About Nigel
Nigel Donovan has been training and mentoring people in personal leadership and business for over a decade. He distils the practical benefits of complex fields such as neuroscience, positive psychology and mindfulness and turns them into engaging workshops and mentoring programs.
Driven by curiosity and an openness to new experience, Nigel has worked in many industries including hospitality, management, finance, and even project management in Tahiti. His interest in brain science was triggered while studying psychology as part of his Commerce degree and he has pursued the subject ever since. A career in management led to one in business consulting with the Creative Planning Centre and later Partnercorp. He soon found that his best successes in consulting were resolving people issues. In developing the Leadership Training division for Partnercorp, Nigel designed and delivered tailored training in leadership for the likes of the RAAF, BAE Systems, Workcover and Tomago Aluminium as well as small businesses, including coffee shops, vignerons and professional services firms. The more leadership training he did, the more he became frustrated with off-the-shelf leadership programs that produced little actual change in behaviour. Many of them seemed more interested in describing the traits of an ‘ideal manager’ than showing people how to change their habits to become one. Over time Nigel’s insistence on achieving genuine change in behaviour by getting people to change their mental habits evolved into authoring programs such as “The Brain, the Body and You”, a key component of Partnercorp’s Taking Control in a Crisis: How it really works course. He also wrote and delivered a personal leadership program for the Newcastle Knights’ under-20s development squad. Without resorting to mumbo jumbo or psuedo-science, his Ataraxy Personal Leadership Mentoring Program is the culmination of a 20-year passion for brain science and maximising human experience. It draws deeply from research and is grounded in the real world of how people actually behave, live and feel. When he is not mentoring business people to profit from happiness, he finds satisfaction in community contributions through donating his time as a board member for the disability services not-for-profit Leapfrog Ability and coordinating the Newcastle Speakers Club. His greatest love however is in spending time with his young and expanding family. |
TestimonialsNigel is an excellent thought leader. He has the ability to think beyond the framework that we impose on ourselves. He is an excellent motivator, mentor, trainer and public speaker...
David McCredie General Manager Ausralian British Chamber of Commerce No matter what your goals both personal and business do yourself an enormous favour – do what I did and meet with Nigel Donovan. With enormous gratitude Nigel (I could say I wish I’d met you sooner but am content with the past, optimistic about the future and happy in the present).
N.S. Nigel gave me invaluable advice about how I could make positive changes in my life. He listened and understood my issues and by demonstrating simple, practical theories he was able to show me how to work towards a happier present and future.
A.W. Public Servant |
The link between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty is almost twice as strong when you have high employee satisfaction compared to when they are not satisfied with their jobs
Christopher Groening, University of Missouri 2011