Inspired Leadership...

Coaching

Working with you on specific matters important to you, to develop your strengths, to change habits, to consider your direction and to generally just feel…

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Leadership Development

Whether working with groups to develop organisation leadership capability or working with individuals, the focus is an individual approach to…

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Facilitation

Getting to good outcomes, in reasonable time, especially when there are complex issues fuelled by strong emotion and psychological investment…

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Neuroleadership

My work is underpinned by a deep understanding of how the brain works to identify strategies that will help improve your individual behaviour and outcomes as well as those of your team

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da Vinci Organisational Consulting

da Vinci Consulting, founded by Karen Dunshea, is a business and organisational consultancy with a vision for developing and enhancing leadership and leadership team functioning, underpinned by Insight, Connection, and Accountability.  My vision for leaders is one of inspired leadership action based on organisational strategy and need, that balances ‘good’ thinking with integrity and heart, which ultimately has a measurable impact on business effectiveness.

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Curious, Creative and Connected

I support leaders and organisations through my focus on three key elements underlying the da Vinci Consulting business:

  • Being curious about the situation, what we know, what we believe, what is on the periphery, what is outside of current awareness, how things work, how things might work, possible solutions, and possible outcomes
  • Being creative about where our thinking and action might lead us, how we might integrate and develop key ideas, looking beyond ourselves and our current situation for the most optimal and innovative solution
  • Being connected within, across and beyond the speciality and industries within which we work

This is the da Vinci Consulting credo – being curious, creative and connected.

My work draws upon a broad and varied base of psychology, business, philosophy, leadership and education theories, as well as recent developments in neuroleadership and brain science, to get the inspired outcomes we all want.

Karen did a fantastic job keeping a group of strong minded, passionate professionals with widely disparate agendas on track to make a difference in Gladstone’s health system. This was no easy task and accomplished with finesse and a smile.

Karen’s insight was invaluable in making some shifts in my career. Her style is very supportive, offering exploratory questions to dig deeper which is helpful for professional and personal growth.

I would highly recommend Karen as a coach.

Two things strike me about how Karen works:  (1) she is exploratory – she probes and persists beyond the first question to get to the real essence of the issue at hand;  and (2) she is accountable and holds others accountable as if she is part of your business.

Karen brings a unique skill set that simplifies what often seems complex and drives value and change by linking leadership and strategy to behaviors and culture. Karen has helped to facilitate change and improvements within our business that we had struggled with for a long time. Her approach is focused, supportive and she commits to achieve the agreed outcomes and results that we had discussed and agreed.  There is a calmness with Karen as she motivates action and mindfulness that can excite and grow focused and value driven outcomes.

Her candid questions, fast-paced understanding of work dynamics, and subsequent tailored solutions, all ensured that my sessions with her were efficient, valued, appreciated and worthwhile. Karen’s ideas were all well-considered, rational and demonstrated some great lateral thinking.

Karen completely understood my communication style and always offered guidance that was complementary to my personality. I continue to implement the strategies explained in our sessions; they have been fundamental to my growth both professionally and personally.

Karen’s calm and supportive demeanour always ensured that it was a safe place to discuss frustrations and concerns. Something that I really valued while working with Karen was her ability to provide real-life, actionable strategies to cope with and manage various situations. This always helped me to leave the session feeling equipped for whatever challenge/problem we had discussed.

I found Karen’s style of coaching to be invaluable in supporting my development in a role that was new for me. Karen provided valuable insight, challenged ways of thinking, asked great thought-provoking questions and provided truly meaningful support. I would not hesitate in recommending her to anyone seeking similar coaching.

An excellent session yesterday. It was amongst the best I have attended.

A great coach is critical to leadership success and I found Karen’s approach very professional and beneficial to my leadership development.  She helped me to develop a strategy that prepared me mentally for the challenges of a new role.

I found our sessions invaluable in planning my career and help define and implement a plan for better work/life balance.  You were clearly focused on my needs and you really helped challenge me in some key areas to make a necessary change. What I liked most was the way you were able to help give me some practical tools that have had an immediate and lasting impact on my approach to work and life.

The coaching sessions were valuable and constructive.  I have been able to embed the techniques that I have learnt, it has opened my eyes and challenged the way I thought about certain situations. Your coaching approach is outstanding.

The sessions really challenged me to pause and refresh myself on how I can change behaviours for better productivity. I really value the techniques that I took away from our sessions. It was great that our conversations were transferrable as I changed roles. You’re a coach who is extremely easy to engage with.

The sessions were valuable in helping me think of my own solutions and ideas, expanding on what we discussed – you were good at helping me find my own answers.  You are open and easy to engage with and I felt secure that what I was saying was confidential.

Initially I was unsure of what to expect or how the coaching could help me in my day to day activities, but I found that through discussions I was able to explore various topics that were impacting me. Your open and friendly manner made it easy to discuss issues and you provided suggestions and practical ideas to support my development.

I appreciate your approach and the way that you were able to draw from me the key challenges that I was facing and not simply provide a solution but to ask the right questions to guide me to come up with answers. You seamlessly adjusted each session to suit the phases that I was going through and when I unexpectedly brought my Manager along to the last session, we both got a lot out of you facilitating a feedback conversation.

Karen’s facilitation allowed a diverse group of well-intentioned, intelligent people to all express their view and be heard.  The forums were robust but also respectful and open, which comes from the atmosphere that has been created.

She is extremely professional with an ability to extract accountability from participants for agreed tasks, and her skills helped me to continue my participation with renewed vigour and commitment.

Karen facilitated a group of senior stakeholders to develop strategies to improve health services.  She has very capably brought members back into line when they have digressed off the path and also when there has been some heated debate. Karen is a very capable facilitator.

I found the coaching sessions immensely helpful. Some changes have resulted in an almost immediate impact in my role:  I am calmer under pressure and I can more easily separate myself from the emotion of the situation and focus on what needs to be done.

The only thing I think could be better is if there were more sessions.

You have helped me find my drive/passion and coupled with the change in role I am happier at work.

I found the sessions to be incredibly helpful as I was not only transitioning to a new career pathway but also facing a career break. Having my concerns reframed as opportunities with guidance on how to tackle certain issues assisted me in creating an action plan so that I could make the most of my time in the office and my return to work. I feel confident I will be able to maintain momentum in my career despite the time away and would highly recommend coaching with Karen, especially to anyone going through a period of change.

My coaching sessions with Karen were incredibly valuable. I was integrating into a senior role within a new organization, feeling overloaded and trying to understand how to operate at my best in a new environment with all the challenges that go with a new role.

Karen quickly assisted me to untangle myself from the overwhelm and start creating strategies that would enable my success. She was patient, respectful and insightful, and always adapted to where I was at any given moment to enable me to see the bigger picture and understand things from a different perspective.

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