Our story
Built from the ground up inside real businesses.
Engine Room Business Innovation wasn't designed in a workshop. It was built from decades of working inside the pressure points of growing businesses.
Glenn's career begins in the Royal Australian Air Force
Working up through engineering and operational roles, ultimately commanding an Aircraft Maintenance Squadron with 145 personnel. The discipline of precision leadership under pressure became the foundation of everything that followed.
Michelle's career spans aviation, education and development
From Qantas Airways through universities and consulting, Michelle built deep expertise in learning architecture and the technology of capability development — carrying the standards of a high-performance industry into leadership development.
Two decades with the Curtin Centre for Entrepreneurship
Glenn and Michelle both worked extensively with the Growth Owner and Manager Programs — supporting entrepreneurs, business owners and senior leaders through growth, change and complexity. Michelle led the program's expansion; Glenn led facilitation, mentoring and syndicate groups.
They identified the gap that existing programs weren't closing
Fast-moving businesses were outgrowing their leaders faster than any available program could respond. Short courses didn't last. The capability gap was widening. Something different was needed.
Engine Room Business Innovation and NaviCoach AI
Glenn and Michelle co-founded Engine Room Business Innovation and built Lead to Scale, the Change Agent Program, and NaviCoach AI — the first AI-powered leadership coaching platform of its kind in Australia — to close that gap permanently.
How we work
Our approach. In practice.
Application over theory
Every session is built around what's happening in the business right now — not hypothetical case studies. Learning that doesn't land in the work isn't learning worth having.
Strengths as the foundation
We don't try to fix weaknesses. We build from what's already strong — using CliftonStrengths as the lens for every coaching, mentoring and development conversation.
Technology that accelerates people
NaviCoach AI exists because the gap between sessions is where development stalls. We built the technology to close that gap — keeping the coaching continuous, not episodic.
Small cohorts. Deep work.
We keep cohorts deliberately small so the mentoring quality and the peer conversations stay at the level that creates real change. Quality over volume. Every time.
Results that show up in the business
The measure of a program isn't what a leader feels on the last day. It's what the business looks like six months later — stronger teams, better decisions, improved performance.