Imagine you started losing your sight at the age of 15 and within six weeks were blind. This is exactly what happened to Dan Stubbs, the Victorian Disability Worker Commissioner. Gabrielle had the pleasure of interviewing Dan on her latest Authentic Leadership Podcast episode. Dan was appointed in October 2019 by the Governor-in-Council, on the recommendation of the Minister and in consultation with the Disability Worker Registration Board of Victoria. As Commissioner he is responsible for regulating the conduct of disability workers. Dan is passionate about the rights and entitlements of vulnerable people and has a history of advocating for their rights. He has worked in the community legal sector for the past 10 years as a lawyer and recently as CEO of Inner Melbourne Community Legal. Here he led innovation and law reform advocacy, advancing the rights of vulnerable people including people experiencing homelessness, people with disability, people escaping family violence and those from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds. During their interview, Dan offers some great insights into leadership. He also discusses how his management style has changed over the decades, especially as he was thrown into leadership roles at a relatively young age. What’s more he shares some unique challenges that visually impaired people had to navigate during the pandemic. Dan is a truly passionate leadership who has had an amazing career.

On this episode of Authentic Leadership Gabrielle has the pleasure of speaking with Grant McBeath who is the Customer Director at Spark New Zealand. As Customer Director at Spark New Zealand, Grant is a part of the organisation’s Leadership Squad. Grant leads the customer facing teams across the Spark Business Group and Consumer Channels and is focussed on creating an environment where teams can thrive and deliver amazing customer outcomes. Prior to working for Spark, Grant held a number of global roles at Nokia throughout Asia, and other global roles with Chevron Texaco, Coca-Cola and Cadbury in NZ. Grant completed a BCom at Auckland University, and also completed his MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics. Gabrielle first met Grant several years ago when she conducted a series of Storytelling workshops across Spark. Over the last six months she has been working with him and a selection of his team on Thought Leadership. What immediately struck Gabrielle about Grant was his vulnerability and authenticity when interacting with his team. Subsequently, he is greatly respected across his team. It was then somewhat of a surprise to Gabrielle, that perfectionism is his Achilles' heel. After realising that this was having a negative impact on his leadership, he decided to lean into vulnerability. For any leader that is still thinking that showing vulnerability is a sign of weakness or that you have to have all the answers, Gabrielle urges you to listen to this, at times quite emotional, podcast. Grant is a living example that perfect leaders aren’t real and real leaders aren’t perfect.

On Gabrielle's first Authentic Leadership Podcast for 2022, she had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Rynski. Julie is a senior executive at NAB looking after Business Banking, Regional and Agri for Australia. She is also the chair of Medfin. Julie joined NAB in October 2017. She is a senior finance industry executive with more than 25 years’ experience in financial services and human resources. Julie has held a variety of senior leadership roles across Retail, Business Banking Projects and recently acted in the role of NAB Group Executive Group Chief People Officer. Julie has a MBA from UNSW, a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and a Graduate Diploma in Australian Rural Leadership. She is also part of the Alumni of London Business School and IMD Lausanne Switzerland and has worked closely with The Big Issue. In this personal interview, we hear about the influence her amazing mother had on her. She shares her passion for gardening and bees, and you might just be surprised about her all-time favourite song. Plus, Gabrielle has found another leader who is sick of hearing the word pivot.

On this latest episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast, Gabrielle speaks to Tim Watsford. He is the CEO of the Northern Territory Major Events Company (NTMEC). Listen in to discover how this career sports administrator (namely with the National Rugby League and Australian Rugby Union) and avid surfer at Manly beach, moved to Darwin with his family several years ago to take on his current role. Tim has worked in the industry for more than 15 years, and has extensive experience in delivering major events, project management and government relations. Over the past 18 months, Tim has led the NTMEC team in new directions as they navigate an events sector profoundly affected by COVID-19 restrictions. The result has seen the team successfully deliver several large-scale major events in the Territory that have attracted national and international attention, and record attendance numbers. Tim shares how he loves nothing better than swimming and surfing in salt water. Unfortunately for him there is not a lot of surfing going on in Darwin and a whole lot of saltwater crocodiles. He also shares some great insights into the challenges he has faced and his ‘Oh Shit!’ moment being in the events and tourism industry when Covid-19 hit.

On the latest episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast, Gabrielle speaks to the CEO of Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT), Deb Ganderton. Besides discussing Deb’s very authentic leadership style, they also talk about the future of cemeteries and the role they can play for both the living and the dead. In 2019, Deb was appointed CEO of GMCT. This community-focused non-profit organisation manages 19 cemeteries and memorial parks in Melbourne. It is one of the leading players in Australia’s funeral and cemetery industry. Her ambitions are to lead a resilient and happy GMCT workforce who remain committed to providing an essential service to Melbourne’s diverse communities. Deb has significant management and leadership experience in the public and private sector. What's more she owns and operates her own business. In this episode, Deb shares what shocks her about her job and the impacts of COVID-19. She also discusses what she loves about her job. And you may be surprised by just how many pairs of glasses she owns.

In this episode Gabrielle had the pleasure of interviewing Anne Sullivan who is the Head of Asia Pacific and Chief Executive Officer Australia for Georg Jensen. Anne Sullivan began her retail career at upmarket department store Georges in Melbourne. It was here that she was given the opportunity to complete an Executive Retail Management program and her passion for retail grew. In 1999, Georg Jensen approached Anne to develop their retail business and she quickly identified the strong market and the Australian affinity with Danish design. Georg Jensen Australia is the largest market outside of Scandinavia with 14 stand-alone stores. Anne was appointed Georg Jensen Australia CEO in 2009, and in 2018 was made CEO of Georg Jensen Asia Pacific. Listen in and discover how Anne went from working in her father’s petrol station to CEO. As well as what she has discovered along the way. Anne also talks about how she has learnt to back herself and believe in herself. She discusses the struggles she faced personally when the pandemic hit and how she had to adjust to a life without travel ...you may know that feeling too!

In this episode Gabrielle speaks with Jenelle McMaster who is the Deputy CEO and Markets Leader at EY. Earlier this year Jenelle interviewed Gabrielle on her Change Happens Podcast, so this time Gabrielle gets to ask the questions. With over 20 years of consulting experience in the areas of transformational change, management and HR, Jenelle previously led the Change and HR services for EY member firms across Asia-Pacific. She is passionate about driving cultural change and shifting mindsets about the realms of the possible. Jenelle is also a passionate supporter of women in business, lover of yoga and dance, former army reservist and mother of two. Jenelle reveals how she has struggled with Imposter Syndrome all her life and how her value of humility has been both a strength and a weakness. Overall their discussion provides many valuable insights for leaders. Join them to see how this amazing woman went from her first job at 16 spruiking sausages at Woolworths to the Deputy CEO of one of our largest professional consulting firms. Plus the extraordinary and humorous lengths she takes to avoid the word ‘pivot’.

In this episode of the Authentic Leadership podcast, Gabrielle was delighted to sit down and speak to Layne Beachley AO. Layne is one of Australia’s sporting legends with seven world surfing championships. Other accomplishments include being the Chair of Surf Australia and founder of The Awake Academy. She is also a successful motivational speaker and author. Layne’s nine-year professional surfing career was an emotional rollercoaster filled with injury, failure, success, depression, happiness and contentment. Through her experiences she has come to believe that life loves throwing curveballs to test your resolve. Consequently, she loves sharing her life lessons to inspire people to wake up, take ownership of their choices and live a life they love. During their chat they cover topics such as some of her biggest professional and personal challenges. Layne shares how she overcomes fear and doubt and her ongoing work around mindset. This episode is full of amazing insights and funny stories, like how she lost her wedding ring while surfing and had to come up with a genius way to tell her Rockstar husband, Kirk Pengilly, so he wouldn’t be upset.

Mark Nielsen is the Global CEO of Talent International and is Gabrielle's latest guest on the Authentic Leadership Podcast series. Mark’s aptitude was recognised in 2018 when the CEO Magazine awarded him both CEO of the Year and Professional Services Executive of the Year. Over the course of his career, Mark has held C-level roles across start-ups, turnarounds and multinational corporations. This experience spans organisations in Australia, South Africa, China, the United Kingdom, and the USA, and across the recruitment, technology, resources, retail and medical device sectors. Throughout his career he has held executive and non-executive director positions on listed and unlisted company boards. Mark is a big believer in people being their most authentic selves in the workplace and is a huge equality champion. He knows that people should be the number one focus of every great business and that they should be allowed to be their most authentic and vulnerable selves. He grew up in South Africa which, at the time, was a very conservative country and he really struggled to express his identity as a gay man which he openly speaks about. Still to this day, there are a lot of people who struggle with this and don’t have the courage to be themselves. Mark wants to change that. During the conversation, Mark speaks candidly about the challenges he has faced being an openly gay man in the corporate world. He also has one of the best articulated company polices Gabrielle has heard. This episode will be well worth a listen.

Last week Gabrielle had the pleasure of speaking to Martin Halphen who is the CEO of The Fruit Box Group. He shares with her how he went from being a lawyer to running a fruit distribution company and then starting a charity The One Box. After starting his career in commercial law, Martin made the leap to small business owner and ‘accidental entrepreneur’, buying a suburban fruit delivery business advertised in the local paper. The Fruit Box business had 1.5 staff and serviced 280 homes in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs. When a customer asked whether they would deliver to her office, it sparked an idea that changed the course of the business. Martin saw a market opportunity to move into corporate deliveries. The Fruit Box Group is now Australia’s leading, premium quality, workplace fruit and milk delivery company. In 2017, recognising the lack of fresh produce in food relief, Martin established The One Box. The program provides a free weekly box of fruit, vegetables, bread and milk to families experiencing hardship. Join Gabrielle and Martin as they talk about the strong influence his father had and continues to have on him. You will also be surprised what a CEO and father of four loves to do in his spare time ...and how he manages to do it.