The GameChanger Consultancy

24/10/2026

24/10/2026

Join us, connect and networking with other likeminded women….https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/lZJXi2-UTjutkWEJvez69Q #/registration

30/09/2026

Your most important appointments are with yourself.

I gave myself that time this morning.

It’s easy to look at a busy diary, a long to-do list, deadlines and assume there is no space to think, or reflect.

No space to step away from the constant pull of meetings, decisions and competing demands.

What I’ve learned, almost paradoxically, is that when time is at a premium, creating that space for your strategic thinking becomes more important, not less.

One of the practices I come back to is deliberately putting time in my diary with myself.

Sometimes it’s an hour, a coffee, a notebook and a change of environment. Sunshine is optional!

The purpose isn’t to necessarily do more “work”, it’s to create enough space and distance from the work to see it differently.

To ask:

What actually matters now?

What has changed?

What am I giving attention to that no longer deserves it?

What needs to move up, move down, or come off the list entirely?

Where am I going next?

That space allows me to re-sequence priorities, reset, and reconnect with the bigger vision and purpose, rather than allowing whatever feels most urgent to dictate what happens next.

That matters enormously in leadership.

Strategic leadership isn’t just about your capacity to make good decisions quickly.

It’s also about creating the conditions in which you can make better decisions in the first place.

Reflection isn’t time away from leadership, it’s fundamental to wise leadership.

❤️🙌🎯

30/09/2026

Your most important appointments are with yourself.

I gave myself that time this morning.

It’s easy to look at a busy diary, a long to-do list, deadlines and assume there is no space to think, or reflect.

No space to step away from the constant pull of meetings, decisions and competing demands.

What I’ve learned, almost paradoxically, is that when time is at a premium, creating that space for your strategic thinking becomes more important, not less.

One of the practices I come back to is deliberately putting time in my diary with myself.

Sometimes it’s an hour, a coffee, a notebook and a change of environment. Sunshine is optional!

The purpose isn’t to necessarily do more “work”, it’s to create enough space and distance from the work to see it differently.

To ask:

What actually matters now?

What has changed?

What am I giving attention to that no longer deserves it?

What needs to move up, move down, or come off the list entirely?

Where am I going next?

That space allows me to re-sequence priorities, reset, and reconnect with the bigger vision and purpose, rather than allowing whatever feels most urgent to dictate what happens next.

That matters enormously in leadership.

Strategic leadership isn’t just about your capacity to make good decisions quickly.

It’s also about creating the conditions in which you can make better decisions in the first place.

Reflection isn’t time away from leadership, it’s fundamental to wise leadership.

If you and your team need that space and clarity, I’m opening some sessions in October. Please comment or DM for details.

Laura Trendall

The GameChanger Consultancy

26/09/2026

Discernment is a leadership capability

I came across the Sabian Symbol “A quiver filled with arrows” this morning, after meditation practice, and it made me reflect on something we don’t talk about enough in leadership.

Having the ability to act doesn’t always mean that action is the right response.

A full quiver of arrows represents preparation, capacity, resources. The capability is there. The choices are there. The potential is there.

The precise skill is in deciding which arrow, which target and exactly when is the right moment.

We frequently tend to associate leadership with visible action. The things that are obvious.

Making the decision. Launching the initiative. Solving the problem. Moving things forward.

Leading with wisdom and discernment feels slightly more nuanced. Experience has taught me that some of the most important leadership decisions sit and percolate before any of that occurs.

Next time you are called to make a decision, I invite you to hold these questions:

1. What actually requires our attention?

2. What outcome are we trying to achieve?

3. Is what is being considered actually the right intervention?

4. And is now the right time?

Preparation matters because it gives us data and options.

Discernment matters because it stops us treating every option as an instruction to act, and invites pause and reflection before we commit to action.

There is something powerful about the discipline of the archer.

Prepare. Choose. Aim. Release.

Once the arrow has left the bow, the archer doesn’t chase it towards the target. What is done is done. What can be observed is the result. And then we go again. We learn, adjust, refine.

There’s a leadership lesson in that too.

Sometimes the next thing we need to do isn’t necessarily “more”.

It is to know that we have prepared sufficiently well, kept the eye focused on the target, acted with intention, and created enough space to see what comes next.

Pause and reflect.

Where would greater discernment create more impact than greater activity for you right now?

Laura Trendall

The GameChanger Consultancy

26/09/2026

Having the ability to act doesn’t always mean that action is the right response.

A full quiver of arrows represents preparation, capacity, resources. The capability is there. The choices are there. The potential is there.

The precise skill is in deciding which arrow, which target and exactly when is the right moment.

23/09/2026

Today I’m on my way to attend the launch of the 2026 ICC Arbitration Rules in Almaty.

It’s a particularly relevant conversation for me.

Across more than 30 countries, much of my work with senior leadership teams has sat around the commercial realities of delivering strategy and transformation, including strategic partnerships, commercial contracts, procurement strategy, governance and, when things don’t go according to plan, dispute resolution through negotiation and practical solutions that preserve commercial relationships.

These aren’t issues that sit separately in a procurement or contract management function, they are key to transformation, from the moment a programme is scoped and initiated and contracts need to be designed accordingly.

The way organisations structure commercial relationships, allocate risk and reward, establish governance and deal with disagreement can determine whether a strategic partnership delivers its intended value or becomes an expensive distraction.

Having a legal background alongside my work in strategy, leadership and organisational transformation has always shaped the way I approach these questions.

I’m interested, beyond what an organisation says it wants to achieve, in whether the commercial architecture of contracts and projects enables that outcome.

Years of reviewing MSAs, SLAs and contract performance, beyond initial enthusiasm, to what delivery really results in, has shaped that holistic approach.

So today’s discussions around the 2026 ICC Arbitration Rules, speed when time is of the essence, and what works in dispute resolution clauses are firmly within territory I’ve encountered throughout my international work.

There is also a particular relevance to Kazakhstan.

As international investment and cross-border partnerships continue to develop across Kazakhstan and Central Asia, the quality of the commercial frameworks underpinning those relationships matters.

For GameChanger, building our presence here in the future means being part of that wider business ecosystem, bringing international experience into the market, while developing strong relationships with the organisations and professionals shaping its next phase.

Looking forward to some excellent conversations today.

02/07/2026

Just published The GameChanger Manifesto - 20 simple principles for better leadership, teams and communities.

Would love some support with a follow and your thoughts. 🙌❤️🎯

What's it all about?

21/03/2026

Every great innovation or business starts with a clear vision.

Watch Episode 3 here:

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