THE ECOSYSTEM BEHIND THE WORK
Ideas, education and organisational thinking exploring the space between what we value, what we intend and what happens in practice.
Through Verity Institute, Michelle Clarke’s work explores how people and organisations can understand themselves more clearly and act with greater congruence.
For people seeking greater steadiness in themselves.
For organisations seeking clearer understanding before action.
Different situations can raise a shared question: what helps our intentions become visible in the way we relate, decide and act?
For an individual, that gap might appear when you know what you want to say but find yourself agreeing to something else.
In an organisation, it might appear when capable people and clear policies still don’t prevent the same problems from returning.
Michelle Clarke’s work explores this question across personal and organisational life: through personal learning at The School of Authentic Presence, organisational thinking through Congruent Design, and the ideas connecting both through Verity Institute.
FOR YOURSELF
Make room for your own needs and perspective.
Practical personal-development education for thoughtful, perceptive people who want greater self-trust, authentic presence and quiet authority in how they move through relationships and everyday life.
FOR YOUR ORGANISATION
Understand before solving.
Thought leadership, facilitated conversations and focused problem-solving that help organisations examine complex questions, challenge assumptions and make better-informed decisions.
THE IDEAS CONNECTING BOTH
Explore the thinking behind the work.
Writing, frameworks, public conversations and research connecting truth, responsibility, power, relationships and organisational life.

Law, governance & relational counselling
Michelle Clarke has spent more than twenty-five years working across organisations from different seats at the table.
Her career has crossed law, governance, company secretarial practice, compliance, risk, workplace matters, investigations and crisis management. She has worked across sectors as varied as hospitality, the arts, insurance, mining, financial services, fintech, FMCG and not-for-profit.
That breadth has shaped a particular way of thinking.
When different functions see different parts of the same problem, Michelle looks for what connects them.
When an issue keeps returning despite reasonable attempts to resolve it, she asks what has remained unchanged.
And when the obvious explanation is not quite explaining what is happening, she slows the conversation down long enough to ask:
What else could be true?
Her ongoing postgraduate counselling studies add another dimension: careful listening, curiosity, perspective and the discipline of understanding before solving.
Sometimes the easiest way to begin is simply to notice what is happening. Choose the perspective that is most useful to you right now.
FOR YOURSELF
Reflect on how you navigate boundaries, expectations and difficult conversations, and discover which Authentic Presence experience may suit you best.
FOR YOUR WORK OR ORGANISATION
Choose a short reflective Check that speaks to the question on your mind. The Congruent³ Checks offer different ways to explore organisational patterns, judgement, decision-making and complex problems.
A RECOMMENDATION, NEVER A DIAGNOSIS · YOU'RE ALWAYS FREE TO CHOOSE WHAT FEELS MOST APPROPRIATE
LATEST INSIGHTS
Writing and conversations exploring the questions that shape our personal and organisational lives, and what can become visible when we look at familiar situations from another perspective.
FOR YOURSELF
Explore ways to understand yourself more deeply, remain connected to what matters to you and carry greater steadiness into relationships and everyday life.
FOR YOUR ORGANISATION
Explore an important organisational problem, create space for clearer strategic thinking, or start a conversation about something that may deserve a closer look.
VERITY INSTITUTE
One philosophy. Three expressions. Personal learning, organisational thinking and the ideas connecting both.
Ideas, education and organisational thinking exploring the space between what we value, what we intend and what happens in practice. Founded by Michelle Clarke.
THE ECOSYSTEM BEHIND THE WORK
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