Speaking & Advisory
David speaks and advises on leadership, institutional reform and the human side of organisational change. His work draws on three decades in the military, consulting and the public service, and his academic research.
This is the trailer.
Full Interview
In this conversation with Katie Rigg-Smith for NSW Health’s Future Health Podcast, David examines how leaders balance stability with transformation, work through the untidy reality of change, and keep their authenticity in visible, media-driven roles. He considers the role hope, imagination, and dissent play in resilient organisations, and how AI, automation, and hybrid work are changing meaning and connection in public sector work.
Published 1 July 2026
Talk Topics
The Discipline of Hope: why leadership needs more than optimism
Burnout, cynicism, and quiet quitting remain when an organisation runs out of hope. David argues that leaders can practise hope as a discipline, and shows what that practice asks of them.
Counterfeit hope: charisma, authority and the leader who promises too much
Hope concentrated in one person makes followers dependent and silences dissent. Three questions tell manufactured hope from the kind that lasts: are people growing more capable, does dissent survive, and does the work outlast its champion?
Who should lead the revolution? Reform that holds
Most transformations end as reorganisations. Drawing on the history of public sector reform, David examines why change falters when process displaces judgement, and what sequence and ownership make it endure.
The work we cannot see: AI, automation and the meaning of public work
Automation changes institutions quietly and cumulatively, with no crisis to mark the moment. David considers what leaders must protect as AI and hybrid work arrive: judgement, accountability, and the slow apprenticeship by which people learn their craft.
Hardening the culture: security, trust and the insider
Security programs that treat people as the weakest link breed the behaviour they fear. David argues that culture, trust, and professional identity are the foundations of a resilient organisation.
Past Engagements
2026 | Future Health Podcast, NSW Health
In conversation with Katie Rigg-Smith
2025 | Philosophy of Management Conference, Oxford
Deliberately leading with hope: an antidote to joyless workplaces (with Deborah Blackman)
2025 | Australian Cyber Conference, Canberra
Hardening the culture: insider threat, cybersecurity risk and resilience
2024 | Philosophy of Management Conference, Oxford
Who should lead the revolution? (with Deborah Blackman)
2024 | Australian Cyber Conference, Melbourne
A "cybersecurity profession": what are we talking about?
2024 | Australian Cyber Conference, Canberra
Skills, not jobs: building cyber workforce resilience
Advisory
David advises governments, regulators and not-for-profit organisations on reform, workforce and organisational design. The work is diagnostic first: understanding why an organisation behaves as it does before deciding what to change. He then helps leaders sequence change so each step makes the next possible.
Recent example. A public service needed to improve organisational performance, accountability, and workforce capability, while absorbing a 10% budget reduction without significant job losses. David was engaged to provide strategic advice and build the accountability, performance, and capability infrastructure that would support and drive the transformation.