Matthew Vandermeer

After leading teams big and small across over 25 years in financial services, Matthew joined Leading Teams. His focus is on helping teams and individuals build a culture they’re proud of and enhancing the leadership of everyone in that team.

Matthew has always been curious about why people do what they do and how they can do it better. This means he is a keen observer, who likes to read, listen, question, and learn at any chance he can. Underpinning this curiosity is a history in leadership, business development, as well as staff and customer engagement, and communications.

Matthew helps teams be better by making sure everyone is focused on performance and talking about it. He thinks work should be satisfying given how much time we all spend there, so he helps teams make that happen. The key to his work is having better conversations.
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How would you like to be described by your family, friends, and clients?

A great communicator, a lifelong learner, a storyteller and occasionally funny.

What is your favourite piece of leadership advice, or quote?

“There’s a crack in everything…. that’s how the light gets in” Leonard Cohen

From a poet who became a rock star…this quote reminds me that not everything is perfect and there is no set road you must follow. In fact, the most interesting people and interesting journeys are those with a “crack” in them.

What does success look like with a client?

Success would be that I am invited back! The reason I am invited back is that I’ve helped my client to see something they didn’t see, to do something they weren’t sure they could, to learn something about themselves and the team around them that they didn’t realise.

Tell us about your culture and leadership experience?

Immediately prior to joining Leading Teams, I spent 25 years in banking and financial services, in leadership roles since 2009. I’ve lead teams of salespeople, of associates, of business coaches and of communication and human-centred design experts. In my experience, people want to do a good job, to work hard and to genuinely have connection with their team and what they do – no matter what role they’re in.

As part of my time in banking and financial services I had the opportunity to work with many leaders and saw firsthand what happens when the behaviours don’t line up with the stated values, in big and small businesses alike. I’ve also seen the positive impact culture can make…and I believe the power of a positive culture simply cannot be underestimated.

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