Work with Simon
Leadership Teams Facilitation
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I love that moment when a conversation really takes off. I call it the 'whoosh' moment.

I love that moment when a conversation really takes off. I call it the 'whoosh' moment.

Hello!

Simon Dowling is a leading thinker on creating and leading collaborative teams and workplaces. As a speaker, facilitator and educator, he works closely with leaders and teams from some of Australia’s most interesting organisations, equipping them with the inspiration and know-how to build strong, highly engaged teams.

Simon possesses a unique blend of creativity and pragmatism – something reflected in his past experience. He began his career as a commercial lawyer, and is also an experienced improviser, regularly performing with leading improvisation company Impro Melbourne. He was a regular cast member on Working Dog’s hit TV show Thank God You’re Here.

For the past 20 years, Simon has been working with leaders across a wide range of industries, helping them to tap the collective genius of their people.

Why partner with Me?


Let me have a go at summarising the things my clients say when I ask them,“what do you value most about our partnership?”...

 

 

My deep experience and track record.

I’ve been running my own successful practice since 2012, and have been working in the field of leadership development since 2001. I work extensively with senior leaders and leadership teams at some of Australia’s best workplaces across a wide range of industries.

Thinking.

I bring deep insight and design thinking to every project. I don’t just Google popular concepts and stick them in a bunch of slides. I think deeply about their relevance, and look for ways to communicate ideas as simply and memorably as possible. I love to craft and communicate ideas. In 2016, Wiley published my book “Work with Me: How to get people to buy into your ideas”. I also publish a podcast called “Teaming with Possibility”, and regularly post ideas and perspectives in a blog and on LinkedIn and YouTube.

My facilitation style.

Perhaps most importantly, clients choose me for my style of facilitation and delivery. My ability to take ideas and thinking, but then create an experience for – and relationship with – participants that is engaging, safe, challenging and fun. This means keeping things real, not inundating people with truck loads of content and theories they can’t relate to.

My core philosophy as a facilitator and coach is spark dialogue; to hold a space for people to dance with ideas, be honest with themselves about their challenges, connect with colleagues around those challenges, and then take ownership of their personal experiments. What lights me up is helping leaders to explore, and discover, the best version of themselves.

I am also known for being able to distil conversations into a clear set of ‘outputs’ and helping groups and individuals to generate concrete actions – the key to turning ideas into sustainable action.

Collaborative to a ‘T‘.

My team and I are very collaborative and client-centric in our working style. We are no “off-the-shelf” operator. Our primary aim is to ensure we meet participants where they need to be met, and that you, as the client, achieve your vision for a project. I remain obsessed about this at every step of the way and it’s why I do what I do. The nature of my practice is that we only have capacity to take on a limited number of projects, and so who we choose to work with is critical. When we partner on a program, I am intensely focused on the impact and outcome of the work – the content and design is simply an enabler of these things.

A well-oiled machine.

I might be the only facilitator and coach in my practice, but I am supported by a strong team. Liz Varley is our highly experienced business manager, and her job is to ensure every client project is a seamless experience from beginning to end. For a large collaborative project, Liz would work closely with you to manage and oversee project milestones and ensure every aspect of logistics and planning is anticipated and resourced. Liz brings a deep understanding of the work we do, and has been a key member of the team for 6 years. April Luna is the other member of our project team. Based in Manila, she supports the administrative, technical and design aspects of our programs – and is an absolute gun at what she does!

Would you like to meet my team?

 

Liz Varley

Liz, has been rocking it with me since 2017. She's not your ordinary Business Manager. Liz brings a strong background in customer relationship and operations management to the table, and she's all about ensuring we bring our A-game. Liz is all about creating systems to keep it simple and effective for our clients to collaborate with us. She really does keep everything running like a well-oiled machine.

Liz also has a real passion for making sure our participants have the best possible experience. She's all about maximising the value of the time we spend with our clients. So it's logical that - every now and then - she drops into a workshop to watch the magic unfold.

April Jane Luna

Based in Manila, April our resident web expert, ensuring our online programs run like a well-oiled machine.

April's got this incredible knack for customer service, and she's quickly become an invaluable part of the crew. Whether it's troubleshooting, making improvements, or just adding that extra sprinkle of finesse, April's got our online presence covered. So, if you're wondering who's the wizard behind the scenes making sure everything goes off without a hitch, that's April! We're lucky to have her on board.

Let's Talk!

Thanks for taking the time to scout around my website. If you’ve got a challenge or a project, and you’re wondering whether I might be able to help, then I reckon the best thing is a good old fashioned conversation.

So drop me a note below, or call me on +61 413 015 897. Looking forward to hearing from you.