By the time David Gwynne became a senior executive, he already had a track record. He went from graduate psychologist to Chief Clinical Psychologist, rose through the ranks of an international management firm, and then founded and led his own [...]

Leadership isn’t just a title or a skillset - it’s a journey shaped by experience, challenge and transformation. Every leader carries stories of difficult decisions, ethical dilemmas and unexpected failures. And these moments leave an imprint, what I call ‘leadership [...]

There’s no denying that 2024 was the year artificial intelligence dominated global conversations and headlines. From reshaping industries to sparking debates on ethics and automation, AI was everywhere. For Australia, crowned the most AI-addicted country in the world, this surge [...]

Taking a break isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a strategy for resilience, creativity, and sustainability. Giving yourself permission to pause matters more than you think. As the year races toward its conclusion, the demands on leaders intensify. It’s not [...]

In his reflection on the Team Effectiveness & Engagement Model (TEEM™), Chris Corneil, Partner at ECI Partners, shares a powerful, evidence-based blueprint for building high-performing teams. Discover how TEEM™ can transform your organisation by fostering trust, clarity, and leadership for [...]

The average age of a CEO in Australia today is around 47, younger than at any other time. As executives climb the ranks faster, their time in power seems to be shrinking. According to recent data from Equilar and Russell [...]

Leaders are often asked to navigate a whirlwind of challenges - from market fluctuations and global uncertainty to internal organisational shifts. While the landscape of leadership has evolved dramatically since ancient Greece, the Stoic philosophy, developed over 2,000 years ago, [...]

Change is the only constant in life," declared Heraclitus over 2,500 years ago, and his words remain true today. The ability to manage change effectively is not just a necessity - it’s a competitive advantage. At ECI Partners, we specialise [...]

The challenges for great leaders are escalating in nature and in constancy. So, what can we do to ensure we show up as the best leader we can be? How do we cultivate high performance under ever-increasing pressure? It starts [...]

Imposter syndrome is often defined as persistent feelings of inadequacy despite the evidence of success, and can affect even the most accomplished leaders. Believe it or not, around 70% of successful people experience these imposter feelings at some point in [...]

As the pace of business accelerates, the demands on leaders and their teams grow exponentially. They’re expected to achieve more with fewer resources, faster turnaround times, without compromising on quality. Whether leading an established team, navigating a transitioning venture, or [...]

Organisational purpose is becoming one of the most powerful and talked-about approaches in modern business management. When embedded in strategy, it boosts employee engagement, unlocks human potential, ignites passion, and enhances financial performance. In fact, purpose-driven companies consistently outperform the [...]

In the high-stakes realm of business leadership, executive coaching has emerged as a game-changer, gaining significant traction over recent years. This strategic intervention offers leaders a tailored approach to overcoming challenges and achieving their goals, making it an indispensable tool [...]

In a world where change is the only constant, where ambiguity reigns supreme, and where diversity is celebrated, the one skill that sets great leaders apart is Emotional Intelligence (EI, often referred to as EQ*). Yes, you heard it right! [...]

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, organisations are constantly seeking innovative strategies to develop their capabilities swiftly and effectively. Amidst this quest for performance excellence, Pod Leadership Coaching emerges as a powerful solution to cultivate talent, drive performance and foster [...]

Have you ever paused to truly dissect where your time and energy flow in your professional life? In the whirlwind of daily tasks and responsibilities, it's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Yet, understanding where our focus lies [...]

In the late months of 2023, ECI Partners embarked on an endeavour that has given us a unique vantage point into the priorities and challenges of leaders for the year ahead. This journey was not just about hearing; it was about truly listening to the heartbeat of senior leaders [...]

And what the leadership team needs to do about it. You may recall that in our first article about how women can thrive in leadership, there was a reference to Gloria’s monologue in the Barbie movie. It was a fine performance by [...]

And How to Thrive as a Female Executive; Part 1 Barbie was the highest-grossing film of 2023 and has won a slew of statues, despite the Oscar snubs. More importantly, it has reignited social debates about feminism, the patriarchy and [...]

Our antenna is picking up some interesting signals for 2024 As 2023 draws to a close we thought we’d share some of the important themes that we’re detecting in our conversations with our clients. These are themes that we believe [...]

Kim Kardashian knows how to turn heads. She is an astute businesswoman, who certainly knows how to get attention. She has extracted more than her 15 minutes of fame, and her influence extends far and wide. In contrast, Malala Yousafzai, [...]

Or why a minimum viable product is so helpful ‘The perfect is the enemy of good,’ is mostly attributed to Voltaire, the 18th Century French philosopher, writer and master of wit. Others had variations on the concept, including Shakespeare and [...]

There are some management constants we can hold on to As an ‘elder’ in the business community and at ECI Partners, I have been asked to consider the big changes affecting business, and to consider the constants that have held [...]

32 Teams in the World Cup but Not a Single Working Group This year’s Women’s Soccer World Cup has six more teams than it did in 2019. It is a big deal to be hosting the event and women’s sport [...]

An Ancient Story with a Modern Meaning What the Phoenix can teach us about workplace renewal The Phoenix of ancient Egyptian and Greek mythology lived a life of about 500 years. It seemed to know when it was dying. It [...]

The Shape of Success You’ll be surprised how the shape of a table – and an agenda – changes a meeting. There is a mythical business story that seems to get passed down through business schools about a CEO who [...]

Mastering Complexity Without Losing Control There is an approach that works. As the Cold War was coming to an end the American military started using the acronym VUCA as shorthand for the more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world that [...]

View stakeholders as assets that improve project performance Like a faded dream, it was not so long ago that we used to talk about specialisation and the division of labour as key features of a modern economy. They were concepts [...]

Let’s think of organisational well-being as the physical, emotional, and social health of an organisation and that the well-being of an organisation is more than the sum of its individuals’ well-being. We know that organisations with better employee engagement, what [...]

We are all diminished by high levels of loneliness Australians have never been more connected. Australians have never been lonelier. Both statements are true. We might scratch our heads at what has happened with technology. Never have there been more [...]

When Smart and Healthy Balance A state of equilibrium is achieved when rightward forces are balanced by leftward forces and upward forces are balanced by downward forces. It is sometimes talked about as a state of dynamic tension. Importantly, equilibrium [...]

The trials and tribulations of the television show Ted Lasso have been compulsory viewing for all coaches, not just those who coach elite sportspeople. Back-to-back Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series don’t do the scriptwriters justice though, for there are [...]