Recently we held our inaugural Leadership Coaching Conference; “The Conference for Today’s Complex World”. We invited delegates to join us to jointly explore how to step forward and engage with change by navigating boundaries and generating creative tension through conversation, connection and collaboration.
We know today’s leaders face the reality of a world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA). And we also know that in times of rapid change, the temptation is to pull back. Our goal was to bring in global experts in the leadership and coaching space to inspire our curiosity to lean in and embrace the future.
And from the feedback received, we succeeded.
I think it was BRILLIANT! It was great to hear so many different models, ideas and perspectives. The blend of research evidence and application to the real-world was refreshing. Hearing views that differed and witnessing the respect for different ‘ways of seeing’ was wonderful and I think exemplifies what coaching is meant to uphold. (Conference delegate post survey feedback)
We opened the conference with our keynote speaker, Michael Bungay Stanier, who joined us from Canada. Michael had us moving around and energised, ensuring our pre-conference coffees kicked in! He challenged us with his 10-minute approach to coaching and left us with these five questions:
- What’s on your mind?
- What’s the real challenge?
- And what else?
- What do you want?
- What was most useful?
“Michael was exceptional – in content and process. His content was relatable to all, and his process lifted individual and relational energies in the room. He kicked the conference off on a high note”. (Conference delegate post survey feedback)
Another of our featured speakers, Silvia Lulka, also from Canada, shared her experiences embedding a coaching culture into her organisation’s call centres and the results speak for themselves: overall call centre revenue had a double-digit increase across comparable periods year over year, including increased customer satisfaction and decreased customer escalations. Other improvements were also shared, like a 72 percent improvement in retention among call centre employees over 24 months. But mostly for everyone, it was Silvia’s passion that lit up the room, showing us all what was truly possible.
“What an incredible couple of days! For me the opportunity to hear [Silvia Lulka] speak on the exceptional work you have done in embedding a coaching culture was the highlight. Thank you for coming all of this way to share your success with us” (Zoe Mittendorff, Conference delegate)
After a very busy two day schedule, packed with more than 30 hand-selected speakers, we concluded the conference in Room Three Sixty, set to the gorgeous backdrop of the twinkling lights of the Story Bridge, hearing from Inspirational Speaker, Matthew Ames.
Matthew is Brisbane based and as the father of 4 young children, was hospitalised at age 39 with a sore throat, which resulted in the loss of all four of his limbs, he was never expected to survive. Matthew shared not only his journey and the many boundaries he had to cross to get to where he is today, he also reminded us to embrace every opportunity. He left all of us with a message that was unforgettable describing how he engaged with change, navigated unknown boundaries and shared the importance of conversation, connection and collaboration.
Vision, persistence and passion. Not just surviving, but thriving. Truly an apt way to close.
Both [Matthew Ames and Michael Bungay Stanier] were beyond outstanding!! Their message, their manner and their presence while quite uniquely different were equally impressive. In both cases, an unforgettable experience and a privilege. (Conference delegate post survey feedback)