Senior Talent Strategist | Certified Master Facilitator | Executive Coach | Author of Mind the Gap

Duncan C. Brand is a nationally recognized talent strategist and Certified Master Facilitator known for helping organizations transform how they grow leaders, shape culture, and build resilient talent ecosystems.

With more than two decades of experience leading enterprise talent, learning, and organizational effectiveness functions, Duncan has partnered with some of the world’s most complex and high-pressure environments—including global tech, aerospace, healthcare, and government—to design systems that unlock human potential at scale.

A data-driven yet deeply human-centered leader, Duncan specializes in simplifying complex talent systems into intuitive, high-impact experiences that integrate seamlessly into the flow of work. His work spans performance transformation, succession strategy, executive development, DEIB capability building, and enterprise culture evolution.

Across his career, he has helped organizations dramatically improve successor readiness, accelerate leadership mobility, reduce talent risk, and strengthen engagement through practical, evidence-based solutions that leaders can actually use. Duncan is also the author of the forthcoming book Mind the Gap: How People-First Leaders Build Systems Where Humans Thrive, a provocative exploration of why organizations must shift from an “employee management” mindset to a People-First, Employee-Second philosophy.

His work challenges conventional HR logic—reminding executives that people are not assets to control but humans to develop, coach, and empower. As the Founder and Principal of Intrinsic Leader, Duncan advises executives across industries on modern talent strategy, leadership capability, culture transformation, and workforce planning.

His programs have scaled from single-site pilots to enterprise-wide standards, improving leader effectiveness, accelerating internal mobility, and elevating organizational performance. He is frequently sought out for his rare ability to bring clarity to ambiguity, compassion to complexity, and measurable impact to learning and development.

A masterful facilitator and storyteller, Duncan is known for creating psychologically safe, energizing rooms where leaders reflect, challenge assumptions, and build the mindsets required for today’s evolving workplace. His sessions blend research, real-world experience, and interactive design that moves people from insight to action.

Duncan holds an MBA, a Master’s in Organizational Leadership, and multiple advanced certifications in coaching, instructional design, emotional intelligence, and change leadership.

Speaking Topics Include:
• People First, Employee Second: A new blueprint for organizational performance
• Modern succession strategy and building a healthy leadership bench
• Learning in the flow of work: Designing intuitive, high-impact development
• Culture transformation through leadership behavior and psychological safety
• Data-driven performance management that actually enables growth
• Coaching as a strategic capability for senior leaders