Module 01
Leopard Leadership
Self-awareness as the foundation of great leadership — a leopard can't change its spots, but it can understand them.
Using the link between our primate ancestry and human behaviour, we help you understand human instincts - why we act and think the way we do.
Apply this to leadership, and you can make better-informed decisions setting you apart from the rest.
Harna Burton is a leadership consultant who, through a unique blend of primate ancestry, human instinct and practical operational strategy, helps leaders build confident, compassionate, high-performing teams and positive culture.
With 25 years of hands-on operational experience in the zoo and aquarium industry — including 15 years in leadership roles at Melbourne Zoo and Melbourne Aquarium — Harna has worked directly with CEOs and senior executives across these ZAA-accredited organisations.
She brings deep expertise in animal welfare, project management and team leadership — and a quiet conviction that the dynamics governing a primate troop and a 200-person business run on the same rules. Read the room. Earn the trust. Move the group.
The obstacles to high performance are uncannily similar from one organisation to the next. Irrespective of industry or country, most leaders say the same things.
We see a lot of silo behaviour and internal rivalry.
Our managers find it hard to give negative feedback.
Change is difficult to manage and often resisted.
The gossip grapevine is incredibly effective.
Our performance appraisal system isn't working as it should.
A connected programme — from self-awareness, to the instincts that drive behaviour, to the systems that hold an organisation together. Run standalone or end-to-end.
Self-awareness as the foundation of great leadership — a leopard can't change its spots, but it can understand them.
Leadership coaching and workshops on the link between primate ancestry and modern workplace behaviour.
The operational backbone — auditing time and value, standardising systems, and navigating change.
Whether you run a wildlife park or a payments company, the work is the same — people, pace and instinct. Tell us what you're working on.