Wanderlust and Starting a Movement

I’ve always loved culture.

Growing up, my siblings and I were raised with wanderlust. My father’s work took him around the globe, and he’d return home with treasures from faraway places. Some were consumable (Swiss and Belgian chocolate, anyone?), others were gadgets and toys from Japan and Korea—none of which survived our attention. But many of those souvenirs are still on my cabinet shelves today, now mingled with keepsakes from my own travels.

In my twenties, my curiosity about the cultures of different countries and regions took me across the world. At university, I studied economics, history, and languages with dreams of becoming a diplomat. I imagined being paid to explore the world, so I dove into psychology, linguistics, sociology, and anthropology. I wanted to understand how people interact, why they behave the way they do, and the decisions they make.

A Lifelong Fascination with Leadership and Culture

What fascinated me most was the influence leaders have—on nations, their people, and the behaviours of their followers. That fascination led me to focus on organisational culture, leadership, and behaviour in my postgraduate studies. But the most profound lessons have come from experience: leading teams, growing leaders, and shaping, shifting, and sustaining cultures across industries and geographies.

Over the past 25+ years, one thing has remained clear: nearly all leaders believe culture is important, but too few feel confident or competent to change it.

Culture: Complex, Yet Actionable

Yes, culture is complex and intangible, but it’s also observable and actionable.

• Culture may feel intangible, but its performance impact is not.
• Culture is organisation-wide, but it’s also local. As a leader, your everyday actions shape the culture of your team and contribute to the broader culture.

I’m passionate about simplifying culture and making it actionable for leaders. My goal is to help leaders feel confident and competent to shift culture every day—not relying on external experts to do it for (or to) them.

Try This Experiment

Start a movement:

1. Identify a pain point that needs to change.
2. Talk about how it could be different and introduce an alternative option.
3. Highlight the consequences of the current actions and gather allies.
4. Share widely and inspire action.

A movement starts with one voice—yours.

Questions for Reflection

• What behaviours did I role model today, especially in tricky or important interactions?
• Who does this well? What can I adopt or adapt from them?