Martin Probst has built an empire over the past decade centered around human-focused leadership and extolling this through his companies PROfound Leadership and Global Leadership Hub. 

Everyone’s journey has a starting line, whether from a place of means or building from humble beginnings. The person’s mentality is the defining factor of the life they lead. The stories of success built from a foundation of dedication and consistency are many when it comes to business. 

Martin Probst grew up in rural Switzerland in a village of around 250 people. He held a deep-seated desire to travel, to see the world and dreamt of owning a home with palm trees in the backyard. Martin then charted a course that would culminate in the realization of goals that have impacted and changed many lives across the globe. 

His journey started in the Swiss army. He then worked on Cruise ships, in Moscow, on Bermuda and eventually settled in Melbourne, Australia, 20 years ago. After working in corporate and moving into formal education, he decided to start his own business ten years ago. PROfound Leadership was born.

PROfound Leadership and Global Leadership Hub empower organizations, teams, and individuals with human-centered leadership strategies to overcome the toughest challenges in today’s busy and ever-changing environment and positively transform their future and future generations.

It takes a special kind of character to passionately dedicate their life to helping others become leaders in business and in their personal lives as well. Martin Probst believes that the biggest challenge for men in today’s society is not in financial success but in stepping away from the very high social obligations of what it means to be a man in the 21st century.

According to Martin, men spend substantial time struggling to find their place and determining how to live their lives authentically. Without direction and milestones being achieved, this can lead to: 

• Feeling stuck 
• Lacking motivation 
• Losing connection to emotions and feelings 
• Being scared to be vulnerable 
• Disassociating from who they indeed are. 

This constant self-judgement results in many men living life by default and on autopilot rather than by design and inspiration. It leaves them caught in the hamster wheel of generic day-to-day survival mode, unable to reach their fullest potential.

Martin believes that success comes down to three things:

• What we focus on 
• What we decide to do 
• What we do consistently

“We must sit back and reflect on who we are and who we want to BE-come. I encourage everyone to write a ‘To-BE List’, not a ‘To-do list’. Exactly: a ‘To-BE list! Because we tend to be happier, more successful and more fulfilled when our actions are grounded in a sense of purpose and meaning and are aligned with our innermost BE-ing. So, in a soul-searching moment, ask yourself: Who do I want to BE-come?, What is my vision, purpose, passion, and calling?, What are my values?” – Martin Probst.

How does this approach feed into empowering organizations and businesses? For Martin, human-centered leadership is a way of life, and according to him, as social creatures, success comes down to interpersonal skills. In addition to this view, Martin says, “100% of our employees are people, and 100% of our customers are people. Therefore, I dare say: “If you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business or life itself.”

In addition to being the founder of PROfound Leadership and Global Leadership Hub, Martin is also a #1 International bestselling author and award-winning Learning Professional. His words are pure inspiration and directly translate from his ethics to the core values that he instils in clients and can even be tracked to his advice to anyone on their path to success – “You are not a product of your circumstances. You are a product of how you interpret things with your beliefs, how you fulfil your needs and values, and how you choose to respond with your actions and behaviours.” – Martin Probst.