About Envisage

Envisage is a program developed and operated by Ethos Consulting Pty Ltd. It was created to address a genuine gap in professional support for academics: a structured, high-quality mentoring and coaching experience that goes beyond ad hoc conversations and informal networks.

Ethos Consulting was founded in Adelaide, South Australia in 1991 by organisational psychologist Mark Douglas. For more than three decades, Ethos has provided specialist consulting services to universities, government agencies, and private organisations. Envisage is the distillation of that experience into a program designed specifically for the academic environment.

Our Story

Ethos Consulting was founded in Adelaide, South Australia in 1991 by organisational psychologist Mark Douglas. For more than three decades, Ethos has provided specialist consulting services to universities, government agencies, and private organisations, working at the intersection of leadership, organisational development, and human performance.

Envisage grew from that experience. As Mark worked with universities and saw the professional isolation many academics experienced, the idea for a structured academic mentor-coaching program took shape. Envisage was developed to fill that gap: to give academics access to the kind of structured, high-quality career support that had previously been available only to executives.

Our Vision

At Envisage, we believe that people thrive when they are clear about where they are going, supported by the right guidance, and given the space to make their own decisions.
Our vision is for academics and researchers to feel confident in their direction, for leaders to enable the people around them to succeed, and for institutions to benefit from a more purposeful, empowered academic community.

What We Believe About Academic Growth

The following assumptions underpin every aspect of the Envisage program, from the way mentor-coaches ask questions, to the structure of sessions, to the outcomes we aim for. They reflect what we have learned about how academics develop, make decisions, and find their way forward. 

1. Regular reassessment of an academic career path is important because the paradoxes and the competing demands within academia often create an unstable future.
2. Timely decision making based on values and career goals is preferred over drifting and allowing the priorities of others to determine the timing of decisions important to you.
3. Exploring the current circumstances relevant to a future goal provides a firm foundation for action toward that goal.
4. While specific advice may be appropriate occasionally, powerful mentoring comes from insightful questions that encourage the participant to find their own direction.
5. A focus on a few key goals that are compatible is essential to move forward in a crowded busy life.
6. There are often many paths to a goal. Discussing the options most appropriate for the individual in a safe, non-judgmental conversations is often a critical step for good decision making.

When options are explored, actions become clear, the role of the mentor-coach is reduced, self-belief grows and confidence takes the place of hesitance.

Mark Douglas — Founder, Ethos Consulting

Mark Douglas is an organisational psychologist with over 30 years of experience consulting to universities, government departments, and private sector organisations in leadership, strategy and organisational development.
Mark established Ethos Consulting in 1991 and developed the Envisage Academic Navigation program to bring the rigour of executive coaching to the academic career development context.