This Month
Feel like you never belong? You may be an otrovert
If you secretly feel like an outsider, feel awkward in groups and uneasy in public, you might be a personality type defined by a sense of “non-belonging”.
Australia’s 50 Richest Bosses revealed
The Chemist Warehouse and Guzman y Gomez floats, as well as a change in intergenerational wealth, are creating a new wave of wealthy leaders.
‘Riding the tiger’: Why Linda Yaccarino had to leave Elon Musk’s X
Tasked with bringing back advertising to a platform whose owner had told brands who did not spend with them to “go f--- themselves”, she was set up to fail.
June
When your chatbot makes titanic mistakes
In the right hands, artificial intelligence can clearly be a force for great good. It’s just that I keep coming across people who know how dire it can be.
Virgin’s comeback is a lesson on managing executive energy
Strategy alone doesn’t supercharge a corporate transformation, it takes a leader who drives change while quietly building reserves for whatever tomorrow brings.
Samuel: A fork in the eye is less painful than AICD director’s course
Former competition watchdog chief Graeme Samuel says executives would learn more about governance reading APRA’s report on CBA than doing the company directors course.
Managing the S in ESG is crucial to energy transition success
This isn’t about virtue-signalling or a box-ticking exercise. It is fundamental to ensuring long-term resilience and retaining a social licence.
Investors demand greater voice on ASX governance review
The review needs to give investors a greater say in how the regime is tied to company profits, Sandon Capital founder Gabriel Radzyminski says.
Big super warned that AI is a carbon ‘time bomb’
Corporate Australia has taken to artificial intelligence with zeal but not enough attention is given to the emissions it creates, says the Australia Institute.
‘No need for ESG any more’: Business doubles down on bottom line
Investors and CEOs say non-financial issues remain a key risk for businesses, but we may have outgrown the phrase ‘environmental, social, governance’.
Why ESG and DEI could be the next big business risk
The instinctive reaction to the ESG and DEI “vibe shift” in the US was to persist, defend the status quo, and write off what was happening over there as an isolated phenomenon.
What RoboDebt, Hayne and Rio Tinto tell us about ESG’s limits
The reason today’s senior executives are ‘shy’ about ESG is that their efforts have not prevented major scandals.
Helia reviewed ‘circumstances’ of CEO’s share sale before departure
Helia, formerly known as Genworth, quietly investigated its CEO Pauline Blight-Johnston over the sale of shares before the loss of a major contract and her resignation.
May
Director Awards underline importance of greater boardroom diversity
Homogeneity undermines accountability, stifles directors’ willingness to ask management the hard questions, and causes boards to succumb to mere conformity.
‘Nowhere to hide’: Why more CEOs are fronting videos
Executives are increasingly filming themselves for social media as a way to talk directly to staff, customers and shareholders.
The PwC scandal was bad, the cover-up is worse
The early conclusion to what was already a dubious exercise in scrutiny is exactly what we’ve come to expect.
Board diversity: ‘What we’re doing is not working’
Fewer directors with Chinese or Indian backgrounds sit on large listed company boards than in 2017, while the number of Indigenous or openly gay directors is tiny.
Bosses continue to push 5-day-office edict
Former opposition leader Peter Dutton’s spectacular fail on return-to-office mandates hasn’t stopped companies from enforcing workers back full-time.
April
‘We’re not allocating talent’ and that makes us all poorer
Not enough men working in education is holding back the sector’s productivity, just as much as the lack of women in mining does.
March
Why no one wants to be a CEO any more
Burnout, scrutiny and liability have turned the top job toxic, and rising stars are opting out.
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 says business should not be woke or anti-woke
Corporate Australia should pick its battles carefully. However, mainstream DEI and ESG initiatives have largely proved to add value to companies.
Mullen is on the money on genuine board diversity
The right way forward is a proactive approach to genuine diversity that would rightly reject performative box-ticking.
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.
From Death Star to Raccoon Feet: Have meeting room names gone too far?
Creative titles are now an inescapable – but not always funny – part of work life. The practice that grew from reimagining the office in the 1990s may need a rethink.