Sonia Speaker Kit

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We are the LEADERS in LEADERSHIP Sonia has spoken at Dynamic! Engaging! Inspiring! Sonia McDonald is the CEO of LeadershipHQ, a highly sought after and vibrant Speaker, Entrepreneur, Leadership Expert and Thought Leader. Internationally recognised as an expert in leadership and strategy, organisational development and neuroscience, Sonia is highly sought after to speak at high profile events. Sonia is an engaging speaker who inspires as she educates. She has a natural ability to connect with her audience and presents content in a format, which motivates people to action. Sonia’s key focus is on the strategies behind successful business and leadership. Her presentations are both fun, vibrant and informative. Taking a neuroscience approach, Sonia shows how the power of the human brain can become the driver for business and team success, pushing your business to achieve and surpass organisational objectives. Sonia has presented to some of Australia’s best recognised companies, events and conferences inspiring them with ideas and translating those ideas into productive strategies. For over 20 years Sonia has been inspiring leaders and organisations around the globe. She has worked across diverse industries such as retail, education, construction and engineering, consulting, executive search and the public sector. She has also been published in The Australian, Smart Healthy Women, BBC Capital, HRD Magazine, Women’s Business Media and more… CEO SPEAKER ENTREPRENEUR Australian Human Resources Institute Forums and Special Events Business Women's Association for International Women's Day HR Summit for Key Media National HR Summit HR Directors Forum Executive Leadership Forum EA/PA Summit Women in Energy and Resources Summit PMI Conference National Women in Construction – NAWIC Australian Institute of Project Management Queensland Supply Chain & Logistics Conference Project Management Institute Conference Organisational Development Forums www.leadershiphq.com.au | [email protected] 1300 719 665

Transcript of Sonia Speaker Kit

Page 1: Sonia Speaker Kit

We are the LEADERS in

LEADERSHIP

Sonia has spoken at Dynamic! Engaging! Inspiring!Sonia McDonald is the CEO of LeadershipHQ, a highly sought after and vibrant Speaker, Entrepreneur, Leadership Expert and Thought Leader.

Internationally recognised as an expert in leadership and strategy, organisational development and neuroscience, Sonia is highly sought after to speak at high profile events. Sonia is an engaging speaker who inspires as she educates. She has a natural ability to connect with her audience and presents content in a format, which motivates people to action.

Sonia’s key focus is on the strategies behind successful business and leadership. Her presentations are both fun, vibrant and informative. Taking a neuroscience approach, Sonia shows how the power of the human brain can become the driver for business and team success, pushing your business to achieve and surpass organisational objectives.

Sonia has presented to some of Australia’s best recognised companies, events and conferences inspiring them with ideas and translating those ideas into productive strategies. For over 20 years Sonia has been inspiring leaders and organisations around the globe. She has worked across diverse industries such as retail, education, construction and engineering, consulting, executive search and the public sector.

She has also been published in The Australian, Smart Healthy Women, BBC Capital, HRD Magazine, Women’s Business Media and more…

CEO SPEAKER ENTREPRENEUR

Australian Human Resources Institute Forumsand Special Events Business Women's Association for InternationalWomen's Day HR Summit for Key MediaNational HR Summit HR Directors ForumExecutive Leadership ForumEA/PA SummitWomen in Energy and Resources SummitPMI ConferenceNational Women in Construction – NAWICAustralian Institute of Project ManagementQueensland Supply Chain & Logistics ConferenceProject Management Institute ConferenceOrganisational Development Forums

www.leadershiphq.com.au | [email protected]

1300 719 665

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Could have listened to Sonia McDonald talk about Neuroscience all day! Fascinating! Very engaging presenter!

Speaking and Workshop Topics:

What They Say…

BOOK SONIA TODAYwhere she will share her expertise, energy and insights.

She will make a difference with your people and organisation!

Fascinating topic and engaging presenter

Sonia has been speaking at the AHRI events and conferences for many years. Her workshops and presentations are always insightful, engaging and empowering. She is generous and inspiring with her audiences and focuses on bringing out the best in her participants.

Insightful and generous

Sonia McDonald is an inspirational keynote and workshop presenter with a distinctive ability to bond and engage with her audiences. Sonia is well known for her dynamic charismatic workshop/presentation style and people walk away on an emotional and inspired high, feeling informed.

Inspirational, dynamic & charismatic

My Story of ReinventionUnlikely EntrepreneurCourage of the Mind Confidence – it is SO hot right nowLeadership Presence – how do you walk into a room?The Leadership Key and EngagementPerformance - Your Way Impact LeadershipLeadership – Magic of MixThe Power of the Female BrainWar for Talent – and what you can do about it Developing your Employee Value PropositionWhy Change is HARD Neuroscience of TalentNeuroscience of SafetyImpact Leadership: Creating leaders whomake you look goodPersonal Branding – you are a BRAND!Managing your career – take control! Understanding Neuroscience in the workplaceTransitioning into Leadership…Working with MenNegotiation skills – we need it! It’s all about Power and InfluenceLeadership Styles – want to know yours?Being Political SavvyAwesome Networking SkillsStrengths Based leadership – all about strengthsNeuroscience of Leading ChangeSelf Awareness - your values, goals and beliefsConflict and Advocacy Skills – Must Have TODAY!

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Productivity in the WorkPlace

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Look into the brain

Qualifications and experience are the two things that most companies look at when hiring staff, be they destined for jobs at the bottom or top of the

ladder.But workforce productivity doesn’t just rely

on how skilled employees are.In fact, neuroscience has demonstrated that

people’s performance depends upon many more factors than just their resumes.

Their preferences, behavioural characteristics, emotional intelligence and mental toughness all play a role in determining what kind of a worker they will be and what kind

of role they would be most suited for.The issue is that those things aren’t easily

devisable – or they weren’t, until PRISM brain mapping was invented.

PRISM brain mapping is an online neuroscience-based tool designed to map an individual’s behaviour as a means to boosting their performance in the working space.

Originally developed in the United Kingdon, it

is now used globally by accredited specialists in the coaching profession and is already making a welcome difference in many businesses worldwide.

Even the Australian construction industry has taken to it, director of coaching company LeadershipHQ Sonia McDonald told Contractor.

“I use PRISM brain mapping with a lot of my clients who are in the engineering and

Neuroscience shows skills alone don’t guarantee performance. Marion Lopez reports

April 2013

“This benefits companies because it means less staff turnover and disengagement – people are motivated to achieve again.” – LeadershipHQ director Sonia McDonald

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C

construction leader space to assess their leadership capabilities,” McDonald said.

“I find they get a lot out of it in terms of their self-awareness.”

McDonald has been using PRISM for nearly a year with directors, project managers and engineers from companies such as Thiess and Aurizon.

According to her, PRISM has been very successful in helping coach her clients to become the leaders they want to be.

“When they do the assessment, which talks about what they like doing at home and at work, it brings out what preferences they are most

April 2013

Sonia McDonald explains skills aren’t enough – workers

preferences matter too.

strong in,” McDonald said.“It’s really interesting because it gives them

an idea about what part of their thinking they like using the most and how they’re actually adapting that in their working environment.

“It might be that they’re more other people leaders or their preferences are around evaluating, delivering results or it might be around innovating.

“The more they’re aware of themselves the better they are in terms of understanding ‘OK this is why I do what I do – it’s because that’s my preference’.”

PRISM assesses individuals around eight areas including innovating, initiating, supporting, coordinating, focusing, delivering, finishing and evaluating.

The assessment lasts for about half-an-hour and produces a behavioural map of the individual highlighting his/her preferences in those eight criteria.

With the map comes a 40-page analysis of the individual – which according to McDonald, gives a phenomenal insight into people’s behavioural essence.

“Because a lot of the leaders I work with are in the engineering and construction sectors, they make assumptions that they might be quite driven and they might be very much focused on delivering results and making sure that their projects are delivered on time, within budget and according to the program,” she said.

“They get their maps back and they see that they’re a lot more people-focused than they thought!

“Some see they’re a lot more supportive and collaborative than they thought and they go ‘oh that is actually my preference – I really like working with people but I’m demonstrating that I’m always analysing spread sheets and I’m always focused on deadlines.’

“So the map shows those people that they’re actually adapting themselves back to the job description and that they aren’t doing as much as they’d like.

“Then the question I ask them is ‘how could we actually work with you to demonstrate that natural preference of yours?’”

The change can be radical.McDonald said people understand

themselves more and feel more understood – this rise in self-awareness and awareness of others prompts a beneficial shift in people, who become more driven and in touch with the changes they need to make so as to be more productive.

“This benefits companies because it means less staff turnover and disengagement – people are motivated to achieve again,” McDonald said.

“It’s also good for those working in team – they become aware of who they are, what their triggers are, what their reactions to different situations would be and how they would relate to teammates.

“They understand why they make certain decisions and why they react a certain way under stress. Then they can compare their results and work out more effective ways to work together.”

Aurizon project director for the Wiggins Island rail project (WIRP) in Queensland, Simon Thomas, agreed with McDonald – and according to him, all those benefits did not take long to unfold.

After a few months of coaching with PRISM, Thomas said the tool gave him a better understanding of his project team, thereby allowing better cohesion and performance.

“I started using prism eight months ago because I believe that in construction, delivering projects successfully is all about behaviours and cognitive thinking, so I decided I liked the philosophy of the brain science concept,” Thomas said.

“Since then, Aurizon is using it for assessing the project managers within the WIRP project and identifying areas of development for leaders.

“PRISM helped me get a better understanding of the mindsets and behaviours of my project managers, understand what drives them and which areas need improvement drivers.”

Thomas said knowing what preferences his managers had around innovating, initiating, supporting, coordinating, focusing, delivering, evaluating and finishing was particularly helpful.

“This information helps me identify key strengths and weaknesses of my staff and the way they think and act and, in turn, allows me to give them training in these areas, hence give me a well-rounded team of individuals covering all areas (analysis, expression, drive, stability).”

Aurizon’s experience with PRISM brain mapping in the leadership development space seems to have been worth the try.

But the tool can be advantageous to a lot of other applications including coaching, recruitment, performance management, enhancing selling skills, creating high performance teams and career development.

What’s to remember about them all is that they can all be boosted, by looking into the brain.

“This information helps me identify key strengths and weaknesses of my staff and the way they think and act and, in turn, allows me to give them training in these areas, hence give me a well-rounded team of individuals covering all areas (analysis, expression, drive, stability).”– Aurizon project director Simon Thomas

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44"|"NOVEMBER"2013 HCAMAG.COM

CHANGE*MANAGEMENT*/*NEUROSCIENCE

As"leaders,"we"are"constantly"driving"and"facilitating"change, yet research in this area has demonstrated that 70% of change initiatives fail. Why? How can we make change easier and more successful?

The neuroscience of change, and understanding how our brains function, is vital to managing and coping with change.

BRAINS ARE WIRED FOR SURVIVALOur brain functions as a survival tool by helping us avoid danger. A part of the brain called the amygdala helps monitor our responses and tells us when to run from danger or towards safety. It also tells us when to step towards a benefit or away from a threat.

When change is happening around us in our society, relationships and workplaces, we can feel threatened, and that activates our amygdala. We feel outside our comfort zones, triggering fear and anxiety.

While this is good for our safety, it does come at a cost. When our brain is in safety mode, protecting

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us from a perceived threat, it cannot function well as a problem solver or creativity generator. In the workplace, the fear of change causes people to rely on tried and true routines, rather than create new strategies to move forward. In effect, the brain shuts down the part that is really needed at that time.

Basically, the amygdala of your brain has been hijacked and this is not the best time to make an important decision.

Now you see why 70% of change initiatives fail. By understanding how the brain works we can

manage change resistance and develop strategies to maximise change potential. Additionally, it gives us insights into how people learn, engage and remember, as well as manage emotions.

BRAINS ARE LAZYConsidering that our brains weigh around 1.5kg and absorb around 20% of our body’s energy, our brains are not particularly energy efficient and are actually pretty lazy. Our brains prefer comfy habits, as these

REWIRING THE BRAIN

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require a lot less energy. They don’t really like to learn new habits or ways of doing things, as this takes effort.

The design of the brain is not always helpful. The part of the brain that is responsible for thinking and high-order processing (the prefrontal cortex) requires a lot more energy to function than does the part of the brain that deals with emotion (the limbic system). That means it’s a lot harder for us to cope with change than to return to our tried and true habits.

How can we break habits and form new ones? In his book The Brain That Changes Itself, Dr Norman Doidge tells us that the brain can be changed by our thoughts and actions. They physically alter the structure of the brain itself, which in turn changes the way it functions. This is the most important breakthrough in neuroscience in four centuries.

This ability of our brain to change and make new connections, rewire itself and even grow new brain cells as a result of experience is called ‘neuroplasticity’. Change is about forming new wiring, habits and behaviours. Yes, we can teach an old dog new tricks!

How can we harness neuroplasticity of change? By tapping into the emotions…

BRAINS ARE AFFECTED BY EMOTIONWe know that often our behaviour is controlled by emotion rather than common sense. What that tells us is that the limbic system in the brain has some control over the information that is passed onto the cortex, which controls our decision-making system.

In other words, our thoughts and actions are coloured or skewed by the emotion that we are feeling. You’ve heard of rose-coloured glasses, the phenomenon that makes certain things look better than they really are. That’s an example of the limbic system influencing our beliefs and perceptions.

When people are afraid, as they usually are at the thought of change, our limbic systems colour our perceptions with threat and fear. People only see the negative side of change because that is all their brain permits. If the change is brought about for positive reasons, then people will accept it and be ready to involve themselves in making change happen.

MAKING THE BRAIN WORK FOR YOUSo, we know that our brains are wired for survival, that they are lazy and will take the easiest thought out of there, and that every thought is coloured by

emotion. We also know that actions and thoughts can change the physical structure of the brain.

How can we use that knowledge to make the brain lead us towards supporting change rather than running away from it?

There are two key solutions. First, you can use neuroplasticity to your

advantage and provide opportunities for people to develop new thoughts and practise new actions and behaviours, thereby rewiring the brain.

Second, you can make the limbic system work for you by creating positives around change, especially to reinforce behaviour and thought changes.

We need to build organisational change systems that capture the important role of emotions in determining behaviour, particularly in the contexts of engagement, resistance, cooperation, and commitment. What that means in the workplace is that every small step forward needs to be acknowledged.

Change leaders are essentially helping people to develop new connections within their brains. Our role should involve creating opportunities and interventions that give people the chance to trial new behaviours in a safe environment. We should allow them to take the ‘risk’ of doing something uncomfortably new and succeeding at it. The more fun we can build into the experience, the more people will become involved in it.

Positive reinforcement is essential to help embed the new thoughts and behaviours and to show the limbic system that this change is nothing to fear. The more often we can encourage people to repeat the new actions, the more comfortable their brains will allow them to feel. When people are comfortable, their high-order thought processes resume functioning and their creativity and decision-making skills start firing again.

If you are leading change in your organisation you can create the right atmosphere for change by building a safe and positive environment for your team and identifying ways to acknowledge and reward new actions or behaviours.

The fear of change causes people to rely on tried and true routines, rather than create new strategies to move forward

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50 – HRmonthly – june 2013

Sonia McDonaldFive questions with…

Tell us about your job.I’m the director of LeadershipHQ in Brisbane. A lot of the work I do is about understanding people and what motivates them. The most important tool we have is our brain. I’ve become increasingly interested in ways to effectively maximise the brain and discover why we behave in certain ways. When you understand the “why” behind human behaviour, the “how” of managing it for the best results makes total sense.

What drew you towards neuroscience and neuroleadership?Neuroleadership is a bit of a buzzword at the moment. I first became aware of it through blogs and the internet, and then I studied a diploma in neuroscience. It is largely based on the limbic system, an ancient part of our brain that acts as the emotional centre, controlling how we react to things. Our brain has evolved from the caveman days, when we were motivated by threat or reward, and it still functions the same way today. The more you understand your emotional triggers, the more you are able to make effective decisions. This is especially important when you are in a leadership role where self-control and self-management are important. That’s largely what appealed to me about the concept of neuroleadership. Suddenly everything made sense and I could see why some programs worked and some didn’t. Neuroscience has really made a difference to the leaders I work with in the construction and engineering space, and it complements strengths-based leadership.

How has HR changed during the 20 years you’ve been practising?To be honest, I wish there had been more changes, but it’s great to see that HR leaders and practitioners are now partnering with the business to achieve goals. HR is no longer seen as reactive and transactional – now it is forward-thinking and dynamic. I try to educate HR leaders that they need to be involved in the organisational-development space, consulting with the business to shape its direction.

Your career has taken you to Shanghai, London and Hayman Island. How have you adapted your approach for local markets? Culturally, there were some interesting times. When I was in London I found my role quite rewarding because they love Australians there. We’re generally perceived as easy-going and so the locals were open to working with us. In China, however, it was a tough gig. When I arrived I had to earn their trust, which is natural, but the barriers soon came down as we came to know and understand each other. The consultants had very high ethics, as do I, so we worked together well. They were very keen to learn how things are done in the Western world. Hayman Island was no holiday! I was in a senior HR role, living and working with everyone that I hired and fired. I’d be lying by the pool on my day off and someone would come and talk about their problems, so the boundaries were quite blurred.

You have a strong presence on LinkedIn. How has social media changed the HR industry? I first came across LinkedIn seven years ago when I was working as a managing consultant for a rapidly expanding search firm in Shanghai. The manager put me into a new role where he knew I would sink or swim. I had to find talent to support the growth of the business. It was around that time that I learned of a guy in the US using LinkedIn and that opened up a world of possibilities for me – literally. Once I discovered LinkedIn I never looked back. It’s a great platform for meeting people across the globe, sharing knowledge and experience. HRm

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The DirecTor of leaDershiphq, mcDonalD Talks abouT neuroscience anD iTs role in maximising poTenTial.

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