Scientist, leadership researcher and author

Overview

Rachel Taylor is a scientist, leadership researcher and entrepreneur exploring what happens to people when leadership gets heavy. For her forthcoming book, Beacon, Rachel is interviewing accomplished leaders about something rarely discussed openly: not how they became successful, but what carrying that success has demanded of them. Her keynotes bring audiences inside those conversations, revealing what leaders have learned about capacity, judgement, pressure, relationships and themselves, then combining those lived experiences with Rachel's background in biochemistry, genetics and executive leadership to explore what may be happening underneath.

Who is Rachel Taylor?

Rachel began her career as a scientist, specialising in biochemistry, genetics and analytical chemistry, before moving into technology, commercialisation, executive leadership and governance. Across more than two decades, she has worked at the intersection of science, technology and human performance, held senior corporate leadership roles, advised government, served in governance positions across New Zealand's technology and innovation ecosystem, and co-founded businesses spanning health technology and consumer products.

But her current work began with a question. Why can some highly capable people carry enormous responsibility without losing access to themselves, while others slowly lose the clarity, judgement or energy that made them effective in the first place? Rachel began interviewing leaders to find out. Those conversations now form the research behind Beacon, an investigation into leadership capacity and the signals people learn, often through experience, to recognise and protect.

Her work is particularly interested in the person underneath the performance. What happens before burnout? Who notices the change first? What does leadership cost at home? Which practices genuinely protect capacity? And what do experienced leaders wish they had understood twenty years earlier? Rachel brings a scientist's curiosity to those stories, looking for the patterns underneath what leaders themselves describe.

Career Highlights

• More than 22 years across science, biotechnology, technology, commercialisation and leadership

• Master of Science with First Class Honours

• Background in biochemistry, genetics, analytical chemistry and forensic toxicology

• Former senior corporate executive across New Zealand and the United States

• Former Deputy Chair of NZTech

• Former Executive Council member of the AI Forum of New Zealand

• Former Ministerial Advisor to the Digital Council for Aotearoa New Zealand

• Former Board Director of Callaghan Innovation

• Co-founder of Taylored Technologies

• Author of the forthcoming leadership book Beacon

• Founder of the Leadership Capacity Project, interviewing senior leaders about the realities of carrying responsibility over time

Key Speaking Themes

• What successful leaders have learned about capacity

• The hidden cost of carrying responsibility

• Why a leader's internal state never stays entirely internal

• Signal versus noise in modern leadership

• The biology underneath judgement, behaviour and performance

• What experienced leaders wish they had understood earlier

• Leading yourself before leading others

• Building capacity for the moments that matter

What Your Audience Will Gain

Rachel's keynotes give audiences an unusually candid look behind the public face of leadership. Rather than presenting another formula for productivity or performance, she shares what leaders themselves have learned through decades of responsibility, success, mistakes, pressure and change. Audiences leave with a different way of thinking about capacity — not simply how much can I carry?, but how much of me is still available while I am carrying it? They learn to recognise the signals that capacity is changing, understand how their state affects the people around them, question which parts of their current way of working genuinely support performance, and consider what they may need to protect before the consequences become obvious.

Ideal For

• CEO and senior leadership conferences

• Executive teams

• Board and governance events

• Leadership development programmes

• Women in leadership events

• Future of work and AI conferences

• High-performance and wellbeing events

• Strategy sessions and executive offsites

Frequently Asked Questions...

What does Rachel Taylor speak about? Rachel speaks about leadership capacity, the hidden cost of carrying responsibility, judgement and performance under pressure, and the signals that tell leaders their capacity is changing.

Who is Rachel Taylor? Rachel Taylor is a scientist, leadership researcher and entrepreneur whose work explores what happens to people when leadership gets heavy.

What is Rachel Taylor best known for? She is best known for the Leadership Capacity Project and her forthcoming book Beacon, an investigation into leadership capacity built on interviews with accomplished leaders.

What is Beacon about? Beacon explores not how leaders became successful, but what carrying that success has demanded of them, and the signals experienced leaders learn to recognise and protect.

What is Rachel Taylor's background? Rachel trained as a scientist in biochemistry, genetics, analytical chemistry and forensic toxicology, holds a Master of Science with First Class Honours, and has held senior corporate executive roles across New Zealand and the United States.

What governance roles has Rachel Taylor held? She is a former Deputy Chair of NZTech, a former Executive Council member of the AI Forum of New Zealand, a former Ministerial Advisor to the Digital Council for Aotearoa New Zealand and a former Board Director of Callaghan Innovation.

What makes Rachel Taylor's presentations unique? Her combination of candid, first-hand leadership interviews with a scientific background in biochemistry and genetics allows her to explore both what leaders experience and what may be happening underneath.

Is Rachel Taylor available for keynote presentations and leadership events? Yes. Rachel Taylor is available for keynote speaking engagements, executive and board events, leadership development programmes and conferences.