Jennifer believes that leadership is one of the most vital renewable resources in the world. In this topsy-turvy time, when uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity are raging, we need a new form of leadership for a new era. While it might be natural to experience these swirling currents of change as a threatening force to be survived or an inconvenience to be managed, those who will lead us into the future see complexity as the natural state of the world. These leaders use the forces of change to cultivate new possibilities for their people, their organisations, their communities, and the environment. If we want organisations where people are thriving and bringing their best, we need leaders who are learning.

To that end, Jennifer designs and teaches leadership programs, coaches senior teams, and supports new ways of thinking about strategy and people. In her three highly acclaimed books, Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps, Simple Habits for Complex Times (co-authored with Keith Johnston), and Changing on the Job, Jennifer builds on deep theoretical knowledge to offer practical ways to make leaders’ work more meaningful and their lives more fun. Jennifer has worked with senior leaders in the private, non-profit, and government sectors around the world (like Novartis, Google, KPMG, Intel, Microsoft, Wikimedia, and the New Zealand Department of Conservation).

Jennifer also supports executives one-on-one as a leadership coach. Over the last decade, Jennifer has developed the Growth Edge Coaching approach. She supports clients to find their current growing edge and then make choices about how they want to develop. She teaches coaches around the world transformational and developmental coaching approaches in her Growth Edge Coaching certification series. Jennifer speaks at leadership and coaching conferences, and she offers occasional courses for coaches at universities all over the world like Harvard University, the University of Sydney, and Oxford Brookes University. Jennifer has a masters and a doctorate from Harvard University.

Eschewing work/life balance for a life that feels like fun across the board, Jennifer loves to write, to scuba dive, and to roll on the floor with her dogs. Formerly an associate professor at George Mason University, Jennifer learned about deep change more than a decade ago when she turned down the tenure offer and moved to a small seaside village in New Zealand with her husband, two kids, and the family dog. While she still considers herself a Kiwi by choice, Jennifer opened her European chapter when she and her family moved to central London in 2018.