Fiona Kennedy
This is a really exciting time for me to be part of the New Zealand Leadership Institute. Ways of thinking are on the move. Potent ideas from all sorts of creative and interesting sources are finding their way into leadership pedagogy and some sacred cows are being questioned. There is vitality and courage to the questions we are asking- questions such as how do we position leadership for cotemporary circumstances; how do we think about change; what is leadership and where does it exist?
What is most captivating for me are the moments when ideas touch and unsettle established practice and when the future seems to turn on a dime. My leadership research and development work includes noticing and learning from those moments.
Fiona Kennedy is Senior Leadership Facilitator and Researcher at the New Zealand Leadership Institute. Her PhD research focused on persistent vitality and the implications of this for renewal in the day to day life of organisations. This research was born in part, out of frustration with formulaic, ‘in step' approaches to complex issues such as leadership development and organisational performance.
Fiona has consulted in leadership and organisational development for approximately twelve years. Her interest in these areas was stimulated by working in a senior management role in the Ontario public sector in a time of massive change. At that time she found herself in a maelstrom of conflicting priorities where default solutions were inadequate to the realities of experience and where there were few ‘handrails' that were strong and flexible enough to help people find their balance in a rapidly changing world. This experience was the catalyst for her work as a consultant in organisational development. Prior to her senior management role, Fiona worked and trained as a family therapist and a family therapy supervisor. Working as a family therapist has influenced her concern for the dynamics of continuity and change in human enterprises and her faith that good theory can create renewed possibilities for action.
Fiona's education includes a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Canterbury, a Bachelor of Social Work (Hons) from the University of Western Ontario, a Masters degree in Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo Ontario. Her PhD was completed at the University of Auckland.
Tel. (+64) 9 373 7599 extn. 86765
