I’ve been obsessed with what it is to be human since I was seven years old. At that age, with my limited experience of the world, it manifested as an ambition to become a doctor, seeking to understand why people became sick and how to make them better.
Through the study of hard sciences, humanities, applied health sciences, numerous areas of psychology, and philosophy that ambition led me not into medicine, but into a lifelong love affair with understanding my own and others humanness: what makes us who and what we are, inside and out, and shapes our human experience.
This obsession underpins everything in my life, from how I spend my time and money, to the work I choose to do and how I do it. Human-centred isn’t just a fleeting fad for me. It’s core to my being.
Throughout my 25+ years in the people, culture and leadership space, I’ve always developed and tested models, tools and practices for immediate real world challenges and opportunities.
One of my design principles is the development that works is the development you put to work. This means designing development experiences with understanding and empathy for leaders’ contextual reality, building them with human fundamentals, and creating accountability and support for immediate application so it gets ‘wired in’ through the trial and error of deliberate practice.
I also believe it no longer makes practical sense to separate our efforts to develop leaders, help them grow as people, and support their wellbeing to best enable healthy functioning and performance.
In a world where the edges of life and work are blurred, where leaders need to do ever more demanding and courageous work, and where our working lives are evolving and extending thanks to increasing longevity, it makes more sense to offer development experiences that integrate all three areas to level up the value of the whole.
My midlife awakening arrived as I approached my 50th birthday. Amongst the many collisions of The Midlife Turning Point, I was brought face to face with internalised ageism and limiting stereotypes as I let my silver hair grow out and slid kicking and screaming (and not sleeping!) into perimenopause.
This time was an awakening not just to myself but to the multiple and unattended struggles of women leaders in midlife. I was outraged by the lack of visibility our needs have and the way our age and experiences are dismissed, stigmatised, and used against us.
I felt called to take a stand for women like me: to make visible the challenges and opportunities midlife offers a new generation of women and the leadership impact we can create when we better navigate the midlife transition, understand the common humanity of our experience, connect more deeply with each other, and decide that the best of life and leadership is yet to come.
On every page across this site, at the bottom and sometimes in the middle as well, there are little sound bites from fabulous humans I’ve had the pleasure of working with. The words of others are often more meaningful than our own so I’ll let them do the talking and hope they give you a bit of a feel for me and how I do things.
If you’d like to learn more, then you’re welcome to check out 100+ personal recommendations I’ve received over on LinkedIn.
Other than that, you’ll just have to try me for yourself!
“Kate is absolutely fantastic. She is not only incredibly knowledgeable but has a real ability to read the room, develop empathy with the people with whom she is working, and get the best out of them. Despite some of the more challenging topics we covered, Kate approached everything with a sense of lightness and humour which I really appreciated.”
Marika Eastwick-Field
Partner
“There are pivotal moments and people in your life that you know are a major influence in both determining who you are and igniting the inspiration for aspirational growth in who you want to become. Kate’s humanistic approach to leadership has resonated deep within my core and opened a new chapter of self-discovery and growth.”
David Healey
Chief Digital Officer
“If there is ever a time that we need the most human approach to leadership, it is now. Kate has the ability to help us look within ourselves, within the systems in which we work, and to ask the questions that lead us into deep, high impact change. I never come away from a conversation with Kate, thinking about things the same.”
Sally Doherty
People, Culture & Capability Lead
Join over 17,000 people who follow Kate’s life and leadership insights by subscribing to our newsletter
By subscribing you agree to our Privacy Policy.
Connect with Kate
on LinkedIn
Email our General Manager
Paul is our first point of contact for all enquiries.
[email protected]
