Rachel Kemmis
Background
A senior advisor and coach to executive leaders and boards, experienced in resolving strategic and operational issues that hold individuals, teams and organisations back from achieving their purpose. Rachel works with leaders to take the ‘white noise’ out of organisational systems so that people can direct effort to the highest value activities. She is an accomplished coach and facilitator, known for her candour, clarity of thought and pragmatism.
Coaching philosophy
Rachel’s coaching is grounded in the philosophy that success, growth, and change happen when individuals actively choose their path rather than passively waiting for circumstances to dictate their course. She encourages clients to reflect on their goals, commit to their decisions, and embrace the responsibility for following through. Rachel’s clients recognise that whether it’s overcoming challenges or pursuing aspirations, the key lies in first making sense of the situation, and associated patterns, then deciding which action to test, and honouring that choice. Drawing on a deep understanding of how to enact change in complex systems, Rachel supports leaders to adapt approaches as they integrate new information and account for changing contexts.
Professional Snapshot
Areas of expertise
- Leadership & capability
- Operating model and organisational design
- Organisational performance
- Transformation & implementation
Qualifications and accreditations
- Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
- Master of Business Administration (Macquarie Business School)
- Diploma of Neuroscience of Leadership (Managerial Resource Training)
- Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) (Australian National University)
- Human Centred Design course (IDEO)
- Level II Coaching Accreditation (Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership)
- Certified Career Path Appreciation practitioner (BIOSS)
- Accredited in the use of the Centre for Creative Leadership’s 360° suite, DiSC® Behavioural Model and Saville & Holdsworth’s Occupational Testing and Personality instruments (including OPQ and MQ)
- Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment.
Group and team coaching
- As part of the delivery of longitudinal leadership development programs for a national financial services organisation, Rachel facilitated program delivery and led group coaching of over 15 cohorts of team leaders and managers
- As part of the delivery of longitudinal leadership development program for a Victoria agency, Rachel facilitated program delivery and led group coaching for three cohorts of leaders
Talent assessor
Accredited in the use of the Centre for Creative Leadership’s 360° suite, DiSC® Behavioural Model, Saville & Holdsworth’s Occupational Testing and Personality instruments (including OPQ and MQ) and Certified Career Path Appreciation practitioner (BIOSS).
Success stories
- Coached the new Chair of established cross-agency board, tasked with whole of system reform, to set strong foundations for the delivery of the Board’s obligations
- Designed a longitudinal learning program a major Australian university to better equip female and gender non-conforming staff members to both progress to leadership positions in the organisation and develop change-making capability by identifying, scoping and recommending opportunities for systemic change
- Facilitated large enterprise-wide leadership program delivered to Australian Defence Force and Australian Public Service cohorts, a program that builds leaders’ capability to engage in complex adaptive challenges and is being delivered to more than 3,500 participants across five years
- Member of the Nous facilitation team for the NSW Public Service Commission’s Leadership Academy virtual and face to face learning modules, designed for leaders from People Managers to Band 3s
- Designed and embedded a wellbeing and resilience framework through a longitudinal learning program that was proven to increase resilience practices of leaders in a range of organisational contexts, from infrastructure to utilities