Super coach Buchanan bats for business in lead up to Olympics

As a super coach, John Buchanan took the Australian cricket team to two World Cups and three Ashes series wins over a stellar career. Now he’s focused on getting businesses match ready.

Former Australian cricket coach John Buchanan with BBC cricketers James Alexander and Bailey Beachy-Head.

As a super coach, John Buchanan took the Australian cricket team to two World Cups and three Ashes series wins over a stellar career.

Buchanan now lives a quieter life as head cricket coach at Brisbane Boys’ College, but has never given up his thirst to improve performance whether that be in sport, or the corporate world.

So it’s not a surprise that Buchanan’s latest venture, the Business Sport Connection Network (BSCN), aims to help build expertise in both business and sports organisations in the lead up to the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.

Launched at the Queensland Cricketers’ Club (QCC) earlier this month, Buchanan tells City Beat that BSCN’s first event headlined by Jack Perlinski, director of brand building company DAIS, and cricket legend and Bull Masters chairman Ian Healy provided attendees with insights and practical tips on branding and how sport can provide specific lessons for business.

“We had very good crossover examples of sports people making a success of their business careers such as Ian Healy, Nat Cook, John Millman, Greg Rowell, Ben Ikin, AndrewMewing, Jimmy Maher and Troy Ayres,” says Buchanan.

Cricket coach John Buchanan prior to a Sheffield Shield match in 1995.

He notes that sport is increasingly a big business, competing with other codes for fans but also facing rising costs to pay salaries and infrastructure.

Buchanan says the skills learnt in sport, including preparation, attention to detail and coping with both winning and losing, can translate into a good business career.

“At BBC we have boys who are on a pathway (in cricket development) and those who may never play cricket again when they leave school,” he says.

“But with the Olympics coming - and who knows what the world will be like in seven or eight years - anything that sparks interest in sport and physical activity should be encouraged.”

Last year, Buchanan was appointed an inaugural “Queensland Global Connector” by Trade and Investment Queensland (TiQ) to champion the state’s trade and investment story ahead of the Brisbane games.

The BSCN will meet at 3pm on the first Wednesday of every month at QCC with educational workshops and presentations until 5pm followed by networking from 5pm to 6.30pm.

Call to arms

Just days after a warning from NIOA boss Rob Nioa, one of Australia’s industry leaders, about the need to look after our own defence interests, an industry-led forum is being held on the Sunshine Coast on sovereign industrial capability.

Regional Development Australia Moreton Bay Sunshine Coast (RDAMBSC) has joined with the Australian Industry Defence Network to host a forum Wednesday to help develop domestic manufacturing capabilities and supply chains.

Rob Nioa, chairman and chief executive of Nioa, Australia's largest privately owned arms supplier - Photo Supplied

The forum at Caloundra Air Museum will focus on the role of the printed circuit board, which is deemed an essential component during a global scramble to boost industry capability in uncertain times. During a speech in Brisbane last week, Nioa warned that “jarring change is coming” and Australia must “make ourselves a strong defence and security power, one able to look after its own interests”.

RDAMBSC is a federally-funded body working across the Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast and Noosa on opportunities for economic growth, aiming for the region to grow outside its strong tourism industry.

RDAMBSC chair Gavin Keeley says there is a lot of potential for advanced manufacturing capability and opportunities within the region that can play a critical role in Australia’s sovereign manufacturing strategy

Originally published as Super coach Buchanan bats for business in lead up to Olympics