SONIA MCDONALD

MEDIA KIT

Keynote speaker

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Top 250 Influential Women Leaders across

the Globe

When you need a unique and exciting speaker

BOOK SONIA MCDONALD FOR YOUR NEXT CONFERENCE OR EVENT

MEDIA KIT 20172

Why Book Sonia McDonald?

Sonia McDonald is an inspiring speaker who rocks the room as she delivers enjoyable and informative sessions filled with practical appli-cation.

She is a published author and award-winning entrepreneur, and an expert at unlocking lead-ership capability through presentations filled with passion, empowerment and transforma-tional learning.

Sonia’s key focus is helping people discover their talent and strengths so they ‘rock it’ as leaders, and contribute to business success.

Sonia is internationally recognised as an expert in leadership and strategy, organisational de-velopment, workplace diversity and the neu-roscience of leadership.

Above all, Sonia has over 25 years ‘experience in human resource management, leadership and organisational development, holding leadership positions around the globe.

During her presentations, Sonia shares the sto-ry of her own development as a leader, along with the leadership tips and techniques she has perfected through working with hundreds of corporate and small business clients and entrepreneurs.

Sonia’s presentations have immediate practi-cal application, producing an audience of in-spired current and potential leaders willing to apply her winning leadership strategies.

Sonia is authentic and understanding, with a natural ability to connect and easily get her message across. She’s easy to relate to, and above all, she’s an expert who shares her infor-mation in a simple and practical way.

Book Sonia today for your next Special event.

Dynamic! Engaging! Inspiring!

Keynote speaker

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Sonia McDonald, CEO and founder of LeadershipHQ, is Australia’s leading leader-ship executive coach and advisor, thought leader, keynote speaker and author.

Named as one of the Top 250 Influential Women across the Globe, Sonia is shaking up the world of leadership. She’s changing the way we view leadership and along the way, uncovering awesome leadership tal-ent which had gone unrecognised.

With over 25 years’ human resource man-agement, leadership and organisational development experience, she has held senior leadership roles in diverse indus-tries across the globe.

What gives Sonia her awesome ability to connect with her audience, whether as a speaker or a coach, is the breadth of her

life experience.

Sonia’S Story.Sonia calls herself “The Accidental Entre-preneur” because her journey to leader-ship was one that she never expected to take. She gave up her corporate career to follow her husband to China where he was posted. On finding herself left alone as a single mother in a foreign country, she rebuilt her life and started studying more about the concept of leadership.

After working for many years with a focus on high performance leadership, teams and organisational culture, Sonia wanted to understand the influence of the brain

on the way we work. She went on to study the neuroscience of leadership, and became the founder of LeadershipHQ, home of great leadership.

Sonia educates leaders to think beyond the traditional model of leadership and creates an organisation of engaged and commit-ted people working for the same goal.

If you need a speaker who will reach your people and inspire them to positive change and ac-tion, book Sonia McDonald now.

Who is Sonia McDonald?

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QUALIFICATIONS Bachelor of Business (HRM)Diploma of Neuroscience of Leadership Certified in Prism Brain Mapping AssessmentCertified Leadership Architect Certified in The Extraordinary Coach program

SONIA’S AREAS OF EXpERTISE ARE: » Culture change » Leadership development » Neuroscience of leadership and change » Communication » Human resources management » Organisational strategy » Public speaking » Executive coaching » Board development and coaching » Diversity » Talent management

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Keynote presentation:Leadership is an AttitudeLeadership is not a role or title. It is how you think, feel and see yourself and how you act as a leader.

Leadership is an attitude. If your attitude says that you are a leader then you will behave like a leader. It’s as simple as that.

To be a leader and create a unique leader-ship style, leaders need to focus on their strengths. That’s what sets them apart from others, and the ROI on improving strengths is far greater than overcoming weaknesses.

Sonia says, don’t be afraid to change. Your strengths define your leadership style. Devel-op a leadership attitude because at any time now might be you who’s needed to lead the way ahead.

Sonia has worked with leaders from all walks of life and understands better than anyone that owning the role of leader is extremely important. As a true leader, the greatest gift you can give yourself and others is simply being yourself.

Sonia shows how to develop a leadership at-titude which reflects the real person.

That’s the power of this presentation.

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Keynote presentation: Just Rock It!Self-confidence is the best outfit. Rock it and own it.

It is amazing how having positive, useful and empowering thoughts can change your life.

The story really matters. The more you tell yourself something, the more your brain will push those thoughts back into your limbic and hippocampus, the emotional centres of the brain which also store long term memory and influences our unconscious behaviour.

In this presentation, Sonia helps audience members zero in on their talents, strengths, loves, passions, values, goals and dreams… She gets them thinking about what makes them truly unique and how they can use that to stand out as leaders.

Just Rock It shows how to ‘own yourself,’ stay true to yourself, and rock the role of leader against all odds.

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OThER TOpICS: » Courage of the Mind » Confidence – it is SO hot right now » Accidental Entrepreneur » Leadership Presence – how do you walk

into a room? » Authentic Leadership » The Leadership Key and Engagement » Performance - Your Way » Leadership – Magic of Mix » Why Change is HARD » Neuroscience of Talent » Impact Leadership: Creating leaders

who make you look good » Personal Branding – you are a BRAND! » Managing your career – take control! » Understanding Neuroscience in the

workplace » Transitioning into Leadership… » Leadership Styles – want to know yours? » Awesome Networking Skills » Strengths Based leadership – all about

strengths » Collective Leadership. » C Words » Shhh…Secret Skills

Sonia’s keynote presentations are 30 -60

minutes long, however full day workshops are available

for many of them if required.

Book Sonia to speak at your

next event.

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WhERE SONIA hAS SpOKEN. » Rare Birds Con: GROWING UP: A Simplified Strategy for Leadership » LeadX, focusing on women leading innovation in productivity and profitability » HR Executive Leadership Summit, talking about Mindful leadership » Australian Human Resources Institute Forums and Special Events » Business Women’s Association for International Women’s Day » HR Summit for Key Media » EA/PA Summit » HR Leadership Summit » PMI Conference » National HR Summit » HR Directors Forum » Authentic Leadership Summit » National Women in Construction – NAWIC » Australian Institute of Project Management » Queensland Supply Chain & Logistics Conference » Project Management Institute Conference

If you need a speaker inspire you to positive change and action,

book Sonia McDonald now.

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Audience Feedback

Sonia is enthusiastic speaker who can communicate complex concepts in an entertaining and engaging manner. Her depth of knowledge and understanding of leadership is exemplified in the detail she goes into in her presentation. She’s committed to delivering the goods, honing her message to the group to ensure relevance and engagement. There’s no fluff, just substance with Sonia and she’ll give you skills to take home, tell others and start using immediately to better you, your company and everyone around you. Kelly Ludwig CEO & Founder La’Quar

Sonia facilitated the Women In Mantra leadership workshop for us on International Women’s Day. Her passion and energy left our Team Members feeling inspired to achieve leadership roles at Mantra Group, and they have already set up local networking groups and put measurable goals in place. Amanda Cummerford Internal Communications Manager Mantra

I am so grateful to Sonia for the learning I have had from her Leadership HQ sessions. The sessions have created influential results in my leadership, and I am more confident in my style and approach to leading. I shared my vision with Sonia and she has coached me on how to successfully execute that vision. After working with Sonia over the past 4 months, my leadership skills have grown tremendously. I am more confident, knowledgeable and passionate about everything I do. I now look forward to what my future will bring.Rachell Taylor

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“Over the past 4 years (2011-2015) I have used LeadershipHQ for strategy development and executive coaching. In 2011 and 2015 Sonia facilitated our 3yr strategic planning meetings with the Genie Australia leadership team. At the offsite meetings we developed our vision and key strategies to achieve that vision and also did sessions on team building and individual strength identification using Strengthsfinder 2.0. Both meetings were extremely successful and we have seen significant improvements in our key metrics like customer and team member net promotor scores. Over the past 3 years Sonia has also provided one on one leadership coaching using the Extraordinary Leader Development Guide by Zenger Folkman. This program has proven invaluable for myself and my leadership team and I can highly recommend to any organization wanting to develop their leadership team.”Brad Lawrence, Genie / General Manager

I have had the pleasure of working with Sonia McDonald both as a strategic HR professional and a member of the AHRI Queensland State Council.

Sonia is one of the most committed, talented and well respected colleagues in the HR profession in Queensland. She is extremely passionate about her work and her positive attitude, passion, incredible energy and knowledge ensures the highest quality outcomes expected by clients is achieved.

Sonia continues to demonstrate an exceptional level of expertise in the areas of leadership, coaching, neuroscience and diversity. She stands out as someone who is innovative in her approach and is a sought-after conference speaker in Australia.

Sonia continues to deliver impressive outcomes as a HR leader and I would highly recommend her as she stands out in any professional situation that distinguishes her from other colleagues.Tony Wiggins, CEO HR Architect

We engaged Sonia to assist us with a leadership development program targeted at a selection of our Female leaders in the business. Sonia was engaging, real and practical in both her stories and facilitation.Angela Cilia, General Manager People, Fulton Hogan Construction Pty Ltd

I first heard Sonia speak when I attended a Griffith Alumni breakfast where Sonia was delivering the topic “Confidence- it’s so hot right now.” I was blown away by Sonia’s engaging, entertaining and relevant content that she delivered in an enthusiastic and energetic manner. Sonia was so motivating and encouraging, and I left the room feeling like I really could accomplish anything that I set my mind to. One huge thing that resonated with me was how real Sonia was, as she explained that we are all vulnerable and never perfect, but should chase our dreams any way because we don’t know the answer unless we ask. I was then lucky enough to attend a workshop with Sonia, an again she lifted the room as she encouraged discussion about diversity, confidence, women empowerment and leadership. I believe that Sonia has the potential to influence leaders at every stage of their journey, and as I progress through my professional career I always find that Sonia has unique content to help me along my personal development as a leader in my field. Rachel Perkins Griffith University

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Australian Leadership Bog Sonia McDonald on Australian

Leadership

Brisbane HR Summit

Speakers 2016

Business Analysis Professional

Day

Businiess DepotDEPOTnext Turbine

Platform

Business Insider Australia

Australian Centre For Leadership For WomenDiversity Award Winners

Steve Knox Orbiting Normal Leadership

Insights Sonia McDonald

Business DepotDEPOTnext Leadership As

an Attitude

Business News AustraliaBOOSTING POSITIONS FOR WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT

CEO HQ PodcastHow To Gain Your Leadership Edge With Sonia McDonald.

Coaching LifeWomen, Sport and

Leadership

The Moment HQPodcast with Sonia

McDonald

Gold Coast BulletinWomen and the fine art of

leadership

Courageous ConversationsWhy Aren’t We Saying What

We Need Or Want?

Rare Birds ConAustralian Entrepreneurs Doing

Business With The World

Women Leaders Top 250

Women In Leadership & Management

Australia

Project Management Young Guns

The Australian Business Review

The Ladies Lounge

You will also find sonia here:

Sonia writes regularly for publications such as The Australian, HRD Magazine, Smart Healthy Women and Women’s Business Media. She has been published in BBC Capital, The

Australian, HRD Magazine, Business Insider and Richtopia.

As Seen in the Media

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» Finalist - Business Leader of the Year Award• International Women’s Association • International Women’s Day Award 2013

» Nominated Telstra Woman of the Year Award 2013, 2014 and 2016

» Honours Award at Griffith University » Published in The Australian, HRD Magazine,

Business Insider and other publications » Listed in the Top 50 and 100 Leadership Blogs

Globally for Leaders, CEO & Managers » Named in the Top 250 Influential Women

across the globe by Richtopia » 2nd Place Award for Empowering Women

(Diversity Champion) at the Australian Centre for Leadership for Women

» Her blog at LeadershipHQ was named as one of the Best 50 Leadership Blog Sites in 2015 and 2016.

Recognition and Awards

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Contact informationTo book Sonia McDonald for your next event or to discuss the different ways she may be able to work with you and your team, contact Sonia using the details below.

1300 719 665 sonia@soniamcdonald.com.au www.soniamcdonald.com.au

you may also like to follow Sonia here: soniamcdonald soniamcdonald01 soniamcdonald01 soniamcdonald01 Sonia McDonald

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