Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games CEO reveals vision to leave lasting legacy

Newly announced Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games CEO Cindy Hook has spoken of her plan to put the River City on the global map.

• Revealed: Who is Cindy Hook, new Olympics CEO

Global executive Cindy Hook can’t stop smiling.

Having just been announced as chief executive of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the knowledge that she – alongside president Andrew Liveris – will be steering the world’s greatest show here in Queensland in under a decade feels somewhat surreal.

“I’m very excited, I’ve spent the last six days here in Brisbane and I’m just delighted. It’s an honour and I’m proud to have been selected for this role,” she said.

“It’s the Olympics and the Paralympics – it’s the Games! Being associated with that was a huge draw, as was the opportunity to move back to Australia.”

But the former Deloitte Australia and Deloitte Asia Pacific chief executive is also not afraid of a challenge.

Why else would she have thrown her hat in the ring after winding up a highly-successful tenure as a global executive, to take on a role which arguably has the potential to pose more unique hurdles than most.

Asked how she will manage the demands of multiple levels of government throughout the decade – with a Premier, a Prime Minister, and a Lord Mayor sure to want their needs and demands met – Ms Hook has spent significant time contemplating just that.

“This role, as much as anything, is about stakeholder engagement,” she said.

“In my last role I had to co-ordinate 70,000 people across 19 countries. These are countries from Japan to China, to Singapore to Australia to New Zealand, all with very different agendas and views. So I have had quite a bit of experience with complex stakeholder management, not to underestimate this one.

Former Deloitte chief executive Cindy Hook has been announced as the new CEO of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Picture: The Australian.

“But I think when you treat people with respect and transparency, share a common vision and goals – yes, there are going to be differences of opinions but you can work to a common ground.

“A big part of that is going to be Andrew – this board is amazing in its diversity and there’s power in that.”

While she hails from the United States, Ms Hook has a strong affinity with Queensland and Australia. During her ten years living in Sydney she travelled to Brisbane five to six times per year – while her husband and two sons are permanent citizens.

“I’ve spent a lot of time here, I have a very strong network here,” she said

“This city has changed a lot since I first travelled here – it’s matured, and it’s really come into its own.”

Like Mr Liveris, Ms Hook has been given an initial four-year contract – but said she sees herself being at the helm right until show time.

“I think you chunk these things down in your mind – you think what am I going to do for the first three or four years, and then there’s a next phase, and a phase after that. Andrew has described that in the past as three, three, three plus one,” she said.

“I think it’s a logical way as an executive to think about it. We will set goals and priorities for those first four years about establishing the organisation, setting it up in a way so that it is on very solid ground, with the right process and procedures that will stand up to scrutiny.

“Set the culture, set the strategy, set the vision, and get the team. That will be the first phase.

“Then you get more operational in the middle phase, and then you’ll be into delivering.

“I am viewing this as a long-term commitment. And certainly I’ll be around as long as Andrew and the board want me.”

Mr Liveris said the global search for a CEO was an intensive process, with more than 50 individuals engaged throughout.

Cindy Hook’s vision is to “take Brisbane to the global stage”. Picture: Peter Wallis

“I knew we needed someone who could work with me in my role and was complimentary and who – by the time this is all said and done – we could finish each other’s sentences. I think this is a very important thing to create alignment,” he said.

“There will be a lot of things out there that will complicate things, so we need to be able to have a common way of handling things.”

He said Ms Hook will be the “culture carrier” – building up Brisbane 2032 from its six current employees to thousands by the Games time.

Because, of course, Ms Hook understands all too well that while the Games is the ultimate spectacle, how they will transform Brisbane and the south east Queensland region will be the ultimate challenge. Get that right – and she becomes one of the great shapers of our city.

At present she has two clear visions – deliver a successful Games, and leave a lasting, impactful legacy.

“There is a huge opportunity to put Brisbane on the global map,” she said.

“And I mean that not just to draw tourism, which will be one thing, but to draw people to want to come and live here.

“That drives a thriving economy, and it brings businesses that want to invest, tap into the innovation and the resources – namely people resources – that call Brisbane their home. All of that drives economic prosperity.”

Mr Liveris says it was Ms Hook’s global connections, particularly as the Games looks to secure key sponsorship targets, was one of the great qualities which he saw in the recruitment process.

“One of the things Cindy brings on her resume with Deloitte and I bring with my background, is a global rolodex,” he said.

“We know people around the world, and people know Australia, they know Sydney and Melbourne but Brisbane doesn’t really hit people’s lips. Not in a negative way – there’s no consciousness of it.

“This is our chance now to take Brisbane to the global stage.”