The Gorniak Method
Unlocking genius, leading authentically. A human-centred framework that builds cultures which hold long after the facilitator has gone.
What it is
“I don't roll out programmes. I build bespoke cultures based on the real needs of the people in the system, and I leave something behind that allows them to stand on their own long after I'm gone.”
Toby Gorniak MBE
Toby goes into schools, teams, organisations and communities, from grassroots to boardrooms, and reads the system. Not the paperwork. Not the policies. The people.
He watches how power moves, how people speak, where respect breaks down, where brilliance is being suppressed and where fear or habit is running the culture. Then he works with people, not on them, to co-create a way of being that fits who they are and what they need.
Nothing is off the shelf. Nothing is imported. The pillars stay constant; how they are lived is always bespoke.
The evidence
Forged in life. Tested in research.
It comes from lived experience of racism, violence, exile and rebuilding life from nothing, refined through more than twenty years of practice. Academics have since studied it, filmed it and built qualifications around it.
Doctoral research
A fully funded four-year PhD bursary, co-supervised by Toby and Dr Rosa Cisneros: “one of the first PhD studies in Higher Education to explore dance, hip hop, mental health and communities.” Presented at international academic conferences.
Research on hate
That Boy is an output of an Economic and Social Research Council study of far-right radicalisation, led by Dr Michał P. Garapich with London Metropolitan University researchers.
An accreditation
Creating Change & Leadership, developed with the Institute of Leadership with the Gorniak Method at its heart. Delivered to the leadership team of Plymouth Citybus.
A deaf hip hop crew
Deaf children learning rhythm through floor vibrations became the UK's first deaf hip hop crew and performed on national stages.
How it works
Four moves. No dependency.
Every engagement follows the same arc, from the first day in the room to the day Toby is no longer needed.
Step 1 of 4
Read the system
Observe the real culture: who holds power, who has stopped speaking, where genius is being missed.
Not the paperwork, not the policies. The people.
Step 2 of 4
Work with, not on
Co-create the agreements and habits with the people who will live them, at every level.
Nothing imported. Nothing off the shelf.
Step 3 of 4
Teach to teach
Everyone learns to pass it on, so culture stops depending on the top or on an outside expert.
Knowledge stops sitting at the top.
Step 4 of 4
Leave it standing
No dependency. When Toby leaves, people hold each other to account and leadership remains.
The culture holds, in a circle.
The eight pillars
Tap a pillar.
Pillar 1 of 8
The Five Elements
Respect, Peace, Love, Unity, Fun.
The outcome
Authentic leadership.
It is not taught directly. It emerges when all eight pillars are lived: leadership without masks, without domination, without fear. People lead from who they are, not the role they hold.
Children develop agency instead of compliance.
Staff lead without needing permission.
Executives lead without ego.
The culture holds, in a circle.
Why it works
The science underneath.
Each pillar lines up with well-established research in psychology and behavioural science. These studies are by other researchers and are not tests of the Gorniak Method; they show why its building blocks hold up.
Teams learn faster when it is safe to speak up.
Harvard's Amy Edmondson showed that teams who feel safe to ask, admit mistakes and disagree learn and perform better. Google's study of 180 of its own teams found psychological safety mattered more than any other factor.
Edmondson (1999), Administrative Science Quarterly 44(2) · Google re:Work, Project Aristotle (2015)Belief in your own ability changes what you attempt.
Albert Bandura found that people's belief in their capability shapes the goals they choose, the effort they make and how long they persist when things get hard.
Bandura (1977), Psychological Review 84(2), 191–215Belonging is not soft. It moves grades and health.
A one-hour exercise helping students see that worries about belonging are common and temporary improved Black students' grades and self-reported health over the following three years.
Walton & Cohen (2011), Science 331(6023)People learn more when they expect to teach it.
Students told they would have to teach material to others recalled more of it, and organised it better, than students told they would only be tested.
Nestojko, Bui, Kornell & Bjork (2014), Memory & Cognition 42(7)Dancing together bonds people.
People who danced in synchrony felt closer to each other and showed higher pain thresholds, a marker of endorphin release, than those who danced out of sync.
Tarr, Launay & Dunbar (2016), Evolution and Human Behavior 37(5)Movement is medicine for the mind.
A BMJ review of 218 trials found exercise an effective treatment for depression, with dance among the forms showing the strongest effects.
Noetel et al. (2024), BMJ 384:e075847Ways to work together
Bring the method in.
For governments and ministries, education systems, CEOs and boards, organisations going through change, and communities affected by exclusion. Pick a starting point; every engagement is shaped around your people.
Ignite
Keynotes & leadership days
A single day that changes how a room thinks about leadership, belonging and potential.
- Keynote or masterclass, shaped around your audience
- The eight pillars introduced and put to work
- Practical tools people use the next morning
Best forConferences · INSET days · leadership away-days
Enquire about igniteEmbed
Executive advisory
Cultural leadership advisory for the people who set the tone.
- Toby reads your culture alongside your senior team
- Co-designed agreements and leadership habits
- Coaching for leaders through change
Best forCEOs · boards · ministries · education authorities
Enquire about embedTransform
Whole-system partnership
A bespoke, system-wide culture partnership that is still standing when Toby leaves.
- Every level, from frontline to board
- Teach to Teach: your people become the trainers
- Measured outcomes, built to last
Best forSchools & trusts · organisations in change · communities
Enquire about transformWhat people say about the method
As an academic, researcher, artist and company director I have come across a number of approaches and methods, but this is up in my top five.
Dr Rosa Cisneros
Associate Professor, Coventry University
It has real, tangible impact and is a powerful tool that pushes boundaries and delivers positive results.
Dr Rosa Cisneros
Associate Professor, Coventry University
The day enlightened us on the power of communication, relationships, and self-confidence: essential elements for our collective success.
Leadership team participant
Plymouth Citybus · Institute of Leadership programme
A person of high integrity. He is a great communicator, an inspirational leader, teacher and motivator.
Prof. Andrew Brewerton
Professor Emeritus and former Principal & CEO, Arts University Plymouth
Bookings
Bring Toby
to your stage.
Keynotes, leadership sessions, That Boy screenings and whole-system culture partnerships, in the UK and worldwide.