Keynote Outline:

How to take a hammering in leadership, hold onto yourself under pressure, and highlight the cracks with gold

Experiencing adversity can propel our growth. So, what does it take to transform a tough time into a golden opportunity to evolve?

In Leadership Kintsugi, Mia Handshin gets breathtakingly real about her own case-study of leadership adversity as Chair of the South Australian Environment Protection Authority during an infamous public health scare.

Introducing the metaphor of Kintsugi (the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with lacquer and gold), Mia reveals behind-the-scenes insight into what some saw as a breakdown in leadership, and shares how she held onto herself under pressure and how she pulled those around her together. In this engaging keynote address, Mia distils the golden highlights from a tough time including the powerful breakthroughs, potent lessons and positive outcomes which ultimately propelled her growth as a leader.

Grounded in her experience as an Executive coach and leadership facilitator since EPA days, Mia shares evidence-based tools for how to lift collaboration, apply the neuroscience of change to lead courageously through complexity, chaos and confusion, and develop the mindset for turning challenges into opportunities to evolve.

Keynote Take-Aways:

Leadership Kintsugi is primarily aimed at established or emerging leaders from corporate, government or community sectors. But audiences of all backgrounds benefit from Mia’s:

Memorable (re)framework for navigating adversity,

Tips for handling crisis communication, and

Inspiration for leading from the heart, with human needs in mind.

Keynote Outline:

How to stop burnout in its tracks, lasso self-doubt, and harness your true superpower

Far too many women wonder about themselves in highly self-critical and deeply disparaging ways. All the while, over-doing as if they’re Wonder Woman. It’s no wonder that worldwide rates of burnout in women now exceed those for men.

Mia Handshin has been there, over-done that. As an emerging lawyer and newspaper columnist on a youthful mission to single-handedly “save the world”, Mia crashed with her first burnout in her early twenties. Later, through experiences as a high-profile political candidate, the youngest woman to Chair the South Australian Environment Protection Authority during a public health scare, and a reluctant single-mother, Mia added two further burnouts to a black-belt in over-doing. But what eventually arose from the ashes, was the realization that she had to drop the superhero act and learn how to pick up a new kind of power.

In this “wonderfully warm yet breathtakingly real” keynote, Mia shares her story of recovery from perfectionism and battles with self-doubt and imposter syndrome while navigating a career in the media and politics. She stops audience members in their tracks, invites them to look at what’s depleting them, place their hands on their hips and bravely declare: “Enough!”

Power Pausing lifts audience members out of their seats, encourages them to dial up self-compassion, and shows them how to realize their true wonder as women.

Keynote Take-Aways:

Women of all walks of life and leadership walk away from Power Pausing with brilliant insights about themselves along with a practical toolkit for:

Lassoing self-doubt,

Celebrating strengths, and

Dialing up self-love.

Keynote Outline:

How to communicate with courage and confidence, and move people with the magic of getting real

At 19, Mia began sharing her voice publicly as the youngest newspaper columnist in Australia. At first, “punching out” copy seemed to come naturally to her. That was, until she received feedback from a fellow columnist that knocked her confidence upside-down and turned her communication approach inside-out.

Following a series of painful but purposeful lessons on public podiums, political platforms and leader-shit-shows over three decades of public leadership, Mia Handshin is “saying it forward”. In this keynote, she bravely shares mistakes from the messy-middle of her career while showing others how to step into their courage zone, find their true voice and powerfully express their unique presence.

In a talk that audiences refer to as “absolutely game-changing” and “brilliant and insightful”, Mia reveals the magic of getting real, presents practical tips and highlights powerful tools for communicating with more confidence, courage, and conviction.

Keynote Take-Aways:

Audience members share that Say it Forward provides “incredible takeaways to think about and apply” including tips and tools for:

Speaking into resistance and mobilising people for change

Structuring impactful communication with insights from brain-science

Speaking from the heart and sharing story to create deeper connection