Shannon Pludek has spent over twenty years in the change management space, focusing on the human condition at the heart of every transformation. Her background in brain-friendly change centres on the psychology behind how people respond under pressure, and she is a certified corporate kindness coach through the Bamboota group, a path shaped by the shifts in how people showed up to work in the post-COVID world.
As a Change Lead and Corporate Kindness Coach at Versent, Shannon treats moderation as an extension of that practice, creating environments where senior leaders feel safe enough to drop the corporate mask and learn from one another. For Shannon, success in any session is measured by whether everyone walks away having contributed and taken something with them.
How has your journey into moderation evolved?
Shannon reflects on how her passion for change management and psychological safety naturally led her toward moderating the room.
“That Grafana Labs event in Melbourne was my first with The Ortus Club, but as a change lead, running events is something that happens frequently for me. My very first event was many years ago, and honestly I cannot even remember what it was about. Where it evolved from is my passion for change management, building psychological safety, and executive coaching.
I am a corporate kindness coach, so a lot of what I get involved in is around meaningful conversations and growing teams that feel comfortable discussing and feel safe. That lends itself really well to moderating the room, because it is about pulling the focus back to making sure everyone at the table has a voice, that it is a safe environment for them to hold maybe an unpopular opinion and have the confidence to chat it through.”
When did you discover that moderation was something you were good at?
Shannon recalls a session on emerging technologies in which she found her lane as the person bringing a human lens to a highly technical room.
“One I did a couple of years ago was with SAP, around uplifting procurement software in a digital transformation space. It stuck with me because the room was full of highly technical people who thought it was a ‘build it, and they will come’ scenario. It was fascinating to break down that barrier and get them thinking about the people behind the system and how they would use it, and then watch the mask flip as they shared their personal experiences of adopting something new and the fear attached to it.
That was the moment I realised this is where I can play really well. I am not a technical person, but the universal leveller is the end user. Everything we do touches a person, and from there you can dig deeper and help people understand the ripple effects of what they are delivering. The first couple of times you feel like a duck out of water in a room of specialists, but the end user is where I can add the most value.”
How do you establish psychological safety during discussions?
Shannon breaks down her approach to making a room feel safe, from setting the environment to validating what people share.
“Number one is creating the environment, keeping it calm and opening the room for everyone to say where they are from, who they are, and where their special area is. Next is hearing what people are not saying and recognising the quiet ones, because everyone at the table has a lot to say, but some do not feel comfortable speaking up. It is that diversity and inclusion banner we have to wrap around everything. You tuck into those people, gently pull it out of them, give them the space and the permission to talk, and use their name.
The third is making sure people know they are there for a specific reason, validating and feeding back what they have said, and getting others in the room to build on it. If you say “That was a really great point,” and someone else thinks, “Their words feel like they have had power.” Very few people can walk into a room and own it, so you meet them where they are and read the room, because everyone’s voice is valuable.”
Where did your expertise in moderation come from?
Shannon traces her approach back to her background in brain-friendly change and her certification as a corporate kindness coach.
“Change management is really about the human condition. My background is in brain-friendly change, which is the psychology behind change and understanding the people impacted by it, how their brains operate, how, under pressure, the prefrontal cortex shuts down, and we lose the ability to communicate or receive information.
Over my twenty-year career, I focused on that a lot, and through the Bamboota group a few years back, I got certified as a corporate kindness coach. In the post-COVID world, the way we fronted up to the world was different, because COVID was a universal leveller that actually rewired our brains and the way we communicate. There is a higher level of regression in people, and the way we process information changed significantly.
The manage up and stomp down approach was no longer going to work, so it became an exercise in coaching leaders to have meaningful conversations and meet their people where they are at. When we take care of the people at the core of our teams, they become higher performing teams, with less attrition and fewer sick days. There is a real ripple effect, and you can attribute a dollar value to that.”
How has the way we give and receive feedback changed over your career?
Shannon contrasts the process-driven, top-down change management of a decade ago with the more inclusive, human-first approach leaders embrace today.
“Ten or fifteen years ago, it was very much a build it and they will come way of working. Transformation was: here it is, you may get some training, and off you go. It was process-driven, with a recipe book and a top-down approach, and if the leaders said it was happening, your people needed to get on the bus by any means necessary.
But when we looked at the data, there was still attrition, still workarounds, still no ROI on the investment. Then the post-COVID world came, more research happened, and people softened in the way they turned up. For years, my cohort had been banging on about meaningful conversations, about how we communicate and understanding the pressures people are under.
In that post-COVID world, leaders started coming to us saying they got it now and asking how to support their people. The conversations are more inclusive; we understand the diversity that makes up an incredible team, and we see the person as a whole human being, not just a CV or a resume of credentials.”
Did COVID bring the human question to the forefront of the AI debate?
Shannon describes the paradox of an AI-driven world and why she sees the moment as a chance to protect the human side of transformation.
“Yes, one hundred per cent. The vulnerability that came with COVID was a big thing, and because of that universal shift in mental health and the wiring of the brain, it was almost a catalyst. It forced leaders to approach things differently, because you were getting a different reaction from an employee who is now in a different place due to personal circumstances.
It is an interesting paradigm, because you would think AI is going to take over and eliminate the human side, but from where I am sitting, it is almost a blessing that this happened and made us pump the brakes, take a step back, and look at people as people. Otherwise, we would be absolutely losing the humanity side of what we do in the transformation space.
AI is a great tool, making us more productive and faster and increasing the value of what we do, but we are still a person at the end of that piece, and we are not letting AI run away with itself and forget about the people behind what we are doing.”
What tips would you give someone aspiring to become a moderator?
Shannon makes the case that curiosity, listening, and a willingness to ask the hard question matter more than being the expert in the room.
“Really use the skills of reading the room and listening. I do not think you need to be an expert in what you are moderating, and in fact there is a benefit to that, because you are on the journey too. Having a seat at the table of incredibly intelligent people who know something you do not, and being curious enough to ask the questions, is powerful.
Often you are asking a question someone else at the table has as well, but because they are surrounded by their peers, they do not feel confident enough to ask it. We all want to look like we know what we are doing, especially among peers in a networking situation. Being a moderator is a great opportunity to be curious, ask the questions, build rapport, and help people shine and bring their knowledge to the table.
When you do that, people get the best out of the situation, because they are there for a reason, they want to walk away with something, and they want to feel they have contributed.”
What about senior leaders has surprised you?
Shannon reflects on the moment when polished, senior executives let their walls come down and reveal the human side.
“I am always surprised, because I think we often get the wrong view of senior leaders. They are in high-pressure roles with a lot of responsibility, so I love these environments where they get to just be. You see them walk in very much in their corporate space, there to do their job, but usually by the end you see them relax, you see the human side, and you understand the vulnerability behind it, that they do not know it all either.
I love it when the walls come down a little, and they are learning on that journey as well. You realise everyone is on a journey and nobody knows everything. They often learn something from a peer, and sometimes from someone a little lower in the food chain than they are.
When you see someone walk in very senior and polished, and by the end the wheels are turning, and they have shared a piece that was missing for them, and someone else filled that gap, I am always blown away by that.”
What would change about how you moderate in five years?
Shannon shares her hope that the warmth and human presence she brings to the room will remain constant even as the field evolves.
“That is a really good question, and I am going to hope that nothing changes, because I firmly believe that coming in and creating that space is important. I never want to be replaced by a robot or a computer that asks the big questions for me.
I hope I will always want to come in and look for the quiet ones and pull them out, look for opportunities to give people a chance to speak, and wrap around them if they are not getting the response they need, pulling people in to give them the confidence to speak more.
I hope I am always injecting a little humour and making sure people feel comfortable and are getting what they need from it. I am sure there are things I need to improve on, but I hope it is always bringing that warmth and creating that environment.”
What is one question you will never stop asking?
In a final reflection, Shannon lands on the question that anchors her entire philosophy of change and moderation.
“How does that impact your people? I will never stop asking how that impacts your people. A lot of the time we get excited and we have a fresh idea, like AI, and it is exciting and cool, but I never want people to lose sight of what happens down here, for the people who do not have a seat at the table or a say in the decision but are part of your world.
How is that impacting them? I always want to pull it back, broaden the scope and the lens, and make sure we are not laser-focused but always thinking about the ripple effect.”
Join the Conversation: The Ortus Club’s Executive Network
Across Shannon’s insights on the three pillars of psychological safety, the COVID rewiring of how we communicate, and keeping people at the centre of AI-driven change, one pattern is clear: these challenges are not solved in isolation. They require a peer-level perspective and the kind of high-trust dialogue that gives every voice at the table room to be heard.
Her vision of the moderator as a builder of safe environments reflects a broader reality: today’s change and technology leaders cannot rely on process and top-down authority alone to drive transformation. The most effective leaders, especially those navigating the human ripple effects of AI, actively seek out peer dialogue as a strategic necessity to keep sight of the people behind every decision.
At The Ortus Club, we host curated executive roundtables that bring together senior leaders facing these exact challenges. Step away from the noise and engage in the kind of open, high-value conversations that keep people at the heart of change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is brain-friendly change?
A: It is an approach to change management grounded in the psychology of how people respond to change, recognising how the brain operates under pressure and designing communication, training, and support around that human condition.
Q: What are the three pillars of psychological safety in a session?
A: Creating a calm, open environment where everyone can introduce themselves; hearing what people are not saying and drawing out the quiet ones; and validating contributions by feeding them back and inviting others to build on them.
Q: What is a corporate kindness coach?
A: It is a role focused on coaching leaders to have more meaningful, gentle conversations and to meet their people where they are, an approach that gained urgency in the post-COVID world as organisations recognised the value of supporting employee wellbeing.
Q: Does a moderator need to be an expert in the topic?
A: No. Shannon argues there is a benefit to not being the expert, as genuine curiosity allows the moderator to ask the questions that others in the room may be too cautious to raise, drawing out knowledge from the participants themselves.
Q: How has COVID changed workplace conversations?
A: It reshaped how people communicate and process information, increasing vulnerability and prompting leaders to adopt more inclusive, human-first approaches rather than top-down, process-driven change.
