Experience changes the questions you ask.

For more than four decades, I have worked closely with people at important moments in their lives.

I began my career in medicine, and developed a particular interest in preventive medicine, health promotion and the broader factors that shape people's wellbeing. Along the way, I worked with people from many different backgrounds—from patients and families to business owners and community leaders.

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Medicine taught me to listen carefully, to look beyond the obvious and to understand that the presenting problem is not always the real problem.

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Over time, my interests expanded beyond health.

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I became increasingly fascinated by the impact other aspects of life, like career, money, relationships, have on the condition of a person's health. And ... that all of these conditions are shaped by what happens between people and their broader environment—the conversations,  decisions and transactions that shape what becomes possible.

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That led me into advisory work, leadership development and, ultimately, Transactional Intelligence™.

From medicine to influence

My transition from medicine into advisory and consulting has been a natural evolution rather than a departure from my past.

The skills that matter in a consulting room often matter just as much in a boardroom or a difficult conversation:

Listen before you advise.
Understand before you judge.
Look for what is beneath the obvious.
Ask better questions.
Pay attention to the relationship, not just the problem.

These principles now inform my work with people who carry significant responsibility.

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What I believe

We tend to think of influence as something we exert on other people.

I see it differently.

Influence happens between people.

Every conversation changes something.
Every decision takes place within a relationship.
Every interaction creates possibilities—and closes others.

The quality of those interactions can profoundly affect the outcomes we create in business and in life.

My work is about helping people become more conscious of those dynamics, so they can act with greater clarity, intention and influence.

 

Transactional Intelligence™

This thinking is at the heart of Transactional Intelligence™—a framework developed through my work with Influential U.

Transactional Intelligence provides a way of understanding what happens when people interact: how we interpret one another, how we respond, how we create or limit possibilities, and how we can become more effective in the transactions that matter.

I am a faculty member and mentor with Influential U, working with people who want to develop this capability in themselves and others.

Explore Transactional Intelligence™ →

A little more about Gary

I am a medical practitioner by training, an adviser by experience and a lifelong student of human behaviour and relationships.

I graduated from the University of Western Australia with degrees in Zoology, Physiology and Medicine, and undertook medical training in Australia and the United Kingdom before returning to Perth.

Over the years I have worked across medicine, preventive health, leadership, mentoring and advisory relationships.

 

Today, through INFLUENCE Advisory & Consulting, I bring those experiences together in a different kind of practice: private, thoughtful and highly personalised advisory work for people navigating consequential decisions, relationships and change.

A conversation

I don't believe good advice begins with having all the answers.

It begins with asking the right questions.

If you're dealing with a significant decision, relationship, transition or opportunity, I welcome a conversation.