Brain-Friendly Leaders Build Better Businesses
In today’s fast-moving, high-pressure world, your team’s cognitive and emotional resilience determines your success.
Many leaders know their teams could achieve more—but they’re struggling. Burnout, decision fatigue, a lack of creativity and trust, and too little headspace for strategic thinking are holding people back.
And the skills leaders once relied on? They’ve all but evaporated in today’s constantly shifting commercial and economic landscape.
That’s why leaders across multiple industries choose to work with me—as their experienced thinking partner. Someone they can trust, reflect with, and explore alternative, high-performing approaches—for themselves and their people.
Hi, I’m Soraya Shaw
I’m one of the few MSc-qualified Applied Organisational Neuroscientists in the UK, with over 22 years of experience running a successful leadership consultancy.
Before founding my practice, I cut my teeth in the creative agency world—an edge I still bring to my work. Today, I combine creative commercial insight with evidence-based neuroscience to help leaders think, adapt, and perform better.
Clients include Legal & General, Chubb, Porsche, Sage, and RSM.
I’ve contributed a chapter to Brains Inspiring Businesses (a dream come true) and co-host the Brainy Podcast, where I explore creativity, innovation, and critical thinking with inspiring leaders.
Founder of BrainShaw®: Where Human Intelligence Meets AI
Through BrainShaw®, I help individuals and teams unlock their cognitive capacity—so they can thrive alongside the rise of artificial intelligence and navigate volatile markets.
Using cutting-edge insights from neuroscience and neuroleadership, we build emotional resilience, critical thinking, and future-ready skills that drive sustainable success.
What We Offer
🔹 Neuroscience-based Leadership Programmes – Strengthen decision-making, emotional intelligence, and creative thinking.
🔹 Bespoke Team Interventions – Enhance collaboration, cognitive agility, and performance.
🔹 Brain-science Coaching – For leaders and professionals to unlock new skills and thinking patterns.
🔹 SHERPAR® – A brain-based assessment tool to measure and support mental resilience and wellbeing.
🔹 Career REwire® – A neuroscience-led programme for meaningful career change and reinvention.
🔹 Guest Speaker – Featured on expert podcasts and events as a thought leader in organisational neuroscience.
🔹 Co-host of the Brainy Podcast – Conversations with bold thinkers on how to adapt, innovate, and lead in a world where standing still means falling behind.
Let’s Talk
Ready to explore how neuroscience can unlock performance in your team?
Let’s start with a no-obligation conversation.
We believe in creating transformational learning cultures that are neuro-inclusive.
Why?
Because when we work with our brains—not against them—we unlock healthy, human-centred cultures. Cultures that confidently challenge the status quo, disrupt industry norms, and build agile, innovative business models. Ones that embrace the potential of generative AI while staying rooted in trust and social cohesion.
Our consultancy is grounded in evidence-based neuroscience, behavioural science, global leadership trends, and C-suite realities—translated into programmes, coaching, and insights that are practical, accessible, and engaging.
We also share what we learn through the Brainy Podcast:Talking Creativity, Innovation and Critrical Thinking, where we explore real-world experience from visionary guests—whether you're an individual contributor, people leader, or C-suite executive.
Our aim?
To give you the tools, insights, and confidence to innovate, encourage critical thinking, and take a first-mover advantage in an ever-changing world.
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Want to explore how to thrive in your success—and do more of what matters?
GrowWell® is neuroscience-based coaching led by an MSc-qualified expert and Fellow of the Association for Coaching. It’s a deeply transformative experience that drives real change.Neuroscience in coaching helps create powerful, lasting impact by mirroring how the brain naturally learns, stores memory, and rewires behaviour.
Clients experience breakthroughs in areas including:
Emotional regulation & intelligence
Relationship dynamics & collaboration
Diversity of thinking within teams
Problem-solving and strategic decision-making
Personal leadership development & business acumen
Typically, GrowWell® starts with six sessions, followed by continued strategic coaching as desired. For C-suite leaders, the coaching relationship often becomes a space for ongoing learning, decision-making, and reflective growth.
GrowWell® includes bespoke tools designed for how the brain works—such as SHERPAR®, our unique model based on the brain’s psychological, physical, and social needs.
I’ve worked with hundreds of diverse clients across industries, cultures, and stages of life—and I love it.
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We are social creatures. Creating a truly brain-friendly workplace goes beyond psychological safety—it includes social trust, belonging, and deep human connection.
When people feel heard, seen, and valued, they develop stronger trust and collaborate with greater creativity and energy.
Our BrainShaw® programme shows leaders and teams how to build psychosocial cultures where every day is a good day for thinking, collaborating, and growing.
We draw inspiration from some of the most brilliant minds of today, including:
Paul Brown, Robin Dunbar, Dean Burnett, Gina Rippon, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Kelly McGonigal, Amy Cuddy, Frederic Laloux, Barbara Wheatley, Dan Siegel—and many more.We also incorporate insights from:
SHERPAR® – the first brain-based wellbeing evaluation tool
Swivel & Pivot – our flexible working culture toolkit
The Bullying at Work Parliamentary White Paper – spotlighting trauma in the workplace
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Leadership today is collaborative, emotionally intelligent, and adaptive.
Leaders must now influence rather than control, ask the right questions, and navigate ambiguity with clarity, curiosity, and care. Financial growth still matters—but so does the how of getting there.
The most effective leaders understand the social brain: they build environments of trust, voice, and psychological safety—boosting attraction, engagement, and retention.
By working with the brain’s neuroplasticity, leaders can reshape their teams and themselves in powerful, human-centric ways.and being comfortable with change and transition are also compulsory attributes.
Understanding the social brain and diversity of the minds around you to develop trust, respect, voice and personal agency are differentiators for engagment, attraction and retention so that individuals can work witin a psycholgically safe framework.
Working with the brain, and not against it, uses the brains neuroplasticity to help shape and give insights into how to effectively lead your team in a new and more human-centric way.
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Change is healthy and inevitable. Whether you're preparing for a sabbatical, promoting successors, starting parenthood, or pivoting careers—how you frame and use your experience is your greatest growth asset.
In this programme, you’ll learn to:
Activate your brain’s neuroplasticity
Strengthen your emotional intelligence
Reframe expectations and identity
Navigate transitions with purpose and confidence
We help you create a narrative—and a mindset—for a future you're proud to lead.
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Ever wondered what’s really going on inside your head—and everyone else's?
Our signature 8-module neuroscience series is jargon-free, digestible, and immediately actionable. No need to revisit school science classes—just insights that work in real life.
Modules Include:
Meet Your Brain – How it works, how to keep it healthy, and how to unlock its potential
The Neuroscience of Growth Mindsets
The Neuroscience of Resilience and a Healthy Brain
The Neuroscience of Confidence and Gravitas
The Neuroscience of Social Relationships – For rapport and influence
The Neuroscience of Bullying – And its long-term brain impact
The Neuroscience of Emotional Intelligence & Regulation
The Neuroscience of Creating Change
What's New for 2025
In 2025, individuals and organisations who thrive will be those who are flexible, curious, and prepared to think differently.
We partner with clients who value human energy, cognitive diversity, and a deeper way of working. If that sounds like you—we should talk.
Subscribe to our Neuroletter
Subscribe to our Neuroletter
Resilient Mental Wellbeing
Based on Soraya’s research and shared with 100’s of professionals we approach stress resilience from a neuroscience perspective. One client estimated that the ROI on increased performance across the team was 4,357%
Imposter Bias
Master how to create trust with yourself and others, and grow synergistic relationships by building rapport, making others feel seen, understood and their’s and your brain safe.
2025 ‘Say Hello to Your Brain’ Talks
Future Leadership Skills
Leaders work with fewer resources and flatter structures. What is your style in developing followship? How do you create connectivity across a hybrid, generational workforce? How do you develop your resilience and mental well-being in the face of continued flux?
Brain Health & Mental Wellbeing
Whilst still a mystery we are understanding on a daily basis how and what our brains need to thrive and stay healthy. Learn the foundations with your teams of practical brain-based knowledge to benefit professionally and personally to achieve your purpose.
Neuro Hacks & Myths
Disinformation is everywhere including how our brains work. Discover 10 neuromyths and the hacks to use that will maximise your collective intelligence getting the most out of teams and increase company health and success.
Confidence & Gravitas
Are you limiting your potential and future success by lack of self-belief and focus on inadequacies? Learn authentic self-confidence and gravitas techniques that will change the limits you’ve set yourself transforming your power and control in being the authentic you.
What our clients say
“The GrowWell neuro coaching has been a revelation! Learning about myself from a humancentric view point feels very natural and has meant that whilst I am personally developing my potential, my business ambitions are being met more effectively and sustainably”.
Nick P. Founder. Selective Asia, UK
“As our Guest Speaker Soraya provided invaluable insight into neuroscience for leadership.
Understanding how neurodiverse we are made so much sense with how as a leader my role is to be the conductor across the orchestra of talent to create collective unity & challenge”.
Molly S. Leadership Academy
“As a leader I hadn’t appreciated how my mood or behviours would be picked up unconsiously by my teams impacting their trust, ability to ideate and focus 100%”.
Helen H. CEO. Events Company
“The ‘Say Hello to Your Brain®’ workshop was transformational. We now know how our brains work especially the energy traps and biases.
We’ve learnt practical hacks to dial up our potential and the neuromyths that you can wrongly judge others by!”.
Future Influencers Group. Team Leader
“As a leader how much is your brain worth to you?”
Neuroscience for Business Event Talk
“Our extended heartfelt gratitude for your valuable contribution as our keynote speaker. Your insights, expertise, and captivating talk truly enriched the event and I know will have left a lasting impact on our audience. The depth of knowledge you shared was both enlightening and inspiring.
The positive feedback is a testament to the impact of your words and your engaging style really helped the success of our event’