FROM INTELLIGENCE TO INFLUENCE™
What 13 Years in Criminal Intelligence Taught Me About Trust, Influence and Human Behaviour
Signature Leadership Keynote
45 Minutes | 60 Minutes | 90 Minutes | Half-Day Workshop
Most leaders are taught to communicate. Very few are taught to observe.
For 13 years, Jemimah Ashleigh worked in Australian Federal Law Enforcement, specialising in criminal intelligence, human trafficking, covert operations and high-risk investigations. Her job wasn't simply to analyse information. It was to understand people. To identify patterns others couldn't see. To build trust quickly. To make critical decisions with incomplete information and communicate effectively when the stakes were high.
Today, those same principles help leaders navigate boardrooms instead of briefing rooms.
In an era of artificial intelligence, uncertainty and constant change, understanding human behaviour has never been more valuable.
Because the organisations that succeed aren't led by people with the most information.
They're led by people who understand people best.
The boardroom and the investigation room have more in common than most people realise.
Both require trust. Both require influence.
Both require reading behaviour beyond words.
Both require making confident decisions before you have all the answers.
In this thought-provoking keynote, Jemimah translates the lessons learned across 13 years in criminal intelligence into practical leadership strategies that help executives, managers and teams communicate more effectively, build stronger relationships and make better decisions under pressure.
This isn't a keynote about policing - it's a keynote about understanding people.
Audiences leave with practical frameworks they can apply immediately to leadership, stakeholder management, communication and influence.
"The boardroom and the interrogation room have more in common than you think.
Both require reading people faster than they can mislead you."
What Audiences Will Learn
By the end of this keynote, audiences will understand how to:
Build trust faster with clients, colleagues and stakeholders
Read behaviour instead of relying solely on words
Recognise hidden patterns before problems escalate
Influence outcomes ethically and effectively
Lead difficult conversations with greater confidence
Make stronger decisions in uncertain environments
Communicate with clarity under pressure
Strengthen relationships through behavioural intelligence
Key Takeaways
✔ Practical frameworks for reading people more effectively
✔ Techniques for building trust before it's needed
✔ Better stakeholder management through behavioural intelligence
✔ Improved decision-making in complex situations
✔ Greater confidence leading difficult conversations
✔ A deeper understanding of influence without manipulation
✔ Tools that can be applied immediately in leadership and business
Five principles from the intelligence world
01 -
Gather signals, not assumptions
In intelligence work, assumptions are dangerous. Business leaders assume customers, staff, and stakeholders think one thing — then act on it. The intelligence approach: observe, ask, validate, test. Replace assumption with evidence.
02 -
Read behaviour, not words
People tell you who they are constantly, and rarely out loud. Through behaviour, consistency, decisions and reactions under pressure. Trust patterns more than promises.
03 -
Understand before you influence
Most people try to persuade before they understand. Intelligence work demands context first — motivations, incentives, fears. Understand those and influence stops being a fight.
04 -
Build trust before you need it.
In investigations, relationships matter long before the crisis. Same in business. The strongest networks, brands and reputations are built well before they are called upon.
05 -
Pressure reveals character
Anyone can perform when it is easy. Who someone really is shows up when deadlines hit, deals collapse and markets shift. Learn to read it — and to show your own when it counts.
From The Room -
“Jemimah is the best MC I have ever seen.”
Steve Loe
President, Precedent Productions
“Jemimah is the best keynote we could have asked for. She captivated the audience from the first minute, delivered practical takeaways and was amazingly approachable.
Justin Cunningham,
Los Angeles, Creative Supernova
Incredible insights, easy to work with and lots of tangible takeaways.
Dale Beaumont, Sydney
Business Blueprint
