THE COURAGE TO LEAD INTERVIEW SERIES

31. EMELDA DAVIS

In this podcast episode of the "Courage to Lead" interview series, I interview one of my favourite guests so far, a truly beautiful human being, Emelda Davis, a councillor on the City of Sydney Council who is deputy to Clover Moore Lord Mayor of Sydney in a myriad of important areas. We laugh and we cry and we are exposed to some of the best leadership wisdom on the program so far.
We discuss Emelda's background as as a proud Australian South Sea Islander and survivor of trauma of the “Black-birding” trade that occurred in Australia history that not many Australians know anything about.
We then discuss Emelda’s leadership experiences, and challenges she faces in her role. Emelda shares her heritage and reflects on the challenges of transitioning from grassroots community advocacy for the Australia South Sea Islanders to council work. We also discuss Imelda's experiences as an activist, her work in community engagement, her involvement in the film industry, her role as a single mother, and her advocacy for climate change and indigenous voices. Throughout the interview, Imelda emphasises the importance of inclusivity, kindness, and building strong relationships within communities.
My Favourite Emelda quote is:
"wherever I am in the world or working, I've always tried to provide a pathway for those that wouldn't necessarily have that opportunity because I know someone did that for me and that's my grounding in everything I do."
At the end of the interview I highlight some further leadership wisdom shared by Emelda
Work with the positive and step around the negative.
It’s about listening, work with your agreed vision, respect the process and empower voices.
We don’t have to like each other, you go home and I go home to separate houses but we do have to get on with it.

30. SCOTT CHAPMAN

There is so much to say about Scott Chapman.
To get the full bio go to https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-chapman-48804921/
To give you a hint.
Scott is the CEO of the Royal Flying Doctors in Victoria and has held that position for 14 years.
3 weeks before this interview he was awarded the 2023 Melbourne Achiever Award Committee for Melbourne which is no small feat.
One of the best adaptive leaders I have interviewed, to mould his organisation in a changing world,
Towards the end of the interview he came out with this quote from his mum. I love it.
"Good better best, never let it rest, until your good is better and your better is best, not perfect just best. Be the best you can be, not perfect."

29. ALEX GREENWICH (REMASTERED THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW)

This is one of my first interviews on The Courage to Lead Interview Series, and I must confess one of my favourites. I just learnt this week that the interview ended at 48 minutes with another 20 minutes to go. I have reedited the Interview so everyone gets to hear one of the best leaders I have ever met, tell his complete story.
Please excuse the audio, I have remastered it as best I can but this was one of my first interviews where I was only just learning the best way to record what was said.
Alex Greenwich MP, Independent Member for Sydney, is a wonderful human being. After 12 years in the New South Wales State Parliament as an Independent Member he has achieved some amazing outcomes.
Alex has some incredible credentials. -
the Co Chair behind the Marriage Equality Act which eventuated in the act being passed into Legislation.
- A driving force behind the legalising of Abortion in NSW 3 years ago
- A driving force behind Reproductive Health Care Reform
- A driving force behind having Euthanasia legalised.
This interview delves into how Alex was formed into the leader he is today.
His parents encouraged discussions about anything at any time, sex workers, drug addicts, homelessness, nothing was off the table. His Grandmother, Jacqui, lived in America and was a loud and proud advocate against President George Bush’s Abortion Policies. Alex’s grandmother was his first exposure to My Body My Choice, I should control my own body, and set up his passion for what eventuated in legalising Abortion in NSW three years ago.
Alex worked with his parents in their HR Recruiting Firm, Winning Attitudes, learning over 12 years, every day what motivated people around their lives in regards to dignity, purpose and salary.
It was during his time with Winning Attitudes that Alex began his work as a Marriage Equality advocate at a time when no government would discuss the topic,
Alex helped changed the landscape across high profile Australian Corporates that it was time to discuss Marriage Equality.
Alex talks us through his wonderful relationship with his husband Victor, and you will be left with a smile on your face with the relationship they share, having fun in life’s most simplest moments.
Alex then takes us to how he became a member of parliament. At at time when Clover Moore was the Mayor of Sydney and also the Member for Bligh/Sydney, the then Liberal Government changed the laws and said a member of parliament could not hold both positions.
When this happened Alex contacted Clover asking what he could do as he felt his democratic vote had just been taken away by a political process.
Clover asked Alex to work for her people, and then Clover’s people became Alex’s people. The bi election was brought on by the Liberal Party within 3 weeks of Clover Moore stepping down because of the new legislation. However Clover Moore backed Alex Greenwich to be her replacement and that endorsement rewrote history. In Alex’s words, “Now there are two of us.”
Alex see’s his role as ensuring no one gets left behind, even those most challenged and disadvantaged in our community. On his office wall he has the picture of a homeless man, sitting with his dog on a Sydney street. Alex know the story of that man, “It’s who I work for”
Alex was a lived experience candidate on the show Filthy Rich and Homeless, living on the streets of Sydney without support for 10 days. Alex describes this time as a lightbulb moment, anybody can become homeless, all it takes is some of life’s misfortunes to occur and homelessness is a reality.
Alex views his role in parliament as a privilege but he is aware that politicians are human beings. They are flawed, they make mistakes and we change our minds. Forgiveness is important. Alex makes his business not to leave anyone behind. A final piece of advice from Alex for empowering future leaders - “Don’t be afraid.”

28. MELO CALARCO

Melo Colarco is the Author of "Beating Burnout Finding Balance"
A Mental health support coach, mindfulness and meditation expert across mental health facilities, the highest echelons of business, sporting and entertainment excellence arenas.
There are so many gems in this interview but here are a couple of stand outs
Humans need to be growing, learning, developing and challenging ourselves we if we are doing the opposite, we are shrinking and dying, loosing purpose and direction.
“ Hibunto. “ is an African phrase: It means:
"I exist because of the other people around me"
"Serving others is a worthwhile goal"
"Empower others so they can do better in the world."
To do something for someone else and they don’t know you have done it for them is also a wonderful way to live your life.
In Chinese the sign for Crisis is
"Danger and Opportunity"
Always look for the opportunity in any crisis.
3 main leadership tips if you want to pursue being a really effective leader:
1. Self awareness
2. Self regulation
3. Self care
If you want to find out more about Melo, buy his book or book him for the multitude of skills he has you can find him at
https://www.melocalarco.com

27. JOHN TREVILLIAN AM

John Trevillian AM
DIRECTOR
Planning and Events for
NSW GOVERNMENT (1999-2015)
Some of the large jobs he coordinated at a Government level:
The Sydney Harbour Bridge turf the deck
The Olympics
The Oprah Winfrey show at the Opera House.
Indigenous Walk Across the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Centenary Celebrations
Trust and confidence in people’s abilities are crucial.
110% support not a competitive environment but a friendship environment where people can makes mistakes and still grow.
Need a strong team with you that support each other and does not compete against each other.
Enjoying yourself is a crucial part of the mix, no matter the situation or environment.
Humour is a crucial part of JTs life and ingredients of success.
Started World first - work experience for year 11 young girls, who were traditionally supposed to finish school early at Year 10. We got them jobs and senior jobs that needed education. In his mid 30s - 1980s.
Take the good people with you - good people normally have time for other people.
Good people are hard to find.
Came from a humorous and generous family.
Trying to big things in a small way.
People power - fairness and generosity - with trust - there has to be bravery in the way people lead.
Trust and honesty in leadership are crucial in order to achieve respect.
Weekly meetings with the junior school and we could not make a negative comment in any of those meetings.
Des Renford - important person in JTs life - helping people with disabilities. Had a big heart - loved helping people. Had the best sense of humour in Australia. “ I never learned to tumble turn.” That’s why he swam the English Channel so many times.
Most important thing in interagency meetings:
All we did was respect the meeting where government agencies come together. How important is that?
Respected the meeting and the tools of the meeting.
Minutes taken, got out in a couple of days.
All actions progressed and results were respected and implemented.
The Sydney Olympics were a success because we got the mechanics right. We provided information and why each agency’s job was important.
Bicentenary celebrations put Australia on the map as an event capital.
Be successful with what is front of you.
Surround yourself with good people.
Brave young leaders - their ability and strength of character.
2000-2010 Sydney had event after event at an international level.
Sydney Harbour Bridge with grass all across the car deck. Put Sydney on the front page of the New York Times for the first ever.
Trust across all the agencies that made it possible. We had the bridge open 30 minutes early - wouldn’t happen anywhere else in the world.
Jeff Parmenter - Brisbane Olympics now but at the time he had just lost his wife to cancer. Quality of people were working with. That quality was replicated tho their own family. His daughter ended up in the Australian Netball team.
Working with Good Leaders
Worked in an environment of success not an environment of failure.
Humour is a big part of JTs live
When he left Education he turned up for his next job interview one day early because he was so keen.
You get to hear JTs laugh when he tells this story. This is the laugh we were used to hearing almost daily.
Most proud event
The Olympic Games - Sydney had the right spirit
Intellectually Disabled Games in the Asia Pacific Special Olympics - 17000 disabled kids came to Newcastle.
Mentor to one Special Olympics competitor. Mentored her through her schooling and now as an employee.
Working on creating an annual concert to celebrate and promote people with a disability with John Foreman at the ICCC in Sydney.
3 leadership tips:
1.
Be themselves
2.
Be joyous in what you are doing
3.
Work with people with real abilities and add your qualities to the other people and do not try to distract from them.

26. ANDREW COLVIN PART 2

Welcome back from to Part 2 of the Andrew Colvin Interview.
In Part 2 we hear Andrew talk about
- [ ] His Commissionership
- [ ] His ongoing role in the Champions of Change organisation
- [ ] His role in leading the National Bushfire Recovery Agency - the first of it kinds at national level in response to the 2019 Black Summer Fires
As Commissioner he identified the AFP had a negative culture that was holding the organisation back from what it could be. So he took culture on at a hierarchical level with a radical transformational leadership approach.
Andrew makes the assertion that you can never claim victory on culture-the inertia of an organisation will always try to bring culture back to where you started.
Andrew makes the observation that police have 2 main traits.
They hate the way things are
and
They hate change.
Andrew sought to make change - Business as Usual as a leaders job is to do 3 things.
Improve yourself
Improve your people by giving them the support to continually improve
Improve your organisation
The content of Part 2 of Andrew Colvin is like no other interview.
It really is a blueprint on how to achieve a better culture for any workplace.
Andrew’s three areas of focus for leaders who want to do things better.
1. Find a way to have fun at work and if it is not fun look for another opportunity.
2. It doesn’t matter what level you are in an organisation you are a leader. You influence a better environment in where you are at. Over time your leadership style and skills will evolve.
3. Andrew is proud he didn’t take the easy path. He never accepted the status quo.
Thank you Andrew Colvin.

25. ANDREW COLVIN PODCAST PART 1

This is the first podcast in the Mentor Stories of the Courage to Lead Interview Series, where we interview the mentors of our previous guests.
In this case we are introducing Andrew Colvin AO APM former AFP Commissioner, mentor to Mick Willing, the 3rd guest of this podcast.
Andrew says he was not a natural leader but that he could help mould people around him.
He is still learning every day, we all are. We are all far from perfect as human beings.
The obvious support, respect and gratitude Andrew has for his wife and his family, shines through this interview.
The Bali Bombings on 12/10/22 was when he took real steps forward as a leader in a crisis.
There is no “how to” book to manage a crisis like the Bali bombing.
Let’s just have a go and not look for perfect. The world doesn’t work that way anymore.
Andrew just wanted good human beings, Police are incredibly adaptable. He trusted them.
Andrew was well supported across agencies.
Andrew made considered decisions and I backed himself, he got things wrong but he got a lot of things right.
Andrew stresses we should work with the people who you want to work with-and have fun.
He promoted creativity do things differently.
An example of this was In the 1990s - Andrew achieved approval in taking an Australian Court off shore into a foreign country in the Australian embassy to interview witnesses who would never come to Australia ending in the biggest heroin seizure for many years to come.
Through Andrew's relationships and skills the AFP worked with other agencies, and they worked hard together.
Andrew was fortunate to secure a placement at Harvard Kennedy Leadership school - this helped him position policing in an international sense and made him aware how we can work differently.
If we are trying to make change and be a good leader- it is not easy it is hard.
Self reflection- about himself. He was resilient, but he always needs to understand context. How is what I’m doing, fit into where I am at and who I am talking to.
Understand other peoples perspective.
The entrance exam to get accepted into the Kennedy School. His analytical and comprehension side of the exams were off the charts his maths and science were very ordinary.
Lecturers who presented were contemporary in world politics and existing situations.
Opened his eyes to something bigger than himself.
How we do things is the important part of a process. The ends do not justify the means.
Before the interview commences I will leave you with this one impression of Andrew Colvin.
His Linkedin Profile picture has him in full uniform as the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, sitting on the floor speaking to a group of primary school children. This kind of says it all. Empowering the next generation at their level, no airs or graces.
This interview in part 1 also talks about AIPM- The Australian Institute of Police Management where the focus is on the next cadre of future leaders for policing across Australia. To challenge their thinking, people who enter into the AIPM family become life long friends.
AIPM focuses on bringing on the Senior cadre of senior police leaders to round them out as better human beings, uncomfortable self reflection, uncomfortable vulnerability and learning from others.
Andrew found that AIPM inspired him and he learnt had that everyone had the same doubts, it was a refreshing time. Andrew learnt that he did have ideas, that his ideas are a valid as anyone else’s, and that he wanted an opportunity to shape those ideas.
Towards the end of Part 1 Andrew speaks of his weaknesses.
When he confronts a problem he steps right in and builds dependency on him rather than build the capability of others around him.
Andrew continues to work on that trait today but anyone listening to this interview would reflect his skills in this area are better than any of us could ever imagine.
Part one of the Andrew Colvin interview ends at just stepping in AFP COMMISSIONER.

3. MICK WILLING (REMASTERED)

Welcome to the next guest of the Courage to Lead Interview Series, Former NSW POLICE FORCE, Deputy Commissioner Mick Willing, now the Managing Director, National Security and Safety, Accenture.
This interview has been remastered as it was the 3rd interview I did when I first started the podcast series in late 2022. The quality of that 3rd interview was atrocious and I didn't know how to fix it.
I've learned some new skills since then so this is an improved copy of this very popular interview.
How does a boy from Dubbo join the NSW Police Force in 1990 and rise to the rank of Superintendent as the Commander of the Homicide Squad for 6 years, then the Assistant Commissioner of Counter Terrorism?
Mick Willing, then lead the Recovery Strikeforce for the South Coast Fires in 2019/2020 after being asked to “Turbo Charge” the Recovery Strikeforce by Commissioner of Police Mick Fuller, on New Years Day.
Mick Willing brought a level of leadership and coordination that had never been seen before for a level of disaster that had never been contemplated after the fires destroyed over 2000 homes and disrupted the lives of whole communities in early 2020.
The striking part of this Bushfire Recovery Story was how effective everyone worked together across the highest echelons of State and Federal Government to achieve outcomes that have never occurred before.
It is apparent that this knowledge and capacity and cooperation was not available when it came to the unprecedented NSW Floods a few months later.
Mick is also a Harvard Business School Graduate, having the privilege to receive lectures from the world Change Management Expert and Guru, John Kotter (so jealous).
Mick was then promoted to Deputy Commissioner and interviewed for the role of Commissioner of Police.
He was nominated as the preferred candidate for the role of Commissioner of Police by one Premier, but a change in Premier, saw him loose the nomination, and shortly after have his Deputy Commissioner contract terminated, by the new Police Commissioner, whilst he was on holidays.
And just like that Mick Willing was no longer a NSWPF officer after 30+ years of diligent and exceptional service.
The interview will leave you in awe of the dignity and professionalism of Mick Willing after this challenge created new opportunities for the next chapter of Mick Willing’s life.
A common theme in this interview, is that all leaders are essentially the same, it’s just the situations and arenas they work in that changes, and how they lead in those arenas.
It was a privilege to do this interview, as it is a story of some excellent skills and achievements, and despite all those significant attributes and good standing, a story of incredible challenges.
It was only through the support firstly of family, close friends and a trusted medical team do we see who comes out the other side.
An inspiration to all of us, about never giving up.

24. Sharee Johnson

Sharee is a registered Psychologist and Executive Coach.
Integrating mindfulness into her coaching practice enables her clients to benefit from a growth mindset and improve their performance and their well-being.
A good early lesson in Teamwork came from her parents. With the right support and the right encouragement and an overwhelming sense of belief in our ability to succeed from the people around us, we can achieve almost anything.
As humans, we are not islands we are meant to support each other.
Education is one of the keys to life.
There is really no difference between any human being on the planet, except opportunity and the main opportunity we all need to be equal, is education.
Her book and business is about helping doctors thrive so they can be the grounded source of comfort at the best and worst of times.
Doctors who are empathetic and well, provide better care for the health outcomes of their patients.
Some Key messages from this interview:
You do have to believe to persist.
We all do better in each other’s company and we all do better in each others company when we are well.
Look after yourself first - we all have room for improvements in our self care.
3 Leadership tips
1. Be curious - keep asking questions
2. Being quiet enough to listen
3. Be educated: Do the work yourself, so you are delivering something we collectively understand.
Anyone who works under pressure will get benefits from the Thriving Doctor. To access more about Sharee Johnson go to her website:
https://www.coachingfordoctors.net.au/
Bulk orders directly through Sharee Johnson on her website.

23. Robert Andersson

Robert Andersson - AUTHOR of: "Who makes a leader not What"
"This is the future of leadership, where actions speak louder than outputs and supporting our people (and looking after ourselves) is fundamental to success." Kristy Keltie, Manager of Organisational Change Management in the Public Sector
As an entrepreneur, Robert has been the founder of more than a dozen successful businesses across Australia and Europe.
As a youth Robert lived a very dark life moulded by the divorce of his parents and the death of his much loved grandfather. At this age he declared he wanted to become a millionaire compromising his morals and his ethics, no matter how rich he became.
The book and this interview is about Robert's search for a better self and going from the dark side to the light side.
Life is about creation not discovering.
In his business life, when he was living the dark side all he thought about was how can he control people.
When he decided to live life on the light side all he thought about was how can he empower people so they could thrive.
When you give people their own autonomy you have so much more time to be creative yourself.
The interview describes what happens next in Robert’s life.
Final thoughts:
Simon Sinek has written a book that Leading all starts with Why.
Robert has a different perspective if your who is on the dark side your why will be completely different to your who if you are on the light side.
Have integrity-simply put would you do something if someone was watching you
Add love and the flavour of love to everything you do
Listening makes you a great leader and a better person.
If you want a copy of Robert's book go to.
Rivenconsulting.Com.au