Good work starts with good relationships.
Work is a human act, and most of it happens between us.
We show up for a paycheque, but we stay for meaning, progress, and connection. Even the smallest interactions, a hallway chat or message, shape how we work and who we become.
When we design our work with clarity and care, we elevate both effort and outcomes. Good work starts where people feel understood, valued, and inspired to bring their best.
From everyday practices to room-wide moments to one-to-one support, I help leaders and teams reach higher ground.
Together, we make good relationships practical, leadership personal, and loving work possible. The result is better ways of working that become how we work. Let’s explore what’s possible.
How I help leaders and teams
Higher Ground Teams
Maria helps leaders and teams see what’s happening between people, and name it early.
She maps the fault lines, trust, respect, alignment, communication, engagement, roles, safety and curiosity, so pressure is addressed before cracks widen.
The result: faster decisions, fewer rework loops, and outcomes that hold, even under pressure.
Main Stage Talks
Maria shifts the way we see work and ourselves in it.
From the main stage to boardrooms she leaves leaders and teams with fresh insight and what’s possible when we love our work.
Personalized Leader Support
Exceptional leadership is relational work.
Maria works one-to-one with senior leaders to expand perspective and strengthen presence, equipping them to lead with clarity and steadiness through what’s now and what’s next.
Meet Maria
Maria deBruijn is an author, speaker, and facilitator who helps leaders move understanding from a value into a practice. With her book Understood and her pioneering Relational IQ framework, Maria works with organizations and women leaders across Canada and internationally. Learn more about Maria.
Testimonials
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I super enjoyed our time together and look forward to sharing my intentional leadership plans/reflections in the months to come. Thank you for all your probing questions and for helping me to lean into my strengths while developing a ton of intention around how I want to continue to show up. I feel like I gained a ton of skills and tools and appreciated all your time and efforts to shift as the moment's called :)
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Maria is an inclusive leader who clearly communicates objectives and facilitates team members to achieve success and thereby leads the team to achieve its goals.
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Last week, I had the privilege of joining our leadership team for a transformative workshop with Maria deBruijn, author of UNDERSTOOD: The Greatest Human Need and the Key to Engagement. It was a stunning fall day—made even more beautiful by the thoughtful conversations, reflective activities, and the incredible people I got to share it with. Thank you, Maria deBruijn , for guiding us through such meaningful reflection.