Circle Leadership Global

Most Influential Purpose-Driven Leadership Development Speaker 2026: Dave Clare - The Prophet For Purpose

From: Australian CEO Excellence Awards 2026

I’m pleased to be reaching out today to share the outcome of this year’s Australian CEO Excellence Awards 2026! Following our merit-led research and evaluation process, Dave Clare, CEO & Founder of Circle Leadership Global has been recognised as the deserving recipient of:

Most Influential Purpose-Driven Leadership Development Speaker 2026: Dave Clare

An official online announcement will take place on the APAC Insider website (currently boasting 3 million total impressions and 97K web users annually) in June 2026.

NB: For all those wondering, we don't do pay-to-play media and awards.

Two Leaders Who've Already Done the Hard Work

Circle Leadership Global doesn't recruit Circle Leaders.

They find their way home.

Culture is a magnet.

When you build the right one, the right people don't need convincing. They recognise something in the work, in the values, in the way we think about leadership, and they show up. Ready.

But there's a standard before anyone joins this circle.
You can't lead others through their evolution until you know your own purpose. Not a vague sense of direction. Not a mission statement you typed once and forgot. Your actual purpose. Defined. Owned. Lived.

That's the first requirement of a Circle Leader.

Because when you know what you're here to do, you stop looking for a role and start looking for alignment. Nickie Kemp and Justin Lippiatt found that alignment here.

CLG exists to evolve the world of work. That's our purpose.

Our vision is a world where work positively impacts people and the planet. Not one day. Not eventually. Now, through every leader we develop, every culture we help build, every organisation we help transform.

When Nickie and Justin encountered that, something landed.
Not excitement. Recognition.

Nickie Kemp:
Twenty-five years. Three countries. Every size of organisation you can imagine, from Volkswagen UK and Barclaycard to the University of Auckland and Bunya Peoples Aboriginal Corporation.

Nickie has led large-scale transformation, designed capability frameworks, and developed hundreds of leaders across her career. She's a Chartered HR Professional, a Certified Change Management Professional, a leadership coach, and an NLP Practitioner.

But what actually drives her isn't a credential.

It's this: she's watched capable, loyal people walk out the door after years of service. Not because they wanted to leave. Because they felt unheard, overworked, and undervalued. And then she watched the businesses struggle to recover.

That experience didn't make her cynical. It made her precise. She knows exactly what breaks culture and exactly what builds it.

That's not theory. That's pattern recognition earned the hard way.

Justin Lippiatt:
Justin has spent decades leading across banking, manufacturing, education, and the not-for-profit sector. He's sat in the boardroom. He's run the operations. He's seen what happens when organisations treat people as headcount.

He calls it the Resource Trap. And he's written the book on how to get out of it.

The Measure of Significance is Justin's challenge to every leader who's ever talked about capacity, units, or throughput without stopping to think about the human beings behind those words. His frameworks, including 4D Thinking, the Proximity Audit, and Trust as a Reservoir, give leaders a practical way to lead for results that actually last.

His belief: leadership isn't measured by what you achieve while you're present. It's measured by what remains stronger after you leave.

That's CLG language. That's Circle Leadership language.

That's why he's here.

Here's why this matters to you.

Many believe that leaders create more followers. We don’t.
We want leaders who multiply others. Leaders who create more leadership. Not leaders who create followers. Not leaders who depend on their own presence to keep things moving.

That work requires people who've been in the room. Who've made the hard calls. Who understand that culture isn't a program you run, it's a system you build.

Nickie and Justin are those people.

They didn't need to be sold on what we do. They already lived it.

And when they saw our purpose, they saw their own reflected back.

If you're ready to build something that lasts, they're part of the team that helps you do it.

Welcome to the Circle.

We are better for having you here.

Dave Clare, CEO & Founder