Gerard Penna

As a Leadership Team we aligned on our mission of becoming a high performing team, and quickly landed in a space of believing Gerard was the right coach & facilitator to lead us through this team transformation. Gerard's experiences coupled with his ability to read both the individuals and the broader room create a safe and equally challenging & supportive learning environment. What has been most valuable in Gerard's approach has been his ability translate concepts into practical behaviours through story telling; creating valuable memory structures for team in the process. Exercising patience for the learning agility of the team, Gerard has played a key role in supporting us on our journey to high performance.

Shane Bonello, Managing Director - Australia & New Zealand

Hallmark Cards Australia

We engaged Gerard to help with improving trust and integration of the senior leadership team in an effort to build the foundation for a higher level of performance moving forward.

He possesses a passion and level of expertise in his field which really shows when working with him. He is also quite patient and "curious" in his approach which had a positive impact on me and the team.

What makes him unique is his knowledge and understanding of the business world combined with a sound background of learning from academia, research, and broader psychological and behavioural studies/research. He has the ability to walk a fine line between business and theory. We had to tweak a bit for our organisation and team as we are geared towards practical application and "doing to learn". It proved very successful and beneficial to do so.

Andrew Penca, Managing Director

Cummins South Pacific

We are a successful national business that is growing rapidly. Building a sustainable high performance leadership culture has been crucial to our success. That is why my business partners and I engaged Gerard over the last few years to help us get it right. His work with our senior leadership team and our broader leadership group has been tremendously valuable in helping us think deliberately about what we value as leaders and how we do things around here.

There is a deep wisdom that we tap into whenever we spend time with Gerard. His style is so engaging and challenging. In fact, whenever he spends time with our leadership group, there are many of our leaders who say that his sessions have been the best development opportunity that they have received.

If you want to build a high performing leadership team and organisational culture I would highly recommend engaging Gerard.

Sam Kheryakhos

Director

SWC Management

We have engaged Gerard at South East Water for a range of opportunities including leadership development of our Executive Team, strategy workshops, and coaching. In all areas he was able to guide us forward and create sustainable results.

Gerard allowed us to think outside the box and determine how we could do things differently. Initial leadership development did not have the impact we intended. Gerard took another path to really understood what was needed to change and progress things.

He was able to teach our entire team to listen and appreciate each others’ style better. We’ve seen great change as a result. Gerard really broke through the barriers with each individual and built trust. We have much more open discussions now and people are prepared to challenge each other. We are also open to receiving those challenges and contemplating them. As an organisation, we are more aligned in our direction and strategy as a result of this refinement.

I found the experience with Gerard had an immense effect on me personally. I have seen a change in myself, and I am approaching work challenges in a much more enjoyable way. Gerard’s involvement provided me with breathing space and another perspective in approaching specific tasks.

It is difficult to find a consultant who can install trust and at the same time, gel with the entire leadership team, but Gerard has an unconventional, free flowing way which brings out the best in his participants.

The unique thing about Gerard is he really pushes you. He wasn’t afraid to put things on the table that he was observing. He has this amazing way of simplifying and creating structure, breaking things down into bite sized pieces which are easier to tackle.

I would recommend Gerard to anyone who is experiencing an organisational challenge and has tried the true and tested models, yet is still not experiencing the desired outcomes. Gerard will not take you down the easy road but it will be the one that creates sustainable results that not only changes your strategy, but your cultural behaviours.

Sharon Robinson

General Manager of People and Safety

South East Water