Sonia McDonald
Inspiring your inner greatness and leadership.
Profile
Inspiring and motivating others is Sonia’s calling. Life-changing, motivational, incredible, extraordinary and all things courage and leadership are the words her audience and clients call her. She will leave your audience feeling truly inspired and transformed.
Sonia has been delivering keynotes and presentations around the world for over a decade delivering more than just inspiration and motivation, Sonia empowers her audience to be bold and courageous in their life and leadership. Her mission is to make a life-long impact on others, helping them understand their true potential and giving them the skills, courage, knowledge and encouragement to reach it. Transforming them into the great leaders they have always wanted to be. Remember leadership isn’t a title, it is an attitude, choice and mindset.
Sonia McDonald is a courageous leader. A cutting-edge entrepreneur. A high-performing businesswoman and seasoned professional. A caring mother. An impactful speaker. All with an action bias.
Following a forced lifestyle change in 2006, founder Sonia McDonald joined the consulting world and discovered her purpose in inspiring people to learn and grow. With a flair for leadership and strong writing talents, Sonia started the LeadershipHQ blog in 2007. It quickly became a must-read for leaders looking for a more people-centered way of leading.
Current Work:
With a growing following and the desire to make an even greater impact, Sonia established the LeadershipHQ consulting business in 2008 and then McDonald Inc. in 2019. Since then, she has helped thousands of leaders through her advisory work, keynotes, coaching, workshops and presentations across the Globe.
Sonia believes we should lead with kindness and courage, from the heart, doing rather than telling. She is known for her mantra ‘just lead’.
She leads by example. But not content with words alone, Sonia inspires action, helping individuals and organisations grow through one-on-one practical coaching, keynotes, workshops and advisory services.
Sonia has helped thousands of good leaders become great leaders; progressing their leadership journey to become the best version of themselves and in turn, inspire others to join them.
For more than 25 years, Sonia has been on the front lines of Human Resources, Leadership and People and Culture. She has held leadership positions worldwide. Through experience, research and study, Sonia has come to realise what it takes to be a truly courageous leader.
Sonia speaks bravely and authentically about her own development as a leader, her personal journey and career challenges. It is this relatable, heart-warming and humorous approach that resonates with her audience and has seen her become an in-demand keynote speaker with a timely message of courageous, kind leadership.
Putting people at ease, Sonia starts important conversations and inspires courageous action in people around the world. She is an award-winning author of Leadership Attitude and Just Rock It! and writes regularly for publications such as The Australian, HRD Magazine, Smart Healthy Women and Women’s Business Media. Her next book First Comes Courage is now launched!
Media
Feedback
Sonia is an enthusiastic speaker who communicates complex concepts in an entertaining and engaging manner. Her depth of knowledge and understanding of leadership is exemplified in the detail she goes into in her presentation. She’s committed to delivering the goods, honing her message to the group to ensure relevance and engagement. There’s no fluff, just substance and she’ll give you skills to take home, tell others and start using immediately to better you, your company and everyone around you.
Sonia held the 300 attendee audiences attention the whole time. She energised them, she made them laugh, she made them think. I would recommend anyone looking for a speaker to empower their staff - Sonia should be your choice. She exudes energy and positivity and leaves you feeling like you can do anything. She is incredible.
Sonia was so motivating and encouraging, and I left the room feeling like I really could accomplish anything that I set my mind to. I believe that Sonia has the potential to influence leaders at every stage of their journey, and as I progress through my professional career I always find that Sonia has unique content to help me along my personal development as a leader in my field."
Sonia facilitated the Women in Mantra leadership workshop for us on International Women’s Day. Her passion and energy left our Team Members feeling inspired to achieve leadership roles at Mantra Group, and they have already set up local networking groups and put measurable goals in place.
Sonia is an outstanding motivational speaker who inspires her audience to be inclusive and balanced leaders and you always leave wanting to hear more. Thankfully she also has wonderful books to support your journey to not only outstanding leadership, but courage and growth.
Sonia spoke at our company's annual International Women's Day event 2022 and all our team and our guests absolutely loved her presentation. We have received feedback from many people that Sonia was inspiring and created a great positive energy in the room. Sonia really understood our company's core values and tailored the presentation to our needs. This has
been one of the best industry events we have hosted and having Sonia as a speaker definitely played a role in this success.
We engaged Sonia as a presenter for a career development seminar. We found her style professional, engaging and warm and feedback from our team was incredibly positive. Thanks Sonia, we look forward to having you back again!
