Graeme Cowan, Author at Graeme Cowan

I helped start R U OK? Why we need 2 more questions

Most organisations treat these as three separate issues. Wellbeing owns loneliness. HR owns engagement. Operations owns productivity. Three different reports, three different owners, three different fixes. I helped to start R U OK? We now need 2 more questions. Thirteen years ago, I helped Gavin Larkin build something that got Australians asking each other one […]

Loneliness, disengagement, poor productivity: one problem, not three

Most organisations treat these as three separate issues. Wellbeing owns loneliness. HR owns engagement. Operations owns productivity. Three different reports, three different owners, three different fixes. Two major research reports released this year suggest that’s the wrong way to see it. Too many ineffective meetings EnterpriseWorks’ 2026 Workforce Productivity Report found that 45% of the […]

Going for Green Zone: Why every crew needs a moodometer

Why do most leaders know their revenue targets to the dollar but have no idea how their crew is feeling this week? Because performance has a dashboard. Wellbeing doesn’t, not yet. That gap is where burnout, disengagement and quiet quitting all start. What is the crew moodometer The crew moodometer is a simple idea with […]

Burnout isn’t a workforce crisis. It’s a leadership one.

The New South Wales Government recently revealed that the average distress claim now costs $288,000, doubled in just six years. This article first appeared in HRD on 23 April 2026 Alarmingly, these workers compensation claims, are only a fraction of total absenteeism costs. But also consider presenteeism – people showing up depleted and disengaged – costs organisations […]

Why Green Zone leadership is the ultimate AI advantage

When Bob Chapman became CEO of Barry-Wehmiller in 1975, he did what any accountant and MBA would do. He looked at the numbers. This article first appeared in CFO Magazine on 28 April 2026. The company was a $20 million supplier to the brewing industry and in financial distress. People were inputs. Efficiency was the […]

The Care Mindset That Separates Great Leaders From Burnt-Out Ones

The highest-performing teams aren’t built on pressure—they’re built on care, trust, and the psychological safety that unlocks real results. This article first appeared in CSQ on 27 April 2026 In my work with leadership teams and corporate clients, I’ve asked thousands of managers and team members (via an anonymous live survey) to think of a […]

Why caring leadership isn’t soft, it’s a competitive edge

The organisation Todd spent years building was at genuine risk of sliding backwards. What he did next is one of the most informative leadership stories of the pandemic era. This article first appeared in HR Leader on 2 April, 2026 In March 2020, Todd Harper AM, CEO of Cancer Council Victoria (CCV), was facing every […]

Your engagement scores look great. Your leaders are drowning

Dave Banks looked at his engagement survey results: 84 per cent—well above the 78 per cent industry benchmark. His internal consulting team at NAB had slashed the business bank cost-to-income ratio significantly over six years. By every traditional metric, they were winning. Yet Dave couldn’t shake what he was observing in meetings. The energy had […]

840,000 deaths each year from work-related stress

840,000 deaths each year from work-related stress – and the majority are preventable. Not heart attacks in the abstract. Not “burnout” as a buzzword. Deaths because of cardiac disease and suicide caused by work. It links directly to how work is designed, managed, and led. The ILO (a UN agency) just released the data. Job […]

Australia’s workplace paradox: thriving in life, disengaged at work

What the latest Gallup data reveals — and what leaders can do about it. Imagine leading a team where most people are doing well in life — but quietly checking out at work. That’s the reality emerging from the Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2026 report. And for Australian leaders, it’s a finding worth […]