conditions in which people and performance can thrive together.

I will also delve into The Neuroception of Leadership™ and how leaders influence the emotional, relational, and physiological conditions that precede visible behavior or performance.

I look forward to writing, contributing and learning alongside a global community of experienced coaches and leaders.

18/07/2026

the trees don’t talk much.

15/07/2026

Every person who meets Onyx has the same initial reaction.

Awe.

Conversations stop. People slow down. Their eyes widen. They stand a little taller. They instinctively lower their voice.

Before a single exercise has begun, something has already changed.

We often think of awe as simply an emotional response.

Neuroscience suggests it is much more than that.

Awe occurs when we encounter something so vast, beautiful or unexpected that our existing mental models are no longer enough to explain what we’re experiencing. For a brief moment, the brain becomes more open to updating those models.

In other words, awe creates the conditions for insight.

Because when people experience awe, they don’t just think differently.

They become more willing to think differently.

Every time I watch someone meet Onyx for the first time, I’m reminded that transformation doesn’t always begin with a conversation.

Sometimes it begins with awe.

14/07/2026

Leadership isn’t something we separate from the environment around us. It’s shaped by it.

Today we welcomed another group of leaders into the Natural Boardroom to explore and practise Living Systems Leadership.

Every session begins with an Acknowledgement of Country. Not because it’s something we feel obliged to do, but because it reflects the very principles we’re teaching.

Living Systems Leadership starts with recognising that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. Before we lead organisations, teams or change, we acknowledge the land that sustains us, the people who have cared for it for generations, and the interconnected systems we all depend upon.

There is something profoundly different about sitting beneath the trees, listening, reflecting and learning in nature rather than within four walls. The environment itself becomes part of the learning experience.

It doesn’t get much more authentic than that.

I’m continually reminded that the most powerful leadership lessons often emerge not from another slide deck, but from slowing down enough to notice the living systems that have been teaching us all along.

02/06/2026

The UK’s first completely bridleless horse competition got me thinking.

What becomes possible when we remove unnecessary restraints?

Horses thrived without control, responding with trust and connection.

Humans are the same, we’re living systems, not machines.

Purpose sits at the centre, not hierarchy, not processes.

Great leaders remove barriers, enable strengths and trust people to contribute.

The lesson is clear: conditions enable, purpose guides, people drive results.