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Leaders

Yesterday

Cicada boss Sally Ann Williams.

A top CEO reveals what you shouldn’t do in a job interview

Cicada Innovations chief Sally-Ann Williams discusses tips when trying to advance your career, and the thing she does every morning to make better decisions.

  • Sally Patten and Martin Peralta

This Month

Grant Wilckens presides over G’Day Group, a holiday parks company that owns $2 billion of property and is the largest provider of regional accommodation in the country.

This former investment banker now runs a $2b caravan park business

Grant Wilckens spent his early career raising capital for clients. Now he’s the CEO of the holiday parks company he founded, G’Day Group.

  • Sally Patten
Charlotte Young.

Why Charlotte says her ‘otherness’ is a cause for celebration

Charlotte Young, who is studying at ANU, has been named the overall winner and rising star (under 25) of the Asian-Australian Leadership Awards.

  • Julie Hare
Paul Scurrah.

The mantra that keeps this CEO ahead of the game

Former Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah reveals how he avoids distractions, what he has learnt from the collapse of two airlines and why he doesn’t eat until midday.

  • Sally Patten and Martin Peralta
Nick Mann, regional CEO of Australia, Asia and New Zealand and rotating group CEO of Swisse’s parent company H&H Group, at Swisse’s office in Collingwood, Melbourne.

Why this Swisse CEO fasts for 19 hours a day

Nick Mann, regional CEO of the parent company that owns Swisse, has stepped up into the role of global group CEO just as the wellness industry is booming.

  • Euan Black
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This top fundie names the best business leaders she has met

WaveStone director Catherine Allfrey has worked in equity markets for 30 years. Over breakfast, she reveals the top thinkers who have impressed her most.

  • Sally Patten

Exclusive Subscriber Offer - Business Summit 2025

Financial Review subscribers receive a 15% discount on in-person tickets to this event on March 4 & 5, 2025.

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.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan

October

This top accountant doesn’t eat in airport lounges, with one exception

Tony Schiffmann, chief executive partner at accounting firm BDO, reveals why he schedules all his meetings in the morning, why he doesn’t lunch, and the airport lounge he likes to eat in.

  • Sally Patten
Richard White and Chris Ellison.

WiseTech and MinRes are prisoners of their founders’ success

Investors love founders for their skin in the game and long-term thinking. But the dramas surrounding Richard White and Chris Ellison highlight the dark side of founder worship.

  • James Thomson
LEAP Legal Software founder Christian Beck.

Lawyers double check this AI tool’s answers

LawY, a function of LEAP Legal Software that allows users to query a legal database to carry out common tasks, uses an old-school way to ensure accuracy.

  • Edmund Tadros
Connon Bray, a New Zealand-based partner at The Research Agency and part of the founding team at Ideally.

Marketers get ‘freedom to play’ using automated research tool

The marketing aid uses artificial intelligence to quickly ask customers what they think about new products and deliver the research results overnight.

  • Edmund Tadros
A lithium-rich lagoon in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

How this Aussie mining tech company is doing its bit for the planet

ElectraLith is named the 2024 AFR BOSS Most Innovative Company in the Agriculture, Mining, Engineering and Utilities sector.

  • Sally Patten
Swinburne University’s Professor Matthew Bailes has been named Scientist of the Year.

The Aussie who helped discover how to weigh the universe

World renowned astrophysicist Professor Matthew Bailes has won the 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science.

  • Julie Hare
Richard Evans

This CEO gave up drinking 10 years ago, and never looked back

Why Australian Chamber Orchestra boss Richard Evans swapped alcohol for walking and a cup of tea.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan
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Australian fashion designer Erin Deering eats breakfast at The Bond Store cafe in Southbank, Melbourne.

Why this former Young Rich Lister is running for deputy mayor

Australian fashion entrepreneur and small business owner Erin Deering says she wants to make Melbourne a more business-friendly city.

  • Euan Black

Why we should all learn to be OK with embarrassment

If we let fear of failing and ego get in the way, we will stop trying and stop moving forward, says this high-profile education leader.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan

September

Former David Jones boss on the ideal time to quit as CEO

Paul Zahra, the former chief executive of David Jones, says, as a general rule, there is a minimum and maximum amount of time the leader should be in the role.

  • Sally Patten and Lap Phan

The most powerful people in the consulting sector in 2024

As the fallout from the PwC scandal still looms large, smaller operations are moving in on the big four’s turf.

  • Edmund Tadros

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/leaders