Brett Macfarlane

Hello, I’m Brett Macfarlane, an organizational psychologist specializing in designing and delivering leadership development programs for innovative executives. With two decades of experience in general leadership, R&D, and transformation roles, my work combines empathy, rigour, and interactivity to help leaders, teams, and organizations realize their full potential.

Since 2022, my private leadership development practice has partnered with global corporations, central banks, top consultancies, and tech startups across various industries. Through impactful programs, I advise, coach, and train professionals by combining behavioural and management science to grow capabilities, confidence, and clarity—delivering more effective innovation outcomes and resilient leadership.

My leadership development approach and programs draw on my background as an elite athlete and coach within Canada’s Olympic development system. Inspired by this science of performance, I created the Innovation Leadership Map and Emotional Gearing tools—research-based methods for successfully navigating the emotional forces that decisively shape innovation.

I hold a master’s in organizational psychology with distinction from INSEAD—the leading global business school—and a B.A. in economics from Whitman College. I share my research through my newsletter “Connecting Dots,” keynote speaking, and university lectures. Outside work, I’m an avid cyclist with the Rapha Cycle Club and a lifelong skier.

Select experience: Apple, Accenture, American Express, Barclays, Canada’s Pension Plan, D&AD, Diageo, EY, Jaguar Land Rover, Google, Microsoft, Partners Group, Telenor, Unilever, and the G20

Research

  • Innovation's Under-Explored Use of Emotions: How Innovation Leaders Work with Anxiety, Authority and Frustration

  • Comparative analysis with the innovation leadership map as a way to psychodynamically illuminate the emotional gearing influencing innovation outcomes

  • Emotional Gearing, American Psychological Association, Annual Meeting, 2025

Member

  • INSEAD Alumni Association, Canada Board of Directors

  • Starman.ai, Advisory Board

  • Goss.media, Advisory Board

  • American Psychological Association

  • International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations

Credentials

  • MA, Master of Coaching and Consulting Change, INSEAD (Distinction)

  • American Psychological Association

  • International Society for the Psychoanalytical Study of Organizations

  • Canadian Securities Certification (Distinction)

  • BA, Economics, Whitman College

  • 200+ industry awards and patents


Key Topics: innovation, organizational psychology, leadership development, team dynamics, L&D, learning and development, systems psychodynamics, organizational behaviour, adaptive leadership, authentic leadership, transformative leadership, new genre leadership