Silvia Damiano
Founder, About my Brain Institute
Creator of the i4 Neuroleader™ Model
Award-winning leadership expert, scientist, educator, author, filmmaker, speaker & coach.
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Get to know Silvia Damiano
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Silvia Damiano’s scientific background and deep curiosity about the human brain led her into years of research exploring how people actually think, decide and act, not in theory, but in the moments where it counts.
Silvia's work sits at the intersection of neuroscience and human behaviour, focused on what happens under pressure, in relationships and through change. Over time, this evolved into a clear direction, helping people understand themselves with enough precision to lead, adapt and move forward with intention.
In 2009, she founded the About my Brain® Institute with a simple idea: make neuroscience practical and usable in everyday leadership. Since then, she has worked across countries and industries, supporting individuals and organisations to shift how they operate, strengthening performance, reshaping culture and developing leadership in ways that actually hold under real conditions. Her work is known for being both grounded and transformative, combining scientific insight with clarity people can apply immediately.
Through her TEDx Talk and book Leadership is Upside Down as well as the Make Me A Leader Documentary, Silvia explores what it really takes to develop the human behind the leader. Her work brings together research, lived experience and creative expression to challenge familiar patterns and open up new ways of thinking, leading and relating. The focus is not on adding more, but on seeing more clearly, because once people understand how they operate, everything else becomes easier to change.
Trusted by leaders across industries globally
Speaking topics
Below are some topic ideas, Silvia can create any speaking topics based on your needs.
for the Imagination Age
Activate the full potential of your brain.
The era of control and prediction is ending. What replaces it demands creative thinking under pressure, adaptability without confusion and awareness over habit.
This keynote shows leaders what is happening inside their brain when they lead, and how to shift it in real time. Not theory. Something they can feel working immediately.
Outcome: A new internal operating system for leading in complexity.
Best for: Leadership conferences, executive offsites, future-focused organisations.
Disengagement is visible. Its cause is not.
Most solutions add more noise. More incentives, more check-ins, more initiatives. The brain ignores all of it when the environment does not feel right. This session reveals what the brain actually responds to, and how leaders create conditions where people choose to contribute.
Outcome: A clear shift from forcing engagement to creating it.
Best for: HR summits, people and culture events, retention and engagement programs.
Why high performers are often closest to burnout.
There is a kind of exhaustion that looks like functioning. Decisions slip. Creativity flattens. Tension becomes normal. Most people only notice when something breaks. This session translates neuroscience into simple strategies to protect energy, sustain performance and recover before damage is done.
Outcome: Tools to maintain clarity and performance under pressure.
Best for: Wellbeing programs, high-performance teams and executive leadership.
Not the Boardroom
Why most culture strategies fail.
Culture is not what is written. It is what people experience moment to moment. If that experience triggers threat, nothing else matters. No values statement will override it. This keynote shows how to design environments that support clear thinking, real collaboration and natural innovation.
Outcome: A practical way to shape culture through everyday behaviour.
Best for: Culture transformation initiatives, organisational development programs, senior leadership teams.
The leadership skills that become more valuable as machines get smarter.
Every organisation is asking what AI changes. Few are asking what it reveals. What actually matters now are distinctly human capabilities. Holding ambiguity without freezing. Reading what data cannot see. Making decisions with judgment, not just information. Leading when there is no clear answer. This keynote uses neuroscience and the i4 Neuroleader™ Model to identify the four capabilities AI will never replicate, and shows leaders how to strengthen them before the gap defines who leads and who follows.
Outcome: A clear map of the human capabilities that matter most, and how to develop them.
Best for: Future-of-work events, digital transformation programs, executive strategy sessions, innovation summits
Awards & Recognition
Australian Institute of Training & Development
Australian Institute of Training & Development
Australian Institute of Training & Development
Telstra Business Women’s Awards
Speaker of the Year 2014
What people say about Silvia Damiano
Featured on
Saying Sorry Won’t Help Women Break The Glass Ceiling
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What Losing Just ONE Hour Of Sleep Can Do To Your Body
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Silvia Damiano’s Books
