This Month
How this exec transferred her skills from luxury retail to health
Holly Masters used to run a luxury brand business. Now she is the CEO of the McGrath Foundation. The two jobs are not as different as you might think.
I took my mother back to Vietnam. It changed my life
Forty-four years after fleeing in a packed boat, AFR’s head of podcast Lap Phan’s journey through his mother’s homeland proves a revelation for them both.
April
Why weekends are so important to the CEO of this $7b company
Throughout his career, AGL chief Damien Nicks has deliberately shut off from work on a Friday so he can start the following week fresh.
Grant Hackett is now a CEO. But his diet is still heavy on protein
The long-distance champion rarely swims these days but uses his successes and failures in the pool to become a better leader and person.
This CEO thought he was healthy. Then he went for a check
AIA Australia chief Damien Mu ate well and exercised regularly, but tests showed he wasn’t as healthy as he assumed.
This CEO selected the wrong project partner. It was a brutal lesson
Early in his career, Beach Energy chief Brett Woods learnt the hard way to choose your business associates wisely and run a full risk matrix first.
Boost Juice founder on her top health hacks and her aversion for VERBS
Janine Allis, who is also behind Betty’s Burgers and a director of Kogan, explains why there is no such thing as imposter syndrome and why ‘yes’ always beats ‘no’.
March
By the time he was 37 this exec was running IBM in Australia
Nick Flood was the youngest executive to be appointed managing director in the local firm’s 92-year history.
The biggest mistake even senior execs make in job interviews
Johnson Partners founder and CEO Jason Johnson says too many job candidates leave enthusiasm at the door when they go in for an interview.
Jun Bei Liu: How I learnt to speak up
The co-founder and portfolio manager at TenCap never felt she could express her opinion. That changed, although she says she still lives with imposter syndrome.
February
Matt Comyn has a super skill, just ask Anthony Seibold
Manly Sea Eagles head coach Anthony Seibold has forged a close relationship with the Commonwealth Bank CEO. It is a friendship where they learn from each other’s worlds.
How Jane Lu turned a failed start-up into a $100m fashion success
The Showpo founder swore off fashion after quitting her job to focus on a business that failed. She soon realised she had learnt too much from the failure to walk away.
Don’t use a busy job as an excuse to drop everything else: Mark Scott
USyd vice chancellor talks about the importance of good relationships, the mistakes made in the uni’s handling of Jewish students, and general career advice.
This CEO was made redundant at 49. Now he runs a $3b company
When Scott Hartley was let go from NAB in his late 40s it came as a shock. But he used the experience to forge a different career path.
January
The brave career move that helped propel Matt Comyn to the top of CBA
The CEO of Australia’s biggest bank reveals pivotal moments in his career – and how much sleep he likes to get.
December 2024
Why this CEO reckons networking is ‘BS’
For Australian Museum boss Kim McKay, work and life are about having meaningful conversations. Social media chit-chat doesn’t cut it.
Staff got a nine-day fortnight, but still waste time on one thing
Grant Thornton CEO Greg Keith doesn’t like to see staff, who work a nine-day fortnight, wasting time waiting for everyone to get their coffee before they go back to the office.
November 2024
Why being good at your job isn’t enough to get a promotion
Brighter Super CEO Kate Farrar reveals the secrets to getting a promotion, what she does at 4am and what she learnt from failing at an investment bank.
Why retail was the Bunnings MD’s third career choice, and why he stayed
Michael Schneider found doing the thing he was passionate about helped make his career much more worthwhile than seeing it as a job with a fortnightly pay.
October 2024
What this CEO learnt from losing $30m
Kyle Faulconer, the CEO of PepsiCo in ANZ, discovered the value of rapid prototyping and minimum viable products after a failed launch cost his client $30m.