Inner Chief Podcast

In this episode you’ll hear from Trevor Matthews former MD/CEO of Legal & General Australia, ManuLife, Friends Provident PLC, Aviva UK and Standard Life UK. He is currently a non-executive director of AMP, Tokio Marine, FNZ and BUPA. He is also Chair of the State Industry Regulatory Authority and 1stAvailable Ltd. Key Points: Trevor tells the story of his remarkable career from actuary to CEO and President of some of the world’s biggest insurance companies. He outlines that a leaders is a dealer in hope, you have to build a track record and importantly you need to be respectful about the past, realistic about the present and optimistic about the future. Trevor’s top messages include: Travel was great in that it gave me a global perspective It’s the execution of the strategy that makes the difference on a sustainable basis Compete aggressively on the outside and collaborate superbly on the inside You've got to line your people up shoulder to shoulder and get them out in the market aggressively going for b

In this episode you’ll hear from Jennifer Holland, Founder and CEO of Throat Scope.   Jennifer’s passion lies in inventing, designing and developing medical products that will revolutionise the healthcare industry. Her first invention was Throat Scope, which has had outstanding success across the globe and began as the foundation of Holland Healthcare. Throat Scope was the recipient of ‘What’s Your Big Idea Queensland?’ in 2011, which included a $50,000 prize money from the Queensland government. This allowed Jennifer to develop and patent Throat Scope and have several working prototypes made. In 2015, Jennifer and Throat Scope were featured on Shark Tank Australia. Jennifer secured investment from Steve Baxter and this exposure propelled the business. In October 2015, Throat Scope was launched into the Australian retail and healthcare markets. Throat Scope broke a retail record with a company, which saw the product signed in seven days. Jennifer has since negotiated several lucrative distribution deals with

The Inner Chief Podcast - Episode 7: Todd Hunter – CEO Turners Automotive Group In this episode you’ll hear from Todd Hunter, CEO Turners Automotive Group Key Points: Todd outlines that there will be times that you are scared about what you're being asked to do but - pressure is a privilege - and someone believes you can do this. Todd’s top messages include: When assessing an opportunity or role always ask yourself what can I learn from the people that I will be around? When you're faced with someone hostile - You listen more than you talk, you put yourself in their shoes, you try and understand where they're coming from. When you disagree with the direction of a business you have three options - you can win the person over, you can go around them or you can leave.  

In this episode you’ll hear from Jonathan Ling, CEO and MD of GUD Holdings Limited. Jonathan is also the former CEO of Fletcher Building and Visy Recycling. He is the Chairman of Melbourne Rebels Advisory Board and has previously held a number of other board roles including ASB bank and Pacific Brands. During his time as CEO of GUD the market capitalisation has grown from $360 million to $1.2 billion and the share price from around $5 to in excess of $13. And during his time as CEO at Fletcher Building market capitalisation grew from around NZ$2.5 billion to NZ$4.8 billion. Jonathan is a fantastic story of a little Chinese boy that rose from the frontline all the way through the ranks to becoming CEO. He has taken on some of the biggest challenges in business and succeeded both commercially and through the culture he has created. Key Points: Jonathan outlines that “to get ahead you must tell wow stories” and that you must have three key skills to be CEO; 1. The ability to innovate, 2. The ability to lead a g

In this episode you’ll hear from Vivek Bhatia. At age 26, Vivek was a Indian migrant watching the big businessmen in their expensive suits walk around Sydney. This inspiring story is how he rose above the pack to become a CEO in just 10 years.  Vivek is now CEO and MD of iCare which delivers insurance and care services to the people of New South Wales. Whether a person is severely injured in the workplace or on the road, iCare supports their long-term care needs to improve quality of life outcomes, including helping people return to work. In 2008, Vivek was appointed CEO of Wesfarmers Insurance in Australia, where he was responsible for leading the multi-brand, multi-channel insurer through a significant transformation journey. He was also co-lead of McKinsey & Company’s Asia Pacific Restructuring & Transformation practice and has been the Chair of the former NSW Dust Diseases Board and been the NSW representative on the Board of SafeWork Australia. Key Points: Vivek outlines that “the day you stop le

In this episode you'll hear from Paul Broad. Paul is one of the great reformers of modern Australian business. He has been a CEO for 28 years leading major reform in Hunter Water, Sydney Water, Powertel, AAPT, Infrastructure NSW and Snowy Hydro. He has led many of these companies through corporatization and user pays representing the biggest change in their organisational history. Key Points: Paul outlines how important it is to dream and believe in yourself, how as leader sometimes you have to break the rules to succeed and that success comes through personal power. 

Dan outlines how important it is to stay the course, keep at it, leverage your networks and be grateful for what is around you. Dan covers 10 key topics throughout the podcast: 1.Stop spending all your time just working on your division and work on the organisation with the CEO 2.You have to demonstrate that you work for the betterment of the entire organisation 3.If you get down into the detail, you'll just annoy your people and hold them back 4.The role of the leader is to get a good team around you, set some good parameters, ask them how their going to achieve the goal, then give them some space. 5.We often waste time on developing the wrong people, when we should be cutting them. If after a month or two if you have a bad feeling about someone, its rare that they will come good. Look at how they manage people. A lot people are great atmanaging up, but kick down. 6.If you tolerate poor behaviour from one of your leaders then you're complicit in it. Let someone tell his or her story first. Be respectful. 7.W

In this episode you'll hear from Mike Pratt. Mike is the Commissioner for Service, NSW Government, leading major service reform across the NSW Government. He is also Deputy Chancellor of Western Sydney University, Chairman of Bennelong Funds Management and a Non-Executive Director of Credit Union Australia. Mike was CEO of Consumer and SME Banking, North East Asia, with Standard Chartered Bank. He is a former President of the Australian Institute of Banking & Finance.He was also Group Executive of Westpac Business & Consumer Banking, CEO of National Australia Bank in Australia and CEO of Bank of New Zealand. He was also CEO of Bank of Melbourne. Previous directorships include Non-Executive Director of MasterCard International Inc, New York, Non-Executive Director of MasterCard, Asia Pacific, Non-Executive Director of BT Financial Services, Chairman of Shenzen Credit. Mike outlines how important it is to be well prepared, build out your network, incorporate lifelong learning, be disciplined, maintai

In this episode Kevin outlines how to seize the future, be proactive and take risks and will help you be successful in the modern business world. We discuss many topics like: - A manager is someone who achieves things through others. - Be humble and maintain fierce resolve - Deciding who is on the bus. And you've got to decide before you know where the bus is - going. To pick the people that are going to be with you on the journey. And decide where you're going together. - When you're acting up in a role don't make this mistake that this is part time. Act as if you have the full authority of the role. It is full commitment. - Unlocking human potential is what will keep you excited everyday. - Have a reptuation of working well in teams and getting things done. - No triangles. If two people keep coming to you with their problems with each other get them together in a room to talk and remove yourself from the conversation. - It's not about the technical. It is always about the people. - Whenever you get a chanc