Earlier this year, Mace and I flew into the Gold Coast for what was meant to be a straightforward engagement. A dinner with one of our key partners, AutoGuru. A conversation to close out 2025 and shape what 2026 might hold.
We landed early. With a few hours before the evening meeting, we reached out to AutoGuru and asked if we could use their office space to finish off a couple of projects.
We arrived just after noon. The office was quiet. Unusually so. For a growing technology organisation, it felt almost still. No hum of conversation. No visible rush. No obvious activity.
We sat in the boardroom, laptops open, deep in discussion.
Then, through the large window facing the entry, we saw a group approaching the building. Surfboards under their arms. Sandy feet. Thongs. Sun hats. Sun-kissed faces.
For a split second, I wondered if we had misjudged the time. Had we arrived during a public holiday? Were we in the wrong place?
But as they entered their door codes and walked confidently inside, it became clear.
This was not a break from work. This was work.
The Moment That Changes Your Thinking
One by one, they returned to their desks. Hair still damp. Shoulders relaxed. Energy unmistakably different. There was no chaos. No scrambling. No loss of momentum.
There was focus.
That moment challenged a belief many organisations still hold: that productivity must look intense to be real. What we witnessed was something far more powerful.
It was a culture built with intent.
Leadership That Gives Permission
CTO Barry Pryce speaks openly about the link between body and mind:
“I’m a big believer that a healthy body builds a resilient mind… stepping into nature at lunch helps us reset the system so we return to our desks sharper and happier.”
This is not a well-being poster in the kitchen. It is a leadership philosophy.
When leaders live what they believe, it becomes normal. When they step away from the desk, they are not stepping away from responsibility. They are modelling sustainability.
And that permission flows through the organisation.
Trust Forged Beyond the Breakers
Later, we learned that GM Partner Enablement Yolande McLean and Senior Developer Nick Rensen swim most days, regardless of conditions. They survey the swell, plan their route, and stay within sight of one another.
Yolande describes it beautifully:
“We survey the conditions, plan our swim, and keep an eye on each other until safely back to shore – the great camaraderie and teamwork that is part of the culture at AutoGuru.”
Think about that. Two leaders, out beyond the break, are responsible not only for themselves but for each other. It is metaphor and reality at the same time.
Lead Front End Developer Amir Zahedi adds:
“It’s hard not to build trust with someone who pushes through a soft sand 5k run with you.”
Trust built in shared effort does not evaporate in the boardroom.
It strengthens it.
The Quiet Power of Rhythm
Nicole King, Head of People and Culture, captures the essence:
“Movement and time in nature change your state, and state drives performance and fulfilment.”
And perhaps even more powerfully:
“Wellbeing here is intentional. We design our rhythms around energy, not just output.”
Energy. Not hours. Not optics. Not presenteeism. Energy.
As the afternoon unfolded, it was clear this was not a novelty. Conversations were sharp. Decisions were confident. Laughter existed alongside discipline.
There was no sense of compromise between well-being and ambition.
They were intertwined.
The Leadership Question
As we left that evening for our partner dinner, I found myself reflecting.
How often do we say we value people, yet design systems that exhaust them?
How often do we talk about innovation, yet confine creativity to fluorescent lights and back-to-back meetings?
What we witnessed that day was not about the beach. It was about courage.
Courage to reject the outdated belief that performance demands depletion.
Courage to trust that a reset fuels resilience.
Courage to build a culture where people are allowed to be whole.
Reset to Rise
You do not need a coastline to build that kind of culture. You need intention.
Intention to design rhythms around energy, not just output.
Intention to create space for thinking, not just reacting.
Intention to model reset, not just resilience.
Intention to measure performance by outcomes, not hours at a desk.
Shared challenge does not have to mean swimming beyond the break. It might be walking meetings, protected focus time, innovation sprints or simply the discipline to stop glorifying exhaustion.
Culture is not built on sand. It is built on permission.
Permission to pause.
Permission to trust.
Permission to perform without depletion.
And in my view, the organisations willing to act on that courage now will not simply compete.
They will lead.
