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On this episode of the Sportspeople Recruitment active CEO Podcast, Craig Johns and Ben Gathercole talk with Kate Palmer about finding her dream job, where she combines her passion for sport, and desire to improve the health and wellbeing of a nation. We delve into her role of leading and catalysing the Australian sport industry to encourage more Australians to become more active, and shape the future of elite and grassroots sport.
We also discuss topics such as transformational change, reducing layers of compliance, the future of sport business structures, the new ‘move it’ campaign, and how she implements health and wellness into the team at Sport Australia.
Kate Palmer
Kate is one of the leading female CEO’s in the global sport industry. In January 2017, Kate took the reigns of the Australian Sports Commission, which has since been rebranded Sport Australia. She has a successful record in leading transformational organisation change, instilling good governance and providing excellent people management at organisations such as Netball Victoria and Netball Australia.
Growing up in regional Victoria, Australia in the town of Shepparton, Kate fell in love with sport playing netball, softball and was a keen waterskier. She studied a Honours Degree in Applied Science at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and a Masters of Sport Management at Deakin University. In 2014, Kate was awarded the AIS Sports Performance Leadership Award. Her passion for sport extends to governance roles at the Australian Commonwealth Games Association, Victoria Institute of Sport, Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, International Netball Federation and the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Known for her ability to engage a diverse audience, she values having different voices and opinions at the table. She knows that to influence a system you need to get inside it, be reasonable and don’t give up. As a leader she believes in working with people in a team, showing them a vision for the future and being truly authentic.
Kate talks about:
- Her memories of sport as a young child.
- Growing up in rural Victoria, in Shepparton.
- The benefits of meetings in motion and walking meetings.
- Sport providing the health of local communities.
- Ensuring young children learn the basic movement fundamentals.
- What inspired her to become a sport administrator.
- Taking the reigns as CEO of Sport Australia.
- Transitioning from being a CEO of employees to leading a whole industry.
- The relationship between the Minister of Sport, the Office of Sport and Sport Australia.
- Reducing layers of compliance and keeping it simple.
- Why it is important for sport organisations to consider and adapt to new business models in the future.
- Ensuring sport organisations have the structures and capability to be sustainable in the future.
- Health and wellness of athletes, and how they transition into the ‘real world’ after life in sport.
- Changing the lives of people with intellectual and physical disabilities.
- Can we look at different ways of working in the sport industry as an administrator, coach or high performance management.
- The significance of the ‘move it’ and ‘find our 30’ campaigns.
- Changing the balance and ensuring that she reads, exercises and eats a healthy breakfast.
- The Hugh Palmer scholarship and the “corporate handbag”.
Active CEO Wellness Tip
Ben and I talk about the importance of self-regulation and why it is such an important element of emotional intelligence. We talk about being aware of your emotions, how to manage and express them at the right time. Self-regulation is also about the ability to remain calm, consider all the possibilities and have a clear head.
Tweets
“I am quite a practical person, pragmatic, and I can see things, I like to change things, and I like to fix things.” Gaining an insight into Kate Palmer, the CEO of Sport Australia, on the active CEO Podcast.
“Take responsibility and make a decision. If you fail or if you make a mistake we fix it, we will fix it together.” Kate Palmer on giving responsibility to employees, on the active CEO Podcast.
“I don’t think sports can look at us and say, you give us 80 to 90% of our revenue, and that’s a lot of money, but we are not prepared to improve our business.” Kate Palmer on investing in sport for the future, with the active CEO Podcast.
Resources Mentioned in this show:
Kate Palmer LinkedIn
Sport Australia www.sportaus.gov.au
Find Your 30 website
Netball Australia www.netball.com.au
Netball Victoria www.vic.netball.com.au
ASADA www.asada.gov.au
Australian Commonwealth Games Association website
Victoria Institute of Sport www.vis.org.au
International Netball Federation website
Melbourne Cricket Ground website
Deakin University www.deakin.edu.au
RMIT University www.rmit.edu.au
Sportspeople Recruitment www.sportspeoplerecruitment.com
www.nrg2perform.com
craig@nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns LinkedIn
Ben Gathercole LinkedIn
Ben Gathercole Performance Coaching www.bengathercole.com.au
Recommended Reading:
Better Than Winning – Ben’s best selling book
Previous active CEO Podcast Episodes:
#11 – Tim Cosulich (Fratelli Cosulich Group) – Navigating the Global Family Business link
#10 – Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien (Rising Tide Africa) – Magic Happens Outside the Comfort Zone link
#9 – Mike DeNoma (KBZ Bank) Part #2 – Creating an Earthquake link
#8 – Mike DeNoma (KBZ Bank) Part #1 – Your Strengths are What Energise You link
#7 – Trina Gordon (Boyden World Corporation) – Recruiting World Leaders link
#6 – Indiran Padayachee (RentCorp) – Winning Only Matters link
#5 – Suzie Hoitink (Clear Complexions) – Enemy of a Great Life is a Good One link
#4 – Rene Zondag (PBI) – People Are Our Greatest Asset link
#3 – Anne Gripper (NSW Office of Sport) – 6 C’s of Leadership link
#2 – active CEO Intro (NRG2Perform) Part 2 link
#1 – active CEO Intro (NRG2Perform) Part 1 link