THE COURAGE TO LEAD INTERVIEW SERIES

22. ALI WALKER

Ali specialises in leadership, teams, culture and workforce transformation. She is Adjunct Faculty at the Australian Graduate School of Management UNSW and a nationally accredited mediator.
She is the founder & CEO of Ality. Where she has designed personality assessments that identify your connection type and motivational drivers in relationships, teams and leadership.
Ali is the bestselling author of 3 books
Click or Clash? (2023),
Get Conscious: How to stop overthinking and come alive (2017) and
Collective Consciousness and Gender (2018).
Ali has a PhD from the Australian National University. Her thesis examined group behaviour (culture), social psychology and international law.
Some of the gems in this interview
The way leaders regulate themselves is picked up by others.
Where you go others will go.
If you are feeling joy, that joy can be transferred and shared across a whole team.
People who work in novel environments do better.
Since 2015 there has been a shift in was works in an organisation.
Culture is crucial to an organisation.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast- Peter Drucker.
How people feel work is essential to outcomes.
Productivity is linked to inclusion, having fun, being valued at work.
When we keep on getting culture wrong people leave, people are being bullied and people’s wellbeing declines.
Workplace culture needs to be coached as an ongoing process.
Flexibility in the workplace since Covid is one of the biggest changes for the industrial world.
Most important factor is belonging by safely connecting with others.
The best outcomes come from diversity.
Click or Clash explores how to navigate different connection types and different personalities with a QR code for a questionnaire that identifies what your own connection and personality type, at the start of the book as to what.

21. NICK JONSSON

Do you want to listen to a story about a international leader who was at the peak of his game, then resigned from his high performing jobs against the wishes of his bosses, and at the same time filed for divorce?
This is a story about a leader who learns to let ego go and live their life in service of other people.
This is the story of Nick Jonsson Managing Director of EGN an executive support network where CEO Executives support each other through the things that keep them up at night.
Nick is also the author of the best selling book Executive Loneliness.
Leadership Gems in this interview
1.
If you have something on your mind that is troubling you write it down and make a list who you can approach to ask for help
2.
Be Vulnerable
3.
Talk about feelings first

20. KELLY IRVING

Would you like to hear about a leader, who doesn’t consider themselves to be a leader?
Would you like to hear about a leader who has created a community where people have the trust to share their deepest fears and vulnerabilities, with each other, and at the same time genuinely support and celebrate the successes of each person within the community when they succeed in doing something they did not think they were capable of doing?
This is the story of Kelly Irving.
Kelly has created the Expert Author Academy which consists predominantly of people who have never written a non fiction book before but because of Kelly’s support and the community she has created, all of these people go on to become authors, sharing their stories to the world.
Some leadership gems throughout this interview
We learn through osmosis by doing it.
We have to get out of our comfort zone in order to push ourselves to ultimately better ourselves.
Kelly doesn’t have all the answers but is testing and trying things within the community all of the time. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.
Success is an organic thing from working with people and listening to what their needs are.
Rather than strive for perfection why don’t we improve 1% every day.

19. JAMIE CALDWELL

Do you want to learn how to be a leader when the most confronting of crisis’s are occurring around you?
This is the interview for you.
Jamie Caldwell is the Director, Energy Operations Part of the NSW Treasury cluster in the Office of Energy and Climate Change,

Jamie has lived the blueprint for how to prepare for leading in a crisis across a wide and varied level of situations simply because he has created the experiences repeatedly where he has the skills to perform at a high level in any crisis.
Mix this with the anomaly that he left school at 15 years old, became a professional lifeguard Wollongong Beach and then put himself through a Private Paramedic Training course.
4 things about Leadership that Jamie has shared with us
We are all equal
Be inquisitive, don’t be afraid to open up doors
Establish, build and maintain good relationships
Be honest and be truthful build a good reputation
What is special about Jamie is he is exceptionally down to earth but he excels in the pinnacle of areas that challenge humanity in the 21st century, i.e. the frequency and scale of Emergencies we experience in our world today.

18. Jan Willett

This next interview is simply amazing in its simplicity.
We are about to listen to how Jan Willett was the Director of Events for New South Wales from 2004 to 2021.
In that role Jan was responsible for ensuring events such as Mardi Gras, City to Surf, Sydney Marathon, New Years Eve, Australia Day, The Invictus Games were organised and ran to such as successful level that the community did not know that Jan Willet and her team even existed.
I give a long introduction in the interview with Jan as I respect her professionalism and skills to a high degree as she is so modest and humble about the impact she has on others.
I won’t say much here except for some wonderful leadership gems.
When working with a group of people, find something that you respect.
With respect comes listening.
If you are chairing meetings with different groups of people have a definite objective, make sure the meeting is action orientated.
Human being crave certainty.
Create a safe place for people to be listened to and respected.
This interview is true leadership in action. Her final leadership gem says it all.
A good leader should be humble.
If you are humble you will listen.
Listening is the key to good leadership, not talking.

17. PAUL WATKINS

Our next guest on The Courage to Lead Interview Series is Paul Watson and Author of Lost and Found - why we need adventure.
He describes himself as the original nerd.
His story is beyond interesting.
Paul owned several large pharmacies in rural Victoria and they were very successful. He had the fast cars, the wealth, the house but he did not have a sustainable lifestyle.
Paul survived on minimal sleep, striving for more success in wealth and a thriving business model.
He lived off fast food and had an account at the local Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. He was conservatively 20 kg overweight.
Paul made a decision to change this, which ended with him selling his businesses and eventually being a competitor in little known event called
The 6633 Arctic Ultra - a 583 kilometre unsupported solo race deep in the Arctic Circle.
This is his story.
We explore how Paul became this person. He attributes his journey to creating the discipline in himself to make high quality decisions.
His main message is he wants people to have a better story for themselves.
I really enjoyed this interview and there were a lot of laughs throughout, I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.
I will leave you with a recap of some of the best messages from Paul.
Remember we are all dealing with human beings, who have feelings, hopes, dreams and emotions. We are a system.
If you develop better human beings, starting with ourselves, we will by design have a better world.

16. Matt Elliott

Matt is the co-founder and creator of wellbeing program The Change Room and author of the book with the same name : The Change Room.  
He is best known for his NRL coaching career, but it is his most recent endeavours that are having on impact outside the elite sporting arena and helping everyday people.
Combining both his qualifications (a Bachelor of Applied Science (Exercise and Sports Science), performance coaching experience and extensive research into wellbeing, Matt has created an excellent program which is changing hundreds of peoples’ lives for the better. 
His passion drives him to elevate the wellbeing of others so that they can lead their best lives.
Coming from a Solution Based Family, and with training as a School Teacher, Youth Worker and Sports Science background strap yourself in for an interview that covers so much.
A truly enlightening discussion about what works in leading people to see them truly grow.
There were so many quotable quotes throughout the interview but this one says it all
"You have to love something to truly perform at your best."

15. CARLENE YORK

On 30th October 2019, Carlene was appointed NSW State Emergency Services (SES) Commissioner. Carlene leads the combat agency with legislated responsibility for storms, floods and tsunamis.
Literally 3 months later in March 2020, the world, New South Wales and the rest of Australia went into Lockdowns because of Covid 19. That meant that none of the 10,500 volunteers in the SES all over New South Wales could not meet or train together, it all had to be done over Zoom or similar.
Then New South Wales has had and continues to have the biggest flood events ever state-wide.
How do you prepare for that and deal with that, all the while leading a volunteer organisation of 10,500 talented and diversified people?
This interview tells that story.

14. EMMA DOYLE AND NATALIE ASHDOWN

Emma Doyle and Natalie Ashdown
What Makes a Great Coach?
Emma is a coach, mentor and keynote speaker who is sought after around the world.
She can help turn your motivation into action.
She is a former Division 1 US College Tennis Player and has represented Australia as a World Team Coach on 20 occasions.
Emma is deeply qualified to know What Makes a Great Coach because she asks the question of all her guests on The Coaching Podcast as the host of that show. She has interviewed over 500 expert sport and business coaches with over 30,000 downloads to date.
Emma is a TEDx speaker(Unleashing Female Potential) and her clients say she is the real life female version of Coach Ted Lasso.
Natalie is one of Australia’s most senior and experienced coaches and a recognised speaker and author.
She is one of the small group of coaches in the world to hold the International Coach Federation Master Certified Coach credential.
Natalie is the CEO of Open Door Coaching and her clients include among many, The Australian Defence Force.
Together Emma and Natalie authored and wrote What Makes a Great Coach with the goal of using lessons in Sport to translate to business and life in general including being a parent and a grandparent.
Calling upon Emma’s vast amount of data from her life’s experiences and over 500 interviews on The Coaching Podcast asking great coaches and elite athletes, what makes a great coach in 3 words or less. When these athletes include some of the most renowned number 1 current and former world champions the results become very interesting.
What is refreshing about their book What Makes a Great Coach, there are 10 Chapters, but they are not called Chapters they are called Practices. Both Emma and Natalie are all about action. The Practices can be read in any order, whatever you have going on in your life at that moment. That makes the book a life time resource.
These Practices are
Decision Making
Belief
Purpose
Passion
Energy
Empathy
Listening
Curiosity
Communication
Resilience
You will be blown away about how dynamic Emma and Natalie are together and I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did they are warm hearted, energetic leaders who seek to provide the environment for people to do their absolute best making them an ideal guest on The Courage to Lead Interview Series.

13. AIDAN GRIMES

Todays guest, Aidan Grimes, is someone very special. Someone I know personally and who has touched thousands of lives for the better.
Aidan Grimes is an accomplished coach who, through his unique understanding of history, has helped many people change their perception of the past, equip them to live in the present and empowered them to design the future they wish to have.
In 2022 Aidan led his 125th Kokoda Track expedition, in Papua New Guinea(99 kilometres of the most challenging terrain you will ever see) and has inspired all participants as they encounter the mental & physical challenges on the track. He remains the only Kokoda operator to have a 100% completion rate.
He has worked with many large corporations including Microsoft, Ericsson, Intel, Apple, and the NSW Police to name a few. He has worked with many sports organisations. In 2012 he was awarded the RSL "Anzac of the Year" award and in 2019 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal by the PNG Governor General in recognition for his contribution to the Kokoda Track and PNG.
This interview goes deeper into who Aidan Grimes is and how this story happened.
Aidan comes from Ireland and came to Australia at a relatively young age connecting with Australian wartime history, instilling him with a passion to tell the story of our Australian Soldiers, our diggers. At that time Aidan had a limited education from Ireland.
Aidan’s interest in Australian Wartime history zeros in on the particular the story of the 400 reservist diggers who defended the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea against the might of the then undefeated 2000 hardened soldier, strong Japanese Army, preventing the Japanese continuing into Australia.
What is enlightening about this story is Aidan opens up about him living with Asperger’s and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). People with Aspergers do not recognise facial expression and deal with logic not emotion. They are often seen as outcasts, and ostracized by society because they are different. They normally have an area of expertise that they specialise in. In Aidan’s case his area of expertise has been the History of World War II and Human Performance.
This makes total sense that he has now completed 125 Kokoda Tracks , mixing that adventure experience, with a photographic memory of every battle site and a personal stories of the Australian Soldiers who defended the freedoms we enjoy today, on the Kokoda Track in WWII.
Aidan used his opportunities in Australia to complete university degrees in Sports Science focusing on High Performance and now intends to further this education in Counselling others who need support, doing a PHD using history and high performance to get more people active in todays world.
The interview ends with a great tip for all of us if we want to succeed.
Create and build our own Self Belief. Take the time getting to know you. Make your mark, and throw your stones as hard as you can, explore life, try as many things as you can whilst maintaining and improving your fitness and health. Never let others take away your self belief.