Anneli Blundell - Female Entrepreneur of the Year

Company: Anneli Blundell, Greater Melbourne, VIC Australia
Entry Submitted By: The Audacious Agency, Gold Coast, Australia
Company Description: Anneli Blundell is a ‘people whisperer’. She helps leaders have greater professional impact and build stronger relationships at work through developing interpersonal intelligence.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Entrepreneur of the Year – Business Services –10 or Less Employees

Nomination Title: ANNELI BLUNDELL: THE PEOPLE WHISPERER

Anneli Blundell is a ‘people whisperer’. She helps leaders have greater professional impact and build stronger relationships at work through developing interpersonal intelligence.

She’s obsessed with helping leaders decode the hidden dynamics that drive human behaviour to better understand why people do what they do. Knowing this helps them develop influence, engagement and impact, and ultimately accelerates results.

To help her clients not only survive but thrive through 2020, Anneli pivoted her business, delivery mode and service focus. Her executive coaching clients were hit hard by the pandemic and needed strategies, advice, and support for how to manage their own emotional roller coaster before they could be of value to their people and organisations. Supporting them through the revolving door of lockdowns, layoffs and setbacks became a priority.

She shifted focus from getting sales to simply serving, producing a series of free webinars and short video blogs for clients’ internal use, and delivered sessions on how to ‘lead, communicate and run effective meetings in a virtual world’ as clients struggled with the WFH shift. Before they could even consider focusing on existing L&D initiatives, they needed to quickly close the new skills gaps, in order to keep the lights on.

Anneli is a finalist in the Australian Institute of Training and Development Excellence Awards for her work during 2020/21 (winners announced in October). Her work was dominated by two major contexts: COVID19 and the ever-rising focus of gender equality, (in particular, the role of men).

Her achievements are centred around her thought leadership and programs on these two topics.

COVID19 support
Her series of free webinars included:
-Emotional Hygiene for leading in times of crisis* (an Australian CEO client sent this recording to the Global Board in Germany; he thought it was critical for all leaders to watch) - 100 signs ups on the first day
-Social Distancing etiquette - the good, the bad and the downright awkward
-How to have hope when it feels like there is no end in sight

She also produced several skills development sessions for other learning and development providers, who support learning in their work including:
-Edutech, Learn@Work conference –3 keys to leverage a blended learning solution – A Mercedes-Benz Case Study
-NAWO (National Association of Women in Operations) – Digital presentation skills – Building engagement and impact for hosting online sessions
-Professional Speakers Australia Convention – How to tame a hostile crowd
-The 2020 Worldwide Virtual Multicultural Conference – Engaging men in diversity initiatives
-Learning to Thrive podcast (for L&D profs) – Men supporting women in equity initiatives
-AHRI Diversity series – Men as allies
-Organisational Development Australia – Structural bias at work

Taking stock on how to be of service, Anneli asked “What do I have the world needs right now?” It turned out to be her deep understanding of human behaviour, a connection to self and others, and an intimate understanding of how people impact each other. SPEED, SERVICE and relevant SOLUTIONS (getting useful/supportive content out as quickly and accessibly), saw a focus on ‘free over fee’. She helped people stay afloat, providing the communication skills needed to keep moving forward.

The continuing rise in social focus on gender equity - women speaking up, standing up and demanding action… rattling some men also gave direction.

When a minority group gains power, the status/privilege of the majority becomes threatened, leading to a defensive default. The danger with the rising focus of women in the workplace is the perception of a declining focus (and value) on men. Perceived or real, many men are finding this challenging to navigate.

Anneli’s programs, keynotes, and coaching supports women into more leadership positions but hinges firmly on the support of men. Frustrated at the lack of men involved in the conversations, conferences and initiatives aimed at improving gender equality, her pocketbook ‘When men lead women’ brings to the surface conversations viewed as taboo, unpopular, and controversial. It provides a pathway for a new dialogue between men and women: one where blame and fear are replaced with clarity and courage, and men feel encouraged to get involved and crucial to the cause.

Anneli’s work is about helping clients be their best. The pandemic created opportunity, devastation, amplified the cracks and magnified the magic in individuals and organisations. By choosing to serve, sacrificing profit over connection and relationships, Anneli made a huge impact in her clients’ world. During the past 18 months, she’s pivoted and adapted, while still communicating the important message of how vital learning and development is to ongoing business growth. Her actions demonstrated a crisis is the best time to double down on learning and provided proof that there is value in timely, relevant content.

Her support document outlines how she has shared her skills and expertise with her clients. It covers her:

-Modalities – coaching, training, facilitating, speaking, authoring
-Channels – videos, audio podcasts, tv, articles, workshops, conference presentations, books, and various social media channels
-Messages – digital presentation skills, effective facilitation and meetings skills, how to communicate more effectively online (and off), challenging workplace and structural bias, engaging men as allies in gender equity initiatives to increase their effectiveness, etc
-And .. different price points – free, low fee, regular fee.

As a result, her relationships with clients have deepened and strengthened. She has built trust during hard times and reinforced the joint purpose of serving and supporting people to be their best. The testimonials from her clients in the support document reflect the honest, real and open conversations that characterise the long-term bonds of trust and partnership she’s built as an entrepreneur.