Travels From Queensland
Speaker Topics
A Psychophysiological Approach to Self-Leadership
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the principle: “To manage others, you must first manage yourself.”
- Learn techniques to maintain higher-order cognitive processes under pressure.
- Develop energy discipline for sustained effectiveness and leadership.
Energy Management for Peak Cognitive Performance and Burnout Avoidance
Time: 2–3 hours (combined with above content)
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the science of interruption and micro-distractions and their impact on productivity.
- Learn dopamine hacking techniques to sustain focus and motivation.
- Explore the concept of revenge bedtime procrastination and strategies to break the cycle.
- Discover the gut-brain connection and how nutrition impacts cognitive performance, emotional stability, and executive function.
- Understand the concept of allostatic load and its role in burnout.
Identify controllable vs. uncontrollable stress factors in your life. - Create a SMART action plan to mitigate burnout and prioritize well-being.
Key Activities:
- Interactive exercise: Identifying personal energy drains and replenishers.
- Group discussion: Developing energy discipline for sustained effectiveness.
Fostering Communication and Collaboration
Time: Full-day (combined with above content)
Learning Objectives:
- Improve communication, trust, and collaboration within teams.
- Understand individual stress styles and how to support team members under pressure.
- Practice effective conflict resolution and feedback delivery.
Key Activities:
- Participants engage in a series of cognitive, social, and physical team activities to perform under pressure.
- Group activity: Identifying team strengths and areas for improvement, practicing tough conversations.
- Examples: Block pattern rotation, Nerf gun shooting, strength test, social information tasks.
Managing Stress for Sustained Performance
Time: 90 minutes (foundational knowledge)
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the evolutionary and physiological basis of stress and its impact on behavior and cognitive performance.
- Learn how to identify and manage mental blanking or the "Amygdala Hijack" to regain control under pressure.
- Explore the Stress Performance Curve and how to harness stress for optimal performance.
- Practice resonant frequency breathing techniques to recover from stress in real-time.
Participate in the Stroop Test activity to experience firsthand how stress impacts cognitive performance.
Key Activities:
- Group discussion: Identifying behavioral consequences of unchecked stress.
- Stress Response Style Bingo: Understanding individual stress responses.
- Not all stress is negative: Learning how to harness stress to optimize performance.
- Emotional pre-setting and understanding chemosignaling: Protecting your emotional state before high-stakes events.
Psychological Safety and Team Dynamics
Time: Half-day (combined with above content)
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the neurobiology of social connection and the role of oxytocin in fostering trust.
- Learn how to identify and mitigate psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
- Practice scripting difficult conversations and fostering healthy conflict.
- Explore the Psychological Safety and Performance Standards Matrix to map team dynamics.
Key Activities:
- Live demo: Cyber Ball activity to showcase the impact of micro-aggressions.
- Group activity: Mapping team dynamics and identifying areas for improvement.
- Role-playing: Practicing emotional perception and feedback delivery.
- Rope pull activity: Understanding team dynamics and the difficulties of speaking out.
The New Science of Sleep
Learning Objectives:
- Sleep as a Superpower: Understand the science of sleep architecture and its impact on weight, hormones, immunity, and anxiety.
- Learn actionable sleep hacks, including foods, routines, and environmental adjustments.
- Understand why a good night’s sleep starts the minute you wake.
- Explore photon bathing, sunset gazing, and blue light hacks for late-night meetings.
- Discover the impact of sleep deprivation on anxiety and the role of alcohol in disrupting sleep.
- Learn insomnia hacks and the impact of sleep-promoting and sleep-hindering foods.
Key Activities:
- Visualization exercise: Understanding the potency of rumination.
- Sleep Killer Bingo: Identifying behaviors that disrupt sleep.
- Group discussion: Behavioral change—selecting one behavior change for better sleep.
Thriving in an AI-Driven World with Emotional Intelligence (EI)
Time: 60-minute keynote (standalone session)
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the role of emotional intelligence in navigating AI-driven workplaces.
- Learn how to enhance communication, collaboration, and adaptability in a tech-centric world.
- Develop EI skills for leadership, team dynamics, and personal growth.
Key Activities:
- Interactive workshop: Building EI skills through role-playing and group exercises.
- Group discussion: Identifying opportunities to leverage EI in an AI-driven world.
Dr. Jemma King
Stress, Sleep & Recovery Expert Helping Leaders and Teams Perform Under Pressure
Dr. Jemma King is a stress, sleep and recovery expert with a PhD in Human Behaviour. She is a Fellow at the UQ School of Psychology and conducts research on the impact of psychophysiological factors on cognitive and behavioural performance, specifically in the areas of stress, sleep, recovery protocols, biometrics and emotional intelligence.
She works as a specialist external advisor to McKinsey & Co and has consulted with the Australian Defence Force, the Centre for Australian Army Leadership, the Australian Institute of Sport, and the Australian Olympic Swim Team. She has developed a pre-deployment biopsychosocial 'Performance Optimization Program' for Special Operations Command that has effectively displayed measurable improvements in behavioral and performance-based outcomes.
Jemma helped the Australian Olympic Swim team and athletes from the Australian Institute of Sport achieve success at the Tokyo Olympics. Jemma guest lectures at the University of Sydney MBA on critical thinking and decision making, teaches leadership at the Australian Command and Staff Course at the Australian Defence College, and supervises PhD students at the UQ School of Psychology.
She is also conducting several research projects including 'Executive Leadership Factors of Performance' and 'Leaders' Impact on Team Psychological Safety' with Harvard Professor Amy Edmondson, mental health and cognitive performance study with Wim Hof. She is a reviewer for The Journal of Management Education and was an Associate Lecturer in Organizational Behaviour at the University of Queensland Business School.
Additionally, she consults to large organizations and privately consults with many C-suite executives to help them perform under pressure, manage stress, and foster team performance. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Science majoring in Psychology, a Bachelor of Business Management 1st Class Honours, and a Doctor of Human Behaviour. She has also studied psychoneuroimmunology, endocrinology, neuroscience, anatomy, and medical microbiology.