active CEO Podcast #52 Francesca Boase Building Trust In Crisis Management

Francesca Boase – General Manager Edelman Australia

On this episode of the active CEO Podcast, Craig Johns speaks with Francesca Boase about building trust in crisis management, storytelling as an art of communication, leading change, the Edelman Trust Barometer and being a great mentor. We also discuss personal development, being a custodian of peoples careers, the pain of accepting feedback, workplace wellness, and managing her energy and performance.

Francesca Boase – Building Trust In Crisis Management

Francesca Boase is an experienced global corporate communications specialist who is committed to the community, health, fitness and wellbeing. She is known for building strong relationships, impressive personal development programs and competing at the world triathlon championships.

A genuine people person, she is passionate about mentoring, facilitating and leading teams. Her focus in corporate and financial communication, media relations, reputation management and strategic counsel, has given her the necessary skills to thrive in her current role as Managing Director of Edelman Australia, the world’s largest independent communications agency.

Educated globally, she went to Island School, Hong Kong; studied Journalism, Film and Broadcasting and completed a Post Graduate Diploma Public Relations at the University of Wales, Cardiff; and attended the Australian Graduate School of Management. Her previous senior executive appointments have included roles at Sharman Networks, PPR PR Agency and Sefiani Communications Group.

Fran talks about:

  • Growing up in Hong Kong in the 1980’s surrounded by many nationalities.
  • Acting and then communicating with absolute integrity.
  • Honesty and transparency are absolute fundamentals to building that trust.
  • The most important elements when it comes to being proactive in crisis management.
  • We are in constant state of change.
  • What’s its going to take for you to say yes.
  • Fear accompanies change or uncertainty.
  • What makes a really great mentor.
  • Strategies to use when determining your teams internal motivations.
  • Managing stress and the importance of wellbeing in a fast-paced environment.
  • Having high standards and integrity as a leader.
  • Noticing and recognising the cultural differences of the generations coming through.
  • Businesses increasingly have a role to play in building the trust of Australians.
  • Talking about workplace wellness and not actually doing enough about it.
  • Recognising people as human beings in a holistic sense.
  • Really have to take care of yourself first and then come in and tackle the day.
  • Managing competitiveness in a healthy way and figuratively in a healthy way.
  • How to help young people really appreciate and value themselves.

Active CEO Wellness Tip

Motion Call – Stand up and go for a walk when you receive a phone call rather than stay seated at your computer. It reduces distractions and ensures you get the value of motion leads to emotion when you are walking. You will be surprised how much exercise you can do and how productive your calls become.

Tweets

“Being able to effectively communicate means you can build trust, address issues, you can form an organisational and business point of view, and build a narrative and a story which is a very important part of engaging whether it is your target audiences, your staff or your customers.” Effective communication with Francesca Boase, on the active CEO Podcast.

“The bottom line is that people don’t come to work to achieve a business result. People come to work to be with other people. My experience is that being a leader and being able to communicate on a very human level is critical. Its critical to managing staff, it is critical for great client relationships. It is very important when you are dealing with very difficult situations.” Francesca Boase on communicating at a human level, on the active CEO Podcast.

“You genuinely need to have that recovery time. In terms of performance in a role that is very demanding, having a break and taking some time out is as important a lesson to learn to learn as is learning how to respond to a client or developing a communications strategy.” Francesca Boase talks about the importance of recovery with purpose, on the active CEO Podcast.

Resources Mentioned in this show:

Francesca Boase LinkedIn
Francesca Boase fran@boase.com.au
Edelman www.edelman.com.au
NRG2Perform www.nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns craig@nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns LinkedIn

active CEO Podcast Brad Gunn (Vault Accounting) – Four Day Work Week

active CEO Podcast #43 Brad Gunn Four Day Work Week

Brad Gunn – Managing Partner Vault Accountants and Financial Services

On this episode of the active CEO Podcast, Craig Johns speaks with Brad Gunn, from Vault Accountants and Financial Services, about the four day work week, creating a customer centric financial business, the role of technology in client relationships, and high levels of staff retention. We also delve into sports leave, incentivizing staff to be active and healthy, taking Triathlon Queensland from insolvency, and his love of a fine wine.

Brad Gunn – Podcast Interview Brief

Brad Gunn is a humble, thoughtful, determined and creative leader, who has the quote “When you know your WHY, you’re going to attract people that bring the HOW” on his LinkedIn page.

He has more than thirty years experience in the financial services with senior roles in investment advisory, funds management, practice management and accounting. His education includes a Bachelor Economics, Accounting and Commerce at the University of Queensland; and post-graduate studies in financial management at the University of Adelaide and Columbia University in the City of New York.

In 2008 he co-founded Vault Accounting and Financial Advisors in Brisbane, Australia, a progressive advisory group that offers expertise across the entire financial planning landscape.

Brad talks about:

  • His father always saying he was a leader and people would follow.
  • Client engagement and communication is the key to successful retention in any business.
  • Developing customer centric approach so that companies could come to one place.
  • Training, education and ongoing up-skilling being important to Vault.
  • Moving people across and up in the business has lead to high levels of staff retention.
  • The only way they are going to learn is get their hands dirty on the tools.
  • The role of technology integration with accountants in the client relationship.
  • Wanting to dial back from the business, where they can exit the business within ten years.
  • Trialling the four day work week in February 2019.
  • They were putting a 40-hour week in 4 days and productivity was up through the roof.
  • During the debrief staff identified an improvement in mental health and a reduction in stress
  • Incentivising Vault Accountant’s staff in leading an active and healthy lifestyle.
  • The inspiration behind starting the Croc Triathlon Club with Brad Bevan and Rod Cedaro.
  • Being a Board member for Triathlon Queensland for 11 years including President for 8.
  • Managing change with a struggling organisation, which was technically insolvent.
  • Changing the way that Triathlon Australia and the State triathlon organisations operated.
  • His wife Sally seeing the need for him to get his work-life balance sorted out.
  • BBQ favourite wine is the Wirra Wirra Church Block Shiraz
  • Wanting to solve the question of how to fix the Australian Tax problem

Active CEO Wellness Tip

Energy Meeting – Why don’t we challenge the way we have always provided sugary muffins, coffee, lollies and soft drinks as our meeting snacks? How do we expect to perform optimally and get the most out of people when we are not focusing on strategies to ensure sustainable energy levels. If we want optimal performance, optimal learning and optimal outcomes then we need to implement effective energy strategies and that starts with what food and drinks we put on the table.

Tweets

“The university degree doesn’t automatically give you the right to know everything. It really is only a start.” Brad Gunn discusses on the job experience, on the active CEO Podcast.

“The first week was the most difficult as people were going through a transition and adjusting. The second week everyone was getting used to it, the third week they were loving it and by the fourth week can we keep this going.” Brad Gunn speaks about the four day work week trial, on the active CEO Podcast.

Resources Mentioned in this show:

Brad Gunn LinkedIn
Vault Accountants and Financial Advisors www.vaultgroup.com.au
Triathlon Queensland website
NRG2Perform www.nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns craig@nrg2perform.com
Craig Johns LinkedIn
Ben Gathercole LinkedIn
Ben Gathercole Performance Coaching www.bengathercole.com.au

Recommended Reading:

Better Than Winning – Ben Gathercole

Kate Palmer (Sport Australia) – Changing the Game

active CEO Podcast #12 Kate Palmer Changing the Game

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