- Founder & CEO
Sonia McDonald
Founder of LeadershipHQ. Keynote speaker. Three-time author. Recovering job-rejection collector.
At 33, Sonia McDonald was a sole parent with no money, no safety net, and forty job rejections. One long cry in a car park later, she made a decision that became a company: if no one would give her a seat at the table, she’d build the table.
That table became LeadershipHQ. Nearly two decades on, Sonia is one of Australia’s and the world’s leading voices on courageous, human-centred leadership — a global keynote speaker, executive coach, and author of Leadership Attitude, Just Rock It! and First Comes Courage. Her work blends neuroscience, leadership psychology and 35 years of hard-won experience, and it carries one message everywhere it goes: leadership is an attitude, not a title.
I've been led badly, and I've led badly. Both of those hurt. Neither of them had to happen.
- Sonia McDonald · Founder, LeadershipHQ
At a glance
Architect of the Leadership Brain Framework™ and Leadership 2030 Compass™
Beyond the firm.
The full story, speaking, books and media all live on soniamcdonald.com.