Michael Duff has built an enviable reputation as one of Australia's leading corporate coaches of the mental side of high performance human behaviour.
A co-author with tennis legend John Newcombe of The Power Within:How to Create a High Performance Mind, Michael has an inherent understanding of what it takes to be the best. He has worked for over 20 years with CEO’s and senior executives at many of Australia and New Zealand’s top companies, helping them to understand their own mindset and thought patterns and find 'flow' in their lives, enabling them to consistently achieve their individual and team goals while building resilience.
Michael has spent his career in the corporate world and understands the pressures and demands that executives face on a daily basis. His own corporate career saw him become the youngest ever head of an Australian professional sport when he became CEO of the PGA Tour [professional golf] at the age of 28. After 5 very successful years at the helm of the Tour he then moved to tennis and spent the next 5 years running half the world for the ATP Tour, the global men's pro tennis circuit. It was during this time that he started to recognise the importance of mental strength as the key to a successful, balanced, achieving life.
With direct access to many of the world's most successful people Michael initially pursued his interest to understand what creates a sustained high performing mindset.
Current Work:
In 2000 Michael started MINDsense to teach his insights to Australian corporate leaders; a Zen influenced common sense approach to living a stress free life while balancing the demands of life in the 21st century.
Outside the corporate world Michael also coaches a number of world class athletes and sporting teams.
Talking Points
The MINDsense Program
The MINDsense program can be delivered either face to face or via an online platform or a hybrid of both. MINDsense explores the ‘human condition’ to provide individuals with key insights into their own daily experience of life, particularly as it relates to their own thoughts, behaviours, responses, attitudes and emotional states. The MINDsense Program
Most human beings perceive that their external environment or circumstances are responsible for their state of mind and emotions and end up in a daily struggle or fight with their world. It is not until we realise that life itself is a ‘benign’ experience that isn’t happening ‘to us’ but rather ‘around us’ that we can draw attention to our own internal response to our life’s events.
We come to understand the role of ‘ego’ and the constant need for self validation. It is this ‘ego’, the need to validate self that creates all of the struggles in life, generates the noise in our minds and drives most
dysfunctional behaviour.
The resultant increase in awareness of self and mind [mindfulness] reduces the need for self validation and leads to a calmer, more present state of existence where the mind is quieter and where we see and operate with greater clarity. From here we find ourselves operating more in the state of “no-mind” from where invoking the consciousness to define the ‘best version of ourselves’ in all the key areas in life [home, work and for self] is much easier.
With this developed understanding of self and ability to more effectively lead self we then move to applying the learnings to our leadership of others.
How do we help those around us to uncover a stronger, more certain sense of self that boosts clarity, productivity and enjoyment of life?
Mike’s engagement with his audience is superb and our people always come away inspired, entertained and motivated, as well as having developed a deeper understanding of their minds. His appr ... keep reading Cover-More Group
I have worked with Mike for over 10 years with many different teams. Each time he has had a profound impact, helping us focus and improve our wellbeing which is so important personally and professionally in this fast changing world.
Mike initially engaged with my Leadership Team and then all Line Managers and the sessions were highly entertaining, informative, energetic, motivating and personal to each and everyone of us that took part. Two years later, we have the highest engagement scores across the Retail Bank at CBA, have won awards across the globe for the Customer Engagement Engine and have become known for our thought leadership in Data & Analytics across CBA and APAC. I’d thoroughly recommend the MindSense programme (and Mike) to anyone who wants to change the mindset of their team, from one of restricted belief to anything is possible...
Woolworths has engaged Mike a number of times over the last decade across many parts of the business and his sessions are always the highlight of the program. Mike is a naturally gifted speaker and his highly entertaining and engaging sessions help people understand their minds and operate at a higher level of conscious intent. If you want to achieve performance breakthroughs or big hairy audacious goals then Mike is a must have for you and your team!
