Super Leaders Blog

What an amazing couple of weeks in the life of Super Leaders!

The Melbourne launch of the Super Leaders of Australia book was incredible.

We were fortunate to have a fabulous panel (pictured above) consisting of business commentator, Peter Switzer (facilitating); CEO of the Australian Institute of Management (Vic), Susan Heron; CEO of World Vision, Tim Costello; and CEO 3D Networks, Chris Luxford.

Peter, Susan, Tim and Chris spoke around the subject of ‘Leadership and Community’, and provided some great comments and insights on a subject that is critically important in today’s business environment.

Given the topic I have to say that Tim Costello was so inspiring, sharing his experiences and views on global poverty, with the upshot being we all need to do our bit, and YES, every contribution counts, no matter how big or small.

* Photo: Tim Costello shares a laugh with Peter Switzer

Sydney Launch

The Sydney launch event featured a panel (pictured below) comprising facilitator Michael Pascoe; CEO of the Sarina Russo Group, Sarina Russo; Pacific VP of Symantec, Craig Scroggie; and the CEO of Statewide, Frances Magill.

The panel covered the same topic as Melbourne, but with an interesting twist to the discussion around how corporate social responsibility (CSR) equates to impacting a positive bottom line. Discussion was lively, and a compelling business case was bought forward by the panellists.

We had a tonne of fun and made some great connections and opportunities moving forward. I am absolutely pumped at how well Super Leaders of Australia is being embraced by Australia’s corporate fraternity - it inspires me to keep looking for more interesting ways to make resources available to all of the up-and-coming Super leaders of Australia! 

* Photo: The Sydney panel discuss their thoughts.

Keep checking the Super Leaders website for upcoming podcasts with AIM’s Susan Heron and the fabulous Peter Switzer. We will keep pinning down some of Autralia’s top business leaders to share with you their secrets to success, so stay tuned!

Any feedback or requests, or discussion topics you’d like to see covered, please feel free to put them forward to me.  I also welcome any articles you would like to share and have posted on the Super Leaders website (they must be referenced to the author of the article and/or the source from which it was obtained).

I recently spent ‘one minute’ with BRW Magazine, and here is the result!

Click article to enlarge.

It’s taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears (okay, no blood - but a lot of sweat and the occasional tear!) but the inaugural book Super Leaders of Australia Vol. 1 is finally available.

This beautifully produced coffee-table book features 50 of Australia’s most talented and inspiring business and community leaders, as well as essays by the Women on Boards chair, Ruth Medd; corporate social responsibility expert, Jerry Marston; Dr. Retha Wiesner: Emerging themes in Leadership; and generation Y authority, Peter Sheahan.

Super Leaders profiled include:

• Peter Bush (McDonald’s)
• Janine Allis (Boost Juice Bars)
• Richard Kimber (Google)
• Glen Boreham (IBM)
• Dr Geoff Garrett (CSIRO)
• Stuart Davis (HSBC)
• Russell Hewitt (Vodafone)
• Sarina Russo (Sarina Russo Group)
• Leanne Preston (Wild Child)
• Geoff Wilson (KPMG)

Hugh Evans, the ‘Gen Y’ founder of not-for-profit organisation, the Oaktree Foundation, is also profiled in the book. Twenty-five-year-old Hugh was a driving force behind the 2006 Make Poverty History concert in Melbourne and received MTV’s Free Your Mind Humanitarian Award for his efforts.

Click here to order your copy today!

If any of the up-and-coming female leaders in Australia didn’t attend the Women on Boards  (WOB)- 1st National Diversity on Boards Conference this week, you missed out on an opportunity to meet and listen to Australias top female leaders share their insights, advice on how to prepare for a board appointment and their individual career journey.

The conference attracted people such as: Catherine Fox (deput editor AFRBOSS magazine), Margot Saville (journalist, TV presenter), Wendy McCarthy  AO…amongst many many others…

I ran two ‘personal branding’ workshops during the conference and felt really honored to be in the presence of such dynamic and powerful women in business. Ruth Medd (Chair WOB) & Claire Braund (Director-WOB) put together a unique conference that left delegates inspired, on fire and ready to rule the world!…or at least a board..

If you are working towards a board position and need guidance, advice and mentoring then you must check out Women on Boards  to make sure you get the latest news, trends and issues women face in todays corporate jungle.

Carmen

There is an interesting article in the May issue of AFR BOSS magazine, where Ahmed Fahour - CEO - NAB - shares his insights on what ‘real’ leadership means to him and it hit some chords with me and the leadership messages Super Leaders is trying to represent: Valuing your personal life and being able to balance that with your career, social responsibility within your community, Ahmed is a great role model for up and coming leaders that really want to tap into true leadership styles and characteristics.

I am absolutely excited about our new Super Leaders website, a hub for people interested in leadership and a place where we can share stories and ideas about leadership, and give feedback on views etc.  

We are in the process of producing a series of podcasts; as you may have noticed, we have kicked things off with two interviews with Peter Widdows (H.J. Heinz, Australia) and Chris Luxford (CEO, 3D Networks), who have opened up to share their leadership views within their own industry sectors, fabulous and honest stuff to listen to.  

We are finalizing Christine Nixon’s (Chief Commissioner, Victoria Police) podcast as I write, so look out for that one, it rocks!  
 


Having interviewed 50 of Australia’s top business leaders for the upcoming Super Leaders book, the underlying theme is set - it is all about being great people managers and appreciating that the contribution of individuals is key to an organisation’s success.

The Super Leaders book is due out in July, so stay tuned for news on that score.
 
I am really interested in any suggestions for topics or information around business, leadership or community that interests you the most so please feel free to contribute via this blog page.

Ciao for now and ‘happy blogging’ 

My name is Carmen Parnos, CEO of Super Leaders of Australia and the Australian Coaching Academy.

The good news is work on the inaugural Super Leaders of Australia book has been completed and the finished art has (finally) been sent to the printer…phew! The coffee-table book will be released in Australia in July and showcases 50 of Australia’s most talented and inspiring business and community leaders.

Getting the book to this stage has been a big undertaking for our company but also a hugely gratifying experience for me personally, dealing with some of the best leaders in their respective fields.

To coincide with the launch of the book we will be running a series of Super Leaders networking events in Melbourne and Sydney, as well as a specially-developed leadership development program called Super Leaders Boot Camp.

For further information on the book, events and training programs, stay in touch with our website - www.superleaders.com.au.