Lison Mage

Author of "Act Before You overThink" ◆ Speaker ◆ Trainer ◆ Executive Coach ◆ Skydiver🪂 Kitesurfer🏄🏻‍♀️

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

For the first time in history, the skill being disrupted isn't a task. It's thinking itself.

https://t.co/SNxmxSXfdv

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

Latest newsletter, have a read here:
https://t.co/SxuxBq4Bc4

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

Dare To Give: https://t.co/9Ft2jcggwJ

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

One jump. One kid. One chance. 🪂

I've been sitting on this for a while and today I'm finally ready to share it.

This is my Dare to Give campaign in support of The Smith Family: Australia's largest children's education charity.

Education changes everything.

Watch the video and see why this one matters so much to me.
Link in bio to donate. Every dollar counts. 💛

#DareToGive #OneJumpOneKidOneChance #EducationChangesEverything #TheSmithFamily #Skydiving #GiveBack
#Education
#Australia

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

Something keeps happening in my workshops, and I can't unsee it. People saying "sorry" and some not.

https://t.co/NLKXLvM9vn

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

I shared this sketch in a decision-making workshop recently, and it sparked a great conversation.

Here's the premise:

Individual contributors spend close to 100% of their time on tasks. That's the job. Execute, deliver, repeat.

But when you step into a middle-level management role, your week should be split across three areas:

🔹 People
🔹 Tasks
🔹 Strategy

And by strategy, I don't mean business as usual. I mean stepping back to think mid-to-long term: better processes, smarter ways of working, what's coming next.

Now here's where it gets interesting.

C-level executives? Zero tasks. Look at the graph: there's nothing there. They probably don't even remember their password to log into their inbox. (Half joking.)

Their entire focus is people and strategy. And sitting right at the top of that triangle? Decisions.

That's the job. Make decisions. All day. Every day.

And here's the problem:

Most people are never trained to make decisions.

So when they reach the C-suite, they don't last, not because they're not smart, but because decision-making is a skill nobody invested in developing.

Which raises the real question:

What are we doing with our middle-level managers right now? Are we training them to make better decisions so they're future-ready for senior leadership?

Or are we just hoping they'll figure it out?

💬 I'd love to hear, does your organisation invest in decision-making as a skill?

#decisionmakingskills #training #LeadershipDevelopment

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

Thoughts on Standards, Conflict, Courage https://t.co/4M450J10mI via @LinkedIn

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

For the past few weeks, I've been thinking a lot about meaning.

Not in an abstract, philosophical way. In a practical, look in the mirror way🪞

I love what I do. Helping teams make smarter decisions. Coaching leaders through the messy, human side of performance. Writing about it. Speaking about it.

But something has been nagging at me.

What if impact doesn't stop at the boardroom door?

The question kept coming back: what more can I do?
Not just words on a page. Not just ideas shared from behind a desk. Something that puts my body on the line, not just my thinking.

Something that connects what I've learned with a cause bigger than my own business.

Here's where I landed.

Education.

Every kid in Australia deserves access to knowledge. Not as a privilege. Not as a postcode lottery. As a right.

Because the child who learns to read today becomes the leader who makes bold decisions tomorrow.

The teenager who gets support through school becomes the manager who supports their team through uncertainty.

The young person who is told "you belong here" becomes the executive who builds cultures where others belong too.

The next generation of leaders in this country is sitting in classrooms right now. Some of them with everything they need. Some of them without.

That gap is not just an education problem. It is a leadership pipeline problem. It is a decision we are making by default every single day we look the other way.

So I've decided to do something about it.

Over the coming months, I'm launching a personal challenge that brings together three things that matter deeply to me: the discipline of skydiving, the lessons of individual performance, and the future of young Australians who deserve a fair shot.

It involves 30 jumps, a move called the ballerina that has been humbling me for months, and a cause in the education space that I deeply believe in.

Along the way, I'll be sharing what the journey teaches me about fear, leadership, decision making, and what it really takes to push past your limits. Not theory. Real moments captured at 14,000 feet at 250km/h and inside a wind tunnel.

Because I believe the best way to talk about performance is to live it publicly. With all the awkward, messy, humbling moments included.

More details soon.

But I wanted you to know "why" before you know "what".

This is a meaning exercise.
Stay tuned🙏

#education #leadership #australia #skydiving #challenge

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

First high five in a sit position. In freefall. At 250km/h.

A few seconds of (slow motion) video.
Months of invisible work behind it.

Nobody sees what came before this moment.

The failed attempts where my body position collapsed.

The jumps where I couldn't hold stable long enough to even reach out.

The debrief videos I watched thinking, "How is that still not right?"

But this post isn't really about skydiving.

It's about what it takes to perform when it actually counts.

Think about the first time you led a difficult conversation with your team.
Your voice was shaky.
You second guessed every word.
Afterwards, you replayed it in your head for days. But you did it again. And again. And somewhere along the way, it stopped being terrifying and started being leadership.

Think about the presentation that bombed.
The one where the client's face told you everything before they said a word. You wanted to avoid that feeling forever. But instead, you refined the pitch, simplified the message, and walked back into the next room. That's resilience in action.

Think about the decision you kept postponing.
The restructure. The hard hire. The strategy pivot everyone was waiting for. You finally made the call, not because you had perfect information, but because you understood that waiting was costing more than choosing.

That's what performance looks like in real life.

Not a single breakthrough moment.
Not a flash of genius.
Not talent showing up on cue.

It is the boring, unglamorous repetition of showing up, getting feedback, adjusting, and doing it again.

Three things made that high five possible, and they are the same three things that build high performing teams:

👉A coach who refused to let me settle.

Not cheerleading. Not "you're doing great" when I wasn't. Honest, specific feedback delivered with respect. The kind of leader every team deserves but few actually get.

👉Permission to be bad at it before being good at it.

We expect ourselves to nail the quarterly strategy on the first attempt, to run a flawless workshop with no practice, to manage conflict like a seasoned diplomat on day one. Performance doesn't work that way. Mastery has an awkward phase. Every single time.

👉Trusting the process when progress was invisible.

There's a gap between effort and evidence that breaks most people. In your career, it's the six months where you're doing everything right and nothing seems to change. The promotion that hasn't come. The pipeline that hasn't converted. The team culture shift that feels glacially slow.
The high five happens on the other side of that gap.

So if you're in the middle of something hard right now, where the work feels repetitive, the feedback feels relentless, and the results feel invisible, keep going.

That's not failure. That's the process working.
Performance is built, not hoped for.

❔What's your version of the high five you're working towards right now?

#skydive #performance #GrowthMindset #LearningJourney

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

In two days, I heard "Ask AI" twice.

Not from strangers. From people in my personal network.

I was opening up about some business ideas. Not looking for the perfect answer. Just wanting a real conversation. The kind where you think out loud, test half-formed thoughts, and let ideas collide.

But twice, mid-brainstorm, they said: "Have you asked AI?"

And look, I get it. I love leveraging AI. I use it daily. It's extraordinary for research, structuring ideas, and pressure-testing logic.

But in that moment, I wasn't looking for an algorithm. I was looking for a human.

There's something that happens in messy, imperfect conversation that no model can replicate. The raised eyebrow that says "tell me more." The pause that lets a thought land. The pushback that comes from someone who actually knows you.

It reminded me of something I see constantly in team dynamics: sometimes people don't need you to solve their problem. They need you to listen while they solve it themselves.

We've all been in that conversation where someone shares something vulnerable, and instead of sitting with it, we jump straight into fix-it mode.

"Ask AI" is starting to feel like the 2026 version of that.

I wonder if we're training ourselves out of the patience that real thinking requires. The kind that doesn't come from a prompt, but from presence.

AI is a phenomenal tool. But not every moment calls for a tool. Some moments call for a person.

I am curious, have you noticed this shift?

Are we starting to outsource not just tasks, but the conversations that actually need a human on the other end?

I'd love to hear your experience. 👇

#AI #humanexperience #leadership #business #teamdynamics

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

https://t.co/xuhD3CUG2c

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

"Should I lower my standards?"
A CEO asked me this in a recent workshop.

I didn't give her an answer.

Instead, I asked her a series of questions.

"If you lower the standard on deadlines, what happens to your delivery commitments?"
She paused. "They slip."

"And if delivery slips consistently, what happens to client trust?"
"It erodes."

"And if client trust erodes, what happens to revenue?"
Longer pause. "It drops."

"And if revenue drops while costs stay the same, what happens to the organisation?"
...
The room went quiet.
...

Lowering standards is not kindness. It is slow demolition.
Holding standards with courage is not harsh. It is how you build teams that last.

Which path is your team on?

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♻️ If this resonates, subscribe to my newsletter Thoughts for Change Makers for deeper insights on #leadership, #decisions, and #teamperformance. Link in comments.

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

Thoughts on Leader, Self-Trust, and Broken Timer ⏰
https://t.co/huTfddbJko

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

Hey new connections on X👋let's start getting to know each other.

A bit about what I do: I help ambitious leaders and teams elevate and sustain performance through workshops, programs, coaching, and keynotes.

Whether it's sharpening decision-making skills to cut through the noise, fostering cognitive diversity to spark innovation, or building emotional intelligence to navigate change and tricky behaviours, I'm all about creating environments where people thrive.

From workshops on psychological safety to coaching leaders through uncertainty, my focus is on practical, science-backed strategies that deliver real results, drawing from my first book📙𝘈𝘤𝘵 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘰��𝘦𝘳𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬, and the one I'm currently writing on team performance and decision making.

This journey of mine kicked off after some rough years in the corporate world, dealing with poor leadership that left me feeling stuck and frustrated. I knew there had to be a better way, so I built my thought leadership practice to share what I've learned and help others avoid those pitfalls.

Think of me as a butterfly landing gently on your shoulder 🦋. I'll whisper ideas, drop thought-provoking questions, and nudge you towards fresh perspectives. But here's the magic: it's up to you to take it on board, reflect on it, and act in ways that fit your world. No pressure, just possibilities!

And when I'm not diving into sessions with inspiring leaders?
You'll find me either skydiving or kitesurfing, because life, like leadership, is all about embracing the thrill🪂

A good start to dive further with me is to subscribe to my newsletter 📧

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

Check out the latest article in my newsletter: Thoughts on Bonfire, Leadership, and Uncertainty 🔥 https://t.co/VzXDbZ1dzi via @LinkedIn

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

As leaders bring their teams back to the office and dive into planning for the year ahead: setting bold goals, priorities, and metrics...it's easy to rush straight into "what's next."

But pause for a moment: Research on workplace motivation (like Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer's groundbreaking "Progress Principle," based on thousands of daily diary entries from professionals) shows that one of the strongest boosters of engagement, creativity, and drive isn't just forward-looking ambition.
It's reflecting on and celebrating the progress and wins from the past year first. Acknowledging what we've already accomplished, even the small steps forward, ignites positive emotions, reinforces a sense of capability, and fuels the inner motivation needed to tackle bigger challenges.

Before mapping out 2026, take time as a team to highlight last year's successes. It doesn't have to be grand; often, the "small wins" have the biggest impact.

How are you starting the year with your team? Reflecting backward, or charging full speed ahead?

#Leadership #TeamMotivation #ProgressPrinciple

[Lison Mage @lison_mage]

AI can out-think us.
But it still can’t 𝘰𝘶𝘵-𝘣𝘦 us.

AI is fast. Ridiculously fast.
It can analyse, strategise, synthesise and produce answers before most of us have located our morning coffee.

If your leadership identity is built on being the person who “knows the most”… well, AI has already overtaken you, lapped you, and is now sitting in the shade eating grapes.

But here’s the part everyone keeps missing:

AI can think.
But it cannot 𝘣𝘦.

It cannot stand in its conviction.
It cannot regulate a room of nervous humans.
It cannot walk into uncertainty with grounded joy.
It cannot make people feel safe enough to be honest.
It cannot transform pressure into possibility with a single breath.

It cannot offer presence.
Real presence.
The kind that makes a team exhale because you’ve arrived.

That is still human territory.

#AI can deliver insight.
It can deliver frameworks.
It can deliver the “right” answer.

But it cannot deliver courage.
It cannot deliver embodiment.
It cannot deliver the lived truth of someone who has walked through fear and chosen to grow anyway.

And (let’s be honest) it definitely cannot deliver the spark, playfulness, or “let’s go” energy captured in this photo.

That’s the new competitive advantage.
Not what you know.
But 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥.

The future belongs to leaders who don’t just talk about growth, they become it.
Leaders whose energy tells the truth before their words do.
Leaders who can hold complexity with clarity, curiosity, and yes… a little joy.

So here’s my take:

Let AI do the mechanical thinking (and yes, still apply critical thinking to what it produces).
We’ll do the brave becoming.

And if 2026 has a theme? It’s this:
More aliveness.
More presence.
More courage.
More you.

I’m ready.
And I’m bringing the energy💫

P.S. If you’re done shrinking and ready to step into the version of you that your future team (and future self) will thank you for, reach out => I have 2 coaching spots available starting in January🕛
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