Few leadership teams collapse in a single meeting. They drift. A decision is delayed by three weeks because ownership was never made explicit. A senior appointment departs within eighteen months, and the exit interview cites “culture fit” – a diagnosis that, in truth, was never made before the individual arrived. Two divisions cease to collaborate, […]
Transformation rarely fails because leaders lack ambition. More often, it fails because the formal organization and the informal organization are moving at different speeds. John O. Burdett’s Cultural Alignment Model helps leaders see culture not as a statement of values, but as a system.
There was great energy in the room when a full house of senior People & Culture executives gathered for CPO to Board: Impact and Influence, the latest in our quarterly P&C Roundtable series. I hosted the event alongside Peter George, Managing Director, Prima Group. Our panel was moderated by Anita Ziemer, Executive Director, TRANSEARCH Australia.
In today’s executive talent market, the most capable leaders are rarely looking for their next role in the same way organizations are looking for them. Potential candidates are highly selective, well informed and alert to signals that reveal whether an opportunity is worth serious consideration.
In periods of disruption, leadership teams often talk about transformation as though it were a strategy exercise. In reality, transformation is usually a talent decision first.
Most organisations still treat talent acquisition as a sequence: source → attract → assess → hire. But high‑performing leaders — especially passive candidates — no longer respond to this linear logic.
The past few years have shown how quickly business assumptions can collapse. Markets shift. Technology accelerates. Customer expectations reset overnight. This is why the next generation of leaders isn't a "later" conversation.
The future isn’t approaching. It’s accelerating. And in many organisations, the real constraint isn’t strategy, technology or capital. It’s how quickly people can make sense of change, and act on it.
Talent acquisition is often described as a process that begins with sourcing and attraction. In practice, this framing is flawed. Attraction does not start with outreach. It starts with clarity.
Most organisations don't actively design culture. They experience it. It shows up in how decisions are made, how people challenge each other and what gets rewarded or quietly discouraged.
Most organisational underperformance doesn’t begin in execution. It begins earlier. In hiring decisions that quietly shape capability, pace and culture long before results show up anywhere visible.
Coaching is now central to leadership, not supplementary. AI can extend its reach, but in complex environments, context, trust and judgement remain firmly human domains.
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