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Sally Patten

This Month

Sophia Rahmani is the new CEO of Magellan Financial Group.

How the Macquarie CEO played a role in setting me up to lead Magellan

When Magellan chair Andrew Formica was on the hunt for a CEO, he had a quiet chat to Shemara Wikramanayake about her approach for setting executives up for success.

There aren’t many companies that give their staff an extra leave days off to go and explore some of the world’s most iconic destinations, says Intrepid’s James Thornton.

Why these companies are Australia’s best places to work in 2025

Management consultancy Empact Group is crowned the 2025 Financial Review BOSS Best Place to Work. 

AFR

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.

Janine Allis

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

Nick Flood

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.

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Qantas Chairman John Mullen at his Silentworld Foundation Collection in St Ives.

Why the Qantas chairman is building a maritime museum under his house

John Mullen has learnt a lot from the likes of Matthew Flinders, the first man to circumnavigate Australia, and 16th-century Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

Kim Feitelberg established her haircare company, HairShots, in early 2023.

Why I quit advertising to set up a haircare company in my late 40s

Women who have chased their entrepreneurial dreams later in life say the experience, skills, networks and maturity they acquired during their extensive careers is invaluable.

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.

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.

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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.

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