About Siobhán (shiv-awn) McHale

I'm a change leader and “insider”, having been the executive in charge of transformation in a series of international firms. I help people lead change. My WHY: Better workplaces.

Growing up on a farm in Finea, a small village in southern Ireland, I watched the bees as they swarmed in the orchard of my family’s farm. This fascination with bees led me to investigate the intricacies of human ecosystems and I would go on to spend three decades studying groups in the workplace.  This experience taught me about the power of harnessing the Hive Mind and the group intelligence needed to create meaningful and lasting change.  My theory of Group Intelligence (GQ), is contained in my latest book The Hive Mind at Work.

Over the past 30 years, I have helped thousands of leaders to create more agile and productive workplaces. My approach comes – not from the ivory tower – but from my “insider” role as the executive in charge of transformation in a series of international firms. These ‘insider’ roles have given me a different perspective on change, compared to the views of academics, consultants, and journalists who are writing on the topic of transformation. The insights I’ve gained have allowed me to develop a groundbreaking approach to bringing about real and systemic change described in my books 'The Insider’s Guide to Culture Change' and The Hive Mind at Work.

I began my career as a management consultant at PricewaterHouse Coopers in London. and later with the Chicago-based consulting firm Accenture. After a decade as a consultant I wanted more ‘skin in the game’ and was keen to roll up my sleeves to put my change theories into practice.  I became the executive in charge of change in a series of large, complex organizations – no longer flying in and out advising managers about how to lead transformation but now the executive responsible for making change happen.

One of the highlights of my career was a radical seven-year change project at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) that transformed the organization from the lowest performing bank in Australia, into one of the highest performing and most globally admired banks in the world. Harvard Professor John Kotter (the foremost authority on change management at that time) used my work at ANZ as a Harvard Business School case study.  

I am one of the pioneers in the field of Organisational Psychology, having completed a masters in Occupational Psychology at the University of Sheffield in 1989 and a degree in Psychology (Double Honours) from NUI in 1988. I’m passionate about helping leaders to build better and more productive organizations that create positive outcomes for customers, employees, shareholders and society as a whole. 

Born In Ireland, I have lived and worked around the world, including New York, London, Sydney, Hong Kong, Dublin, and Auckland. I currently live in Melbourne, Australia where I’m employed as the EGM People, Culture & Change at DuluxGroup.