About Me

Hi, I am Ian MacFarlane. I spent my career in the financial services industry and latterly fintech. Over three and a half decades, I have watched the impact of financial deregulation, the rise of globalization and the remorseless encroachment of technology on all aspects of life. The only constants have been change, growing complexity, and the importance of management perspective seeking and taking.

The role of businesses has gone full circle. Initially, there was a focus on shareholder value. But this fixation led to a growing clamor for more meaningful work and the recognition of multiple stakeholders. It is an ongoing change driven by necessity because cooperation is replacing authority as the primary organizational principle.

It has been an exciting era to live through! And viewing the world through the prisms of Johannesburg, Hong Kong, London, New York, and Montreal, has made me even more appreciative of a multicultural global view. Above all, though, my global travels led to a strong belief in the paradox of knowledge. The more we know, the more we realize how little we know. 

The shelf life of knowledge is diminishing exponentially. Curiosity may have "killed the cat," but for lifetime learners, the search for what they do not know drives leadership success. It allows individuals and teams to realize their purpose and find their sweet spot to stay at the forefront of their industry in an increasingly complex world. The modern organization can only survive if the growth in its shared learning outstrips the pace of environmental change.

My current career is the capstone of this learning. Over the past four years, I have formalized the long experience I had as a leader who adopted a coaching style with an MSc. in psychology and coaching badges. My passion now is to help executives and their teams surf the wave of creative disruption and lead consciously with due respect to others. 

I am also an Ivey Business School Executive Coach, public speaker, and moderator.