Karen Gately is a passionate optimist with an unwavering belief in the power of the human spirit. An author, speaker, advisor and educator in the fields of human performance and leadership Karen brings a fresh perspective to what it takes to be a successful manager of people. Advocating an approach focused on leveraging both talent and energy Karen shows leaders how to drive performance through inspiring, results-based leadership.

Over the span of her corporate career, Karen has worked in client service, strategy,and planning as well as quality management leadership roles. In 2006, after eight years with The Vanguard Group where she was the head of human resources for the Asia-Pacific region, Karen founded Ryan Gately, an HR consultancy in Melbourne, Australia. Together with her team Karen works with organisations large and small across a broad range of industries to support them to build and leverage talented and energised teams.

Karen is the author of two books: The Corporate Dojo: driving extraordinary results through spirited people and The People Manager’s Toolkit (published by Wiley July 2013). In both, Karen present compelling arguments for why focusing on results and people is critical to success. Karen does away with ambiguous concepts and equips leaders with realistic strategies and practical solutions. Her pragmatic, uncomplicated and down to earth approach sets her apart from many other commentators in her field.

She is also a regular contributor to CEO magazine, news.com.au, and Huffington Post and writes extensively for other well-regarded publications such as BRW, Company Director, HR Director Magazines, The Age and Australian newspapers, Inside HR and Daily Telegraph. She is regularly invited to share her insights in both print and broadcast media including on Sky News Business, Sunrise, Today Show and Studio 10, ABC Radio, 2UE, Qantas Radio, 4CA among others.

Download a Personal Action Plan to manage the strength of your spirit. Reflect on and make decisions about what you will do more of, and what you will do less of, to ensure you have the energy needed to thrive.