Karl Burrows

Why organisations work with Karl Burrows

• He turns abstract values into a physical, shared act. Teams leave having done something together, not just heard about it.
• His framing of authenticity as ego-aware self-leadership cuts through the usual corporate language and gives senior leaders a more honest vocabulary for how they show up.
• The cultural source material is genuine. Burrows is of Maori and European descent, learned haka and te reo through his Taranaki tribal connection, and treats the practice with the seriousness that distinguishes it from team-building theatre.
• His commercial track record speaks to a range. Hakaworks has worked with IBM, Vodafone, BP, Shell, Philips, BT, Deloitte, GSK and American Express across keynote, workshop and after-dinner formats.
• He brings a corporate operator’s lens. An MBA from Cranfield and years as a commercial lawyer for Procter and Gamble, DHL and Equifax mean he speaks the language of the room he is working with.

Biography highlights

• Founder and Managing Director of Hakaworks, London.
• Co-founder of Manaia, the performance and education company established in London in 2004.
• MBA, Cranfield University.
• Former commercial lawyer and negotiator for Procter and Gamble, DHL and Equifax.
• Corporate engagements include IBM, Vodafone, BP, Shell, Philips, BT, Deloitte, GSK and American Express.
• Host of the Haka Works Talks podcast; podcast guest on The New P&L Principles and Leadership and TeamBonding.

Biography

Most corporate culture work happens in slides and surveys. Hakaworks works in the body. The London-based company Karl Burrows founded uses Maori cultural practice, including haka, to make team identity something a group does together rather than describes to itself. The methodology has taken Hakaworks into IBM, Vodafone, BP, Shell, Deloitte, GSK and American Express.

The grounding is genuine. Burrows is of Maori and European descent, learned te reo and the haka of his Taranaki tribal area, and co-founded Manaia in London in 2004 as a way for haka performers to share the practice. Hakaworks grew from that, and the seriousness of the cultural source is what separates the work from generic team-building.

The intellectual frame underneath the practice is authentic leadership. Burrows argues that authenticity demands self-awareness about ego and the discipline to set it aside, so leaders respond from values rather than identity defence. The argument lands harder because it is paired with a physical act that asks a room to commit visibly to a shared intent.

He brings a corporate operator’s vocabulary to the work. An MBA from Cranfield and years as a commercial lawyer for Procter and Gamble, DHL and Equifax mean he understands the rooms he is invited into, and reads what a leadership team actually needs from a session rather than delivering a fixed set piece.

Key speaking topics

• Authentic leadership and ego
• Team unity and trust
• Organisational culture and values in practice
• Purpose and collective performance
• Ritual as a leadership tool
• Maori cultural practice in business contexts

Ideal for

• CHROs and culture leads running team-bonding offsites or culture interventions
• Senior leadership teams working through trust and unity issues
• Sales kickoffs, all-hands moments and conferences that need a shared experience rather than another panel
• Executive development programmes focused on authentic leadership

Audience outcomes

• A shared physical experience the team can refer back to long after the room empties
• A more direct vocabulary for talking about ego, authenticity and how leaders show up under pressure
• A practical sense of how ritual and ceremony can be used to mark commitment to a strategy or change
• A felt understanding of what collective intent looks like, beyond a values poster