That People Thing

I don’t think we would have achieved the success we did without the determined, consistent, honest and challenging support that Blaire and her team brought to the project. Steve Hardy
Former CEO, AXA Personal Lines.

Through her books, Blaire shares thought-provoking ideas, inspiring readers to step up and drive change.

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Amazon 5 Star Rating

Blaire Palmer Books

As organisations evolve, leadership needs to evolve with them

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Blaire palmer's keynotes, and our Transformation consultancy work, help CEOs and senior teams rethink how they lead—and shift the behaviours that determine whether transformation succeeds or stalls

Trusted by organisations including: Airbus • Roche • GSK • AXA • Heineken • Santander • The Welsh Assembly • The BBC • Mattel • DX • Rexel • The Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Most organisations are running 21st-century businesses on 19th-century leadership principles. But the way organisations need to operate has changed faster than leadership has evolved.

Hierarchy. Risk aversion. Activity over outcomes.

That works in a steady state when the future is predictable and change is slow. But it won’t work today. 

And this is why:

Your strategy is right—but the execution is stalling

The organisation is evolving—but ways of working haven’t caught up

Your leaders know something needs to change—but don’t know how

Translating insights into sustained behaviour change is where the real challenge lies. You don’t need more models and theories. Our focus is on changing what’s happening in your organisation right now. 

Most consultancies sell you a model.

We work with you to shift what’s actually happening in real time, real interactions, real meetings, real conversations.

Our approach:

Inspire – Challenge thinking and create the appetite

Diagnose – Identify the real blockers to change

Design – Target the behaviours that matter

Deliver – Work with leaders in real time

Embed – Make it stick without dependency

“We moved from three disparate cultures to one empowered team.”
— AXA Personal Lines

£770K–£1.3M impact identified through leadership actions
— Welsh Government (independent evaluation)

96% approval rating
— Roche leadership programme

£5M commercial contract influenced by a single session

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As organisations evolve, leadership needs to evolve with them

Discuss a keynote

keynotes that challenge how leaders think

Blaire’s keynotes combine witty, engaging storytelling with over two decades of working inside organisations undergoing real change.

“Blaire helps organisations where change isn’t landing—because the real barrier isn’t strategy, it’s leadership behaviour driven by outdated assumptions.”

Provocative, practical, and immediately relevant.

Leaders leave thinking:
“We need to do something differently. And I know where to start”

Discuss a keynote

Start with a keynote - Shift thinking. Create momentum.

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What makes Blaire different:

  • Grounded in real organisational experience
  • Highly tuned to today and tommorrow’s global and commercial context
  • Provocative yet optimistic, challenging yet accessible 
  • Built for senior leaders
  • Focused on what leaders need to do differently now
  • Immediately applicable

Topics:

  • The Future of Leadership (AI, humanity, performance)
  • Punks in Suits (challenging outdated thinking)
  • A Brilliant Gamble (leading through change)
  • Embracing difference (diversity, conflict and team dynamics)

Main Topics: Leadership | Motivation | Empowerment | Engagement | Hierarchy | Change Management | Organisational Culture

Blaire doesn’t reinforce leadership norms. She dismantles the myths behind them and replace them with a more honest, human and effective way of leading.

Her keynotes on leadership and behaviour change challenge the myths that keep organisations stuck. She helps leaders see what’s really driving their culture and performance—and what it actually takes to build a more honest, human, high-performing organisation.

Most speakers:

  • inspire
  • validate
  • add tools

Blaire:

  • challenges what leaders believe is true in the first place
  • focuses on behaviour, not intention
  • connects humanity directly to performance (not as a side topic)

Organisations say they want change, but their leaders are stuck in outdated beliefs and behaviours that quietly prevent it.

More specifically:

  • Leaders think they’re empowering people—but it still feels like control to their people
  • They talk about culture—but don’t change how they behave
  • They want performance—but rely on pressure, not ownership
  • They invest in leadership development—but nothing actually shifts

Blaire exposes the gap between what leaders say and what they actually do, and why it isn’t working.

She creates the appetite for real change by helping leaders see differently, think differently, and crucially, behave differently.

Audiences get:

  • A mindset shift that sticks (because it challenges core beliefs, not surface skills)
  • A clear, human way to unlock performance without burnout or theatre
  • Language and insight leaders can act on immediately
  • Momentum for genuine organisational change—not just inspiration

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Start with a keynote - Shift thinking. Create momentum.

Explore transformation work

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TRANSFORMATION WORK THAT CHANGES HOW LEADERS BEHAVE

Leadership during transformation determines whether change succeeds or fails.

Blaire works with her highly experienced team on every engagement with your business.

This is where the real work happens.

We work inside your organisation - with your CEO and leadership team - to shift the behaviours that are blocking performance.

Not frameworks.
Not theory.
Behaviour change.

Find out more on our Programmes page.

Most consultancies:

  • Sell frameworks
  • Deliver workshops
  • Leave you to implement

We:

  • Work directly with your leadership team
  • Challenge behaviour - not just thinking
  • Stay involved long enough for change to stick

This is not a programme people attend.
It’s work your leaders do.

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Explore transformation work

That People Thing

That People Thing

That People Thing.
74 Harts Hill Road
Thatcham
Berkshire
RG18 4NU

Telephone: +44 (0)1225 690066
Mobile: +44 7808 581 242
Email: connect@thatpeoplething.com

©2026 That People Thing, All Rights Reserved.

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That People Thing

That People Thing
74 Harts Hill Road
Thatcham
Berkshire
RG18 4NU

T. +44 (0)1249 454 117
M. +44 (0)7808 581 242
E. connect@thatpeoplething.com

Office hours:
Mon - Fri: 9am to 5.30pm