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Sally Patten

This Month

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.

The highest-paid company directors include (top, left) Hamish McLennan, Scott Perkins and Steven Gregg and Richard Goyder, Michael Wilkins and Ken MacKenzie.

The country’s highest-paid directors revealed

Here are the 18 male and two female directors in Australia paid more than $1 million a year in board fees.

Yasmin Allen says sitting on large founder-led boards is less interesting if there is no robust discussion.

Some founders regard directors as ‘something to be tolerated’

The scandals that have rocked high-profile founder led companies such as WiseTech and Mineral Resources are a wake-up call for all board members to conduct thorough due diligence, say top directors.

Qantas chairman John Mullen at home in Terrey Hills, Sydney, ahead of his speech to the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Qantas chairman warns directors of ‘dominant CEOs’ in board search

The successful careers and dominant personalities of founders and overly powerful CEOs can trip up even the most seasoned corporate players, John Mullen says.

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.

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Lisa Annese has spent most of her career advocating for women and minority groups.

Job appointments have never been purely merit-based: CEW chief

If we give too much air time to DEI’s detractors, people may begin to believe such programs are unwarranted, says Chief Executive Women CEO Lisa Annese.

This CEO gave up ultra-processed food. Here’s what happened

Ingenia’s John Carfi says he likes feeling hungry, and so chooses to fast from dinner “until whenever it is I choose to eat”.

Gender data shows any lack of meritocracy is working in favour of men

Hopefully, employers will be able to use the gender pay gap data to counter the backlash from men who complain they are missing out on job promotions.

February

Guy Chalkley has been running Endeavour Energy for nearly five years.

He survived an aneurysm. Now this CEO is making the most of every day

Guy Chalkley, the chief executive of Endeavour Energy, was back on the job within 24 hours of having a craniotomy but insists work is his “fun place”.

Anthony Seibold

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.

Farhan Faruqui, CFO at ANZ, and Jane Kuang, Finance Executive at BHP.

Think you need to be an accountant to be a CFO? You don’t

Analysis primarily of biographies and LinkedIn profiles of ASX 50 chief financial officers found that just over 60 per cent cite professional accounting qualifications.

Jane Lu

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.

The former board of Star, who are facing civil penalties for alleged breaches of directors’ duties (L-R): John O’Neill, Matt Bekier, Kathleen Lahey, Richard Sheppard, Gerard Bradley, Sally Pitkin, Benjamin Heap and Zlatko Todorcevski.

Why the Star case has unnerved Australian boardrooms

“It’s a private company” is a big selling point for directors when headhunters call, and ASIC’s case against the embattled casino group is making many directors more nervous about public company boards.

Why this CEO gave up measuring his sleep

Alex Davison, chief executive of L’Oreal Group in Australia and New Zealand, does a lot to ensure he gets eight hours’ sleep a night, but he doesn’t measure it anymore.

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.

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University of Sydney vice chancellor Professor Mark Scott speaking at a parliamentary hearing into antisemitism.

Sydney Uni’s Scott says he failed to ‘listen, be curious’

Reflecting on the pro-Palestine camps and an antisemitism row on campus sparked by the Israel-Gaza conflict, Mark Scott admits the university fell short in its response.

Directors warn of investment delays amid Trump, election uncertainty

Company directors from Macquarie, Fortescue, Dexus and Perpetual say Donald Trump and the upcoming election will lead to projects being delayed or paused.

Scott Hartley features on this week’s episode of 15 minutes with the Boss podcast.

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.

Sharon Pickering, Ian Narev, Bran Black and Guy Chalkley ahead of the roundtable discussion in Sydney on Friday.

How careers counsellors could help plug the skills gap

Encouraging teenagers to complete high school and giving them access to careers counselling are key to plugging the yawning skills gap.

Gurbaj Pawar at breakfast at BarLume in North Sydney.

Don’t go on holidays to relax, push yourself, says this top exec

Gurbaj Pawar, head of strategy at insurance broking company AUB Group and a 2024 BOSS Young Executive, hikes and plays with his young daughter to stay fit.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/sally-patten-j7gdj