Culture Makers

Danny Donachie helps individuals and organisations to achieve peak performance in sports. A former professional footballer, Danny had to retire as a result of injury and has dedicated himself to helping others instead. He was part of the medical and sports science teams at Sunderland, Everton and Aston Villa before establishing his own practice - Embodyism - to help transform the lives and performance of athletes. He is also the co-founder of The Team Code, whose vision is to transform the culture of global sports.

One of a new generation of culture-first sporting leaders, Kristof Vanhout is Technical Director of Rugby Netherlands and on a mission to get to the Rugby World Cup - and beyond.

Kristof employs his considerable emotional intelligence to connect with the team and enable them to connect with each other. He brings them together in pursuit of their common goal and creates a place where they can celebrate and learn from every win, every loss. Leveraging history but with a firm eye on the future direction, Kristof is creating a rugby legacy we will definitely be hearing more of! He shares his insights that are applicable whatever industry you are striving to succeed in.

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Meredith Blackler is a hugely experienced people professional and a culture maker in every sense of the word. She has over 15 years of experience in the people space in the north island of New Zealand in places such as Levin, Palmerston North and now Wellington.

Meredith was the winner of the 2015 HR Game Changer Award; the HDC's Chief Executive's Award 2015; and named as one of the top 12 HR people in New Zealand in 2016.

In this episode we talk about multi-generational workforces, seeking different perspectives, lifelong learning, the importance of kindness in leadership and the nuances of hybrid and flexible working.

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Jane Poole has almost 20 years experience in the banking and insurance industry.

She is a successful leader of multiple Business and IS Transformation Programmes, designing and executing global initiatives. She is also a genuine, progressive leader consistently demonstrating integrity, passion and fairness that inspires global teams to achieve both strategic and personal objectives.

Jane shares her career path, leadership philosophies and work in behavioural change that has led to business transformation and an award-winning finance team turnaround, plus the evolution of finance as a business function.

Words to lead by: "The best leaders, when it gets tough, never let that dream fade. They keep the vision alive daily through routines, rituals and habits."

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Mark Hooper is the Group CEO and Managing Director at Paragon Care.

Mark is a former Chief Financial Officer, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for many different businesses in the Pharmacy, Consumer and Medical consumables business with a fantastic track record of leadership and culture building stretching almost 30 years.

He has been involved in mergers, acquisitions, fended off takeovers, transformations and prides himself on creating great places to work. In this episode Mark shares his career journey, his leadership perspectives, his commitment to culture and why any culture is only as strong as its weakest link.

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Deb Cramb has had a fantastic and varied career in film, multimedia and technical industries, including stints with Walt Disney Studios, Industrial Light and Magic, Spinifex Group and in her current role with DNEG - a leading visual effects and animation studios for feature film and television - but also start ups and smaller creative organisations such as Autopilot and Mable.

Skilled in scaling companies - and their cultures - to quickly meet business growth, she prides herself on the ability to build strong relationships, practice effective communication style and work within creative environments to help others thrive.

Although Deb works in an exciting, ever-evolving industry full of passion projects and life-changing products, she is increasingly finding that success is all about people. Creating culture where deadline driven pipelines can thrive and quality is never compromised means more than finding and keeping the right people!

Deb generously shares her career story and how she keeps pace with ever-changing skills demands of the film industry.

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Bronwyn Clere is Operations Executive at InfraCo - the asset based business of Australian telecommunications company Telstra.

Prior to joining InfraCo Bronwyn was head of growth platforms at TelstraHealth, Executive Director, Capital Planning and Delivery at Telstra. She has also been a managing partner at JP Morgan and worked for AIA in Hong Kong and AXA in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Bronwyn shares her early culture experiences, learning from great - and not so great - leaders and how she creates unique cultures that truly deliver.

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Matt Harrington is the CFO of Australian Super and has a fantastic career history having worked for organisations such as Royal and Sun Alliance, GE Capital, ANZ, Tabcorp, IAG and Arthur Anderson. He’s worked in London, Sydney, New York, Melbourne and Copenhagen and shares some fascinating insights into working in different social cultures. We talk about:

• Understanding of difference social cultures and workdays
• Making your own luck
• Taking experiences offered
• Networking and learning from others
• Taking people on the transformation journey
• Efficiencies from change
• Management's influence over change.

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Fiona Wright, Executive Group Manager, Climate Change and Energy at ACT Government, is a passionate advocate for women in STEM, a dedicated public servant and a tireless culture maker.

She has been a trailblazer in her career since day one but continues to learn, develop and experiment in her pursuit of high performing, psychologically safe workplace cultures. In this episode we talk about:

• Increasing opportunities for women in STEM
• Recognising that no matter the structure or systems, it is people doing the work
• How Fiona became interested in culture
• The importance of psychological safety
• Public sector passion
• Everyday culture action
• Protecting time for personal development.

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Jeffrey Sumberg is a seasoned executive leader with deep experience helping organisations address their most difficult human capital challenges. 

From a legal role in labour relations and developing US government-wide policy and tools in all areas of human capital, to being a trusted partner for C-suite clients by helping them align people strategies with critical business goals. Throughout his career, Jeffrey has consistently delivered results by aligning people strategy with workforce needs and business priorities.

Jeffrey shares his experiences of culture in highly unionised environments, explains the Human Deal that powers Gartner and underlines how culture never stops.

He joins Culture Makers today from Arlington, Virginia, USA.

Highlights from our conversation include:

The importance of fairness and equity in federal employment [00:09:05] Discussion on the role of the Office of Personnel Management in setting standards for fair treatment of federal workers.

Enhancing organisational culture in federal agencies [00:10:18] Exploration of strategies to attract and retain talent in the federal government, despite limitations in compensation.

The bipartisan importance of a well-functioning government [00:12:19] Reflection on the non-partisan commitment to ensuring the right people with the right skills are in place to serve the American people.

The importance of continuous effort in building and sustaining culture [00:17:24] Jeffrey discusses the process of identifying and implementing behaviors to shape culture, emphasizing the need for ongoing reinforcement and accountability.

The perpetual nature of culture and the need for continual intentionality [00:18:32] Colin and Jeffrey highlight the importance of consistently being intentional about culture, as it is an ongoing and ever-present aspect of an organization.

The impact of culture on employee and client experiences [00:21:15] Jeffrey explains the correlation between a positive employee experience and the ability to provide excellent client services, emphasizing the value of deep connections, flexibility, personal growth, well-being, and a shared sense of purpose in enhancing the employee experience.

Welcome to season five of the Culture Makers podcast with your host Colin D Ellis!

We are kicking off this season with a fantastic guest who walks the talk when it comes to people and culture.

Bhavya Misra is the Director & Head of HR - India, for Lenovo.

A seasoned HR professional, Bhavya started her career with PepsiCo, took a leap into the start-up world and then returned to PepsiCo before making her mid-pandemic move to Lenovo.

In our conversation Bhavya shares her insights into:

• The role of HR in the business
• Getting feedback from the floor
• Stepping out of your comfort zone
• Making decisions and backing yourself
• Learning before acting
• A holisitic approach to diversity and inclusion.

Trudi Mares describes herself as the accidental public servant but whether accidental or not, Trudi has carved out an impressive and impactful career and continues to learn, eveole and take the opportunities she rightly earns. She understands how to connect purpose and values and turn it into meaningful action and inspires the same in others. 

Trudi has a passion for authentic leadership, customer and people experience and transformation. She has led teams across the NSW Public Service at NSW Police, Roads and Maritime Services, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Corrective Services and Attorney Generals and Justice. Her background spans business management, policy, finance, people and culture and shared and corporate services. Trudi holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD).

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So while a lot has changed in the world of work since this interview, I think you'll also hear that not a lot has changed when it comes to attitudes towards culture and there's still a lot of scope to do more! If anything, culture has become even more important since this interview. 

Didier left a highly successful career in Hollywood to, in his own words, 'make a bigger dent on the universe' by building a global software company on a mission to create a better world of work.

Culture Amp now has offices around the world, a growing roster of clients and plenty of insights into what it actually means to create that better world of work. Culture Amp walks the talk when it comes to their own people and culture and Didier shares his unique insights on:

⚡ Being a culture-first company

⚡ How the company uses technology to build connections between its global workforce

⚡ On winning at culture - but doing it the right way

⚡ Shifting mindsets in business - the growing realisations that culture will kill if you get it wrong and that there is no finish line - culture is never 'done'

⚡ How knowledge is not enough and the work Culture Amp does in designing systems that support companies in being human

⚡ Why you can't copy culture

⚡ The idea of 'Peak Culture' and why it has to be OK to not always belong.

Richard has been in the coffee industry for 16 years, beginning with his first cafe in 2006. His career has taken him from behind a coffee machine to coffee farms in Colombia, washing stations in Burundi to head judging the World Barista Championships. His work with growers as part of Raw Material has been some of the most rewarding; developing and building new relationships with in-country partners for project work in Rwanda and Burundi and connecting coffee buyers with meaningful and impact-driven coffee value chains all over the world. Richard is a big believer is sharing knowledge and experiences for the greater good and knows that culture and commitment to values is a big part of finding and keeping great people. 

Leanne is an award-winning CEO and Director with a demonstrated history of building vibrant cultures of success in the real estate industry. Skilled in Leadership, Negotiation, Property, Sales and Event Management, Leanne was recognised as the Most Influential Woman in Property at the 2021 AREA awards and Industry Thought Leader of the Year at the REB Awards. She has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the Sydney Graduate School of Management, is a dynamic public speaker, and the host of the Courageous Conversations podcast. Leanne shares her career story, how she navigates the cultures and sub-culutres of a franchise business, her approach to team bonding and why she still personally leads the induction day for all new starters. 

Tamara Ryf is an experienced executive with 20 years’ experience in Australia and Europe providing staffing, consulting and technology solutions to Private and Public Sector organisations.

Her strength is in building vibrant cultures that work collaboratively with clients to achieve their business objectives through the attraction and retention of exceptional individuals. She is a pragmatic solutioneer with strong commercial management capability who champions both human and technology-driven innovation. Tamara has been with Clicks in Melbourne for around 16 years in a variety of roles and last year was named CEO. 

As Second Commissioner and CIO, Ramez Katf provides leadership and strategic direction on information and communications technology in the ATO and ensures the delivery of technology services to support staff. He also ensures that the organisation is leveraging the most innovative trends in technology, to improve the experience of staff and clients.

Before joining the ATO, Ramez was a managing director at Accenture for more than 29 years, working with government and non-government clients to deliver large-scale transformational change, in particular with innovative, technological business solutions.

In this episode of Culture Makers Ramez and I chat about the transformation challenge, how to influence and evolve culture in a new role, the importance of continuous innovaton and more! 

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Born in Italy and educated in Milan, Matteo started his own photography business at an early age and spent 10 years shooting and exhibiting his work around the world. After starting their own family, Matteo and his husband became entrepreneurs in the healthcare sector when they opened the pionnering South Slope Pediatrics in New York City. Matteo fell in love with customer experience and company culture and works with empathy, humour and passion to ensure it is demonstrated every day, in every interaction at SSP. 

Narelle Burke's full job title is as big as her experience and passion for people: Chief Human Resources Officer, Insights for Asia Pacific and Head of Diversity and Inclusion Global for Kantar.

Narelle is an award winning international Human Resources (HR) leader with more than 20+ years’ experience working in strategic HR Business Partnering and Centres of Excellence roles. She has worked across a multitude of country, regional and global roles and across various industries; from Government business enterprises to Tech start-ups. In particular, Narelle is known for her work in organisational leadership, transformation and change, development of an inclusive culture, developing talent in agile ways and the ability to turn around and build great teams. She is unapologetically authentic and human and brings an endless energy, drive, positivity and passion for people to all roles she takes on.

In this episode we talk learning as a leader, doing more on diversity and the importance of a support crew to help you realise your potential. 

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Brisbane-based Martin Holzworth has worked at BoQ, EDS, Hewlett-Packard, Ernst & Young, Fujitsu, Griffith University and now VMware in a mix of CTO and cyber roles that have seen him share his expertise and knowledge in 35 countries and territories. In this conversation, Martin shares his leadership and culture insights around cyber security, building great teams, purpose before paycheck and his little black book of learnings which has helped him record and shape his values over 30 years of employment. 

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As you'll see from this bio, Dr Siew Fang Law has qualifications and experience a-plenty but what really stands out for me is her understanding of people, the unique human experience and how who we are, where we come from, what we believe, influences how we create meaning in the world. Being able to tap into this is a great skill for building cultures and encouraging collaboration. 

Siew Fang Law is a highly-motivated, dynamic and proactive leader in Higher Education Research Engagement and Impact (E&I). She has 20 years of academic experience and an interdisciplinary research background that intersects across culture diversity, community development, peace psychology and conflict transformation. She is a doctor of philosophy, with a PHD in culture and conflict resolution, has a master of science in social and applied psychology and a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She has worked on projects for the United Nations and UNESCO, is multilingual and currently works as the Senior Lecturer in Higher Education Engagement, Collaboration and Partnership at the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education (MCSHE), Melbourne Graduate School of Education. 

Guillermo Diaz is a transformative global business leader and champion of diversity, equity and inclusion. He serves as the Chairman of the Hispanic Technology Executive Council (HITEC), he is on the board of directors at Blue Shield of California and also at Kloudspot Inc., an innovative predictive analytics platform provider, where he was previously CEO. As founder and CEO of Conectado Inc., Guillermo is working to make career opportunities for underrepresented groups more accessible 'from the classroom to the boardroom'. 

Prior to these roles, he was a transformational innovator across Cisco Systems and more broadly in the industry where he developed a strong track record for accelerating culture through people, leadership, and technology. Guillermo has a raft of leadership awards, with the most recent including: 

• C-Suite Leaders - Top Latinos in C-Suite | 2019
• Maestro Award - Top Industry Leadership | 2019
• Top Ten Latino Leaders by Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019

Welcome to Season 4 of the Culture Makers Podcast where Colin D Ellis finds more culture makers out in the world of work and gets them to share their stories, insights and tips for creating a great place to work. 

The future of HR is here and it's bright! Erin is a dynamic young HR professional on a mission to make employee experiences positive and meaningful. She's already got great experience, insights and ideas and I have no doubt she will take the profession by storm. 

Erin shares her career path so far, what she loves about HR, the importance of inclusion and how to do all of this while still having fun! 

Callum Morrison is a commercial and solutions focused HR generalist who is passionate about building great leaders, creating engaged teams and vibrant workplace cultures. He grew up around business with entrepreneurial parents and knew early on that his 'sweet spot' would involve developing people, building cultures and delivering change and he set about getting both the theoretical frameworks and the practical experience it took to excel in his field. He carries with him his dad's philosophy of: treat people well and they will deliver. 

Callum has over 15 years of HR experience across a number of industries and is currently the Head of People & Culture Business Partnering at Medibank, one of Australia’s largest private health insurers.

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Dr Rachel Nowak wanted to be a farmer. She studied agricultural science, then fell in love with research and recognised that a lot of great research never made it out into the world, to become really useful and have an impact on our lives. So she set about changing that, becoming an award-winning investigative journalist. Now, as Director, Research Marketing and Communications at the University of Melbourne, Dr Nowak and her team work across multiple functions to embed research communication and marketing strategies that will get research knowledge, IP, capabilities and expertise into the hands, minds and businesses of all those people who can use them for financial and cultural benefit, or to improve human or environmental health. 

In this episode of Culture Makers we talk about the simple power of a good introduction, why perfect is not the goal, and how Rachel goes about building diverse and supportive teams.

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John Salamone's epic job title of Chief Human Resources Officer at U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, is the culmination of more than 25 years in people capital leadership. In some capacity or other, John has been in service to his community and constituents since he was in High School! 

One of the US Government's top people capital leaders, John brings a pragmatic, people-centered approach to his culture making and program oversight. He's an infectiously positive public servant who leads by example and can't help but amass fans and followers! An absolute joy to speak with.

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Carey McIntyre is passionate and deliberate about people and culture, developing teams and building future leaders while always listening to the needs of the community. Starting out at Kmart in his student days gave Carey a grounding in customer service, studying and working as a civil engineer gave him another perspective - and now he combines them with a boat load of experience, a thirst for learning and a willingness to not be right all of the time to head up an award-winning culture at Shellharbour in New South Wales. 

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From manning a candy stall at the local market to projects and change, by way of hotels and prisons, Lani is passionate about empowering people and teams to achieve great things. 

Currently helping to transform the legal sector with her role as Innovator at the multinational, award-winning law firm King & Wood Mallesons, Lani is a trusted trailblazer and coach with over 20 years of change leadership expertise. She has a thirst for knowledge and new experiences has seen her move countries to live, learn and work. 

Tam C. Nguyen is a man of many skills! He is an advisor, speaker, adjunct professor, associate professor and is currently Deputy Director of Research at St Vincent’s Hospital. He is also on the board of directors at a start-up and is at the forefront of culture building in the world of artificial intelligence. 

Bi-lingual, multi-disciplined and community-minded, he also has an 'alternate universe' career all planned out! Listen to find out what that would be, how Tam brings people and cutting edge technology together and why learning is not enough - we must also be willing to adapt. 

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Géraldine Fauville is Assistant Professor in Education, Communication and Learning at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. She specialises in research that focuses on the role that immersive technologies can play in promoting ocean and environmental literacies. Géraldine is currently engaged in a collaborative project with Stanford University researching the much talked about effects of Zoom fatigue - that is, the physical and emotional effects of video conferencing and what they might mean for our longer term relationship with the technology. 

Sharon Gray is a people leader dedicated to creating safe, productive vibrant workplace cultures. She has been working in the people, learning and development space for almost all of her career in the retail, hospitality, pharmaceutical and disability industries and she is currently People and Culture Manager for OzHarvest, Australia’s leading food rescue organisation.

In this episode of Culture Makers, Sharon shares how OzHarvest lives its purpose and values every day, what it does to maintain and evolve a vibrant culture, the learning opportunities that lie in unexpected places and more! 

The Culture Makers Podcast is back for 2021. Reflecting on the changes in the workplace as a result of 2020, looking ahead to the future of work, talking to the people who creating and evolving great cultures because of and despite the challenges. 

Culture has never been more important - tune in to season three to find out what's worked - and not worked - for culture makers around the world.

Listen wherever you find your podcasts. 

Oren Seliger joins me on the phone from Israel where he is the IT Theater Leader for Cisco which means he is responsible for implementing, supporting and showcasing Cisco's IT infrastructure in Southern Europe. Cisco was recently celebrated by Fortune magazine as having the best workplace culture IN THE WORLD! And Oren is a great example of how the company has achieved this accolade through his servant leadership, connection and community building approach to managing teams and getting great work done. 

Oren shares great insights into how - when COVID hit - Cisco was well placed to build on its already remote-friendly and flexible approach to working that uses technology to support - not thwart - culture evolution. 

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Sneha Sanghrajka Shah has lived and worked in Africa and America building successful teams and growing businesses as a trader, through a series of senior roles over 17 years with Thomson Reuters, and now as Managing Director, Business Accelerator, at Refinitiv - one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure. She is based in New York. 

Sneha's early career was spent in financial intuitions as a trader - often the only female trader in a male dominated industry. But she looks back fondly on the collegial spirit and camaraderie of that time. It was a culture of curiosity, learning and growing together and that is something she has been conscious to bring to all her roles and teams. 

Sneha talked to me about both learning to have a voice and learning to listen, how to deliver real value, the importance of culture in scaling any business and what she would like her legacy to be. Experienced, wise and candid - there's a lot to learn here! 

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Otti Vogt, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Transformation Officer of ING's Challenger and Growth business based in Amsterdam, is passionate about organisational transformation - especially the human-centric type. He combines high performance with making work a happy place to be and believes: "There is a lot to be done if people can have the courage to revise how they design work." 

A disruptive thinker who creates environments where teams achieve together and are empowered to explore their innovative ideas, Otti is highly experienced in elevating work cultures and has done so for organisations in the UK, Italy, Germany and now the Netherlands. 

As with all great Culture Makers, Otti never gets complacent: "Organisational transformation without individual transformation is non-existent. If you want to be successful in taking others somewhere you have to start with yourself." 

Andy Murray has a major background in project excellence and team building so it's only right he recently took up the role of executive director at the Major Projects Association in London. 

Andy was the lead author of project management method PRINCE2® 2009 edition and has worked extensively in project and program review and delivery. He knows all too well the challenge of creating project - often temporary - teams that can bond quickly, stay on purpose and deliver successfully. 

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Steven Pereira is a leader, doer, mentor, collaborator and culture maker with many years of experience in building high performing teams and executing transformation for Coles Group and GS1 in Australia - where he recently marked 24 years of service for the global barcode and supply chain organisation. 

In this episode we talk about the benefits of starting at the bottom,  leading by example, gravitating towards inspiring people, understanding that transformation cannot work without culture change and what Steven hopes his legacy - or 'footprint' - will be when he retires this year. 

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Clare Brown embarked on a career in technology sales 20 years ago when it was very much a boys club and the movements and support for women and diversity were not even a whisper in the staff room. As she has climbed the ranks of companies such as Hewlett Packard, Dell and Experian, Clare has built support networks, created highly successful sales teams and leaned in to her natural empathy and emotional intelligence to excel. She also mentors students and help them to realise their potential in a highly demanding and competitive field. 

In this episode of Culture Makers we talk about, among other things: When a merger is not a marriage made in heaven; the dangers of only looking inwards - and losing sight of the customer; taking the deliberate action needed to a create a team with shared vision and values, trust and purpose.

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Damien Mu has been with AIA for more than 11 years - with just over six of them as CEO - so it's fair to say he knows the business and the insurance industry inside out. That doesn't stop him from being energised and excited about what he and his team can achieve every day. From burning out to bouncing back, bringing his family values and work ethic to corporate culture and going on his own health journey, Damien is the very model of a modern CEO. 

"We don't have a vision, we have a dream."

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Jo Broadbent might have started her cricket career relatively late at age 21, but by age 23 she was in the Australian team and wasted no time in becoming one of the most successful female cricketers and coaches of all time - culminating in titles at every level of the game, including a triumphant world cup campaign in 1997.  In 2018 Jo was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.  Jo recently moved from her role as Sydney Thunder & NSW Breakers Head Coach to be Northern Districts & Spirit Head Coach, Hamilton NZ.

A passionate leader and culture builder, Jo is also very much a team player: "One in, all in." And like so many of the culture makers I interview, she is motivated by continuous improvement, being open to learning and new experiences and always seeks to bring out the best in those around her. She's hilarious and humble - a great combo and a true sporting icon! 

Follow Jo on twitter: @Brogs29 

Nick Blinco has parlayed a passion for anthropology into a highly successful career in Advancement - first at the University of Oxford and Birmingham University in the UK and now at the University of Melbourne in Australia. (If you're not familiar with it, Advancement is a role mainly seen in Universities that oversees alumni relations and philanthropic campaigns.)

We talk about the subtle differences between UK and Australian workplace cultures and communication, how Nick and his senior team walk the talk, plus the importance of setting expectations in line with values and behaviours, self-reflection and acknowledging the wins - especially during the pandemic! 

Thanks for listening - don't forget to like, subscribe and share this podcast with your networks. 

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Bianca Ilibasic is the Chief Transformation Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Manulife Insurance, Malaysia - last year recognised as one of the country's best places to work. 

Bianca is a project and delivery powerhouse whose brand is 'getting stuff done' and she builds exceptional teams and cultures in order to do this. 

She left behind the sexy world of strategy (her words!) for projects and transformation and has found a place where she can impact the lives of her team and customers every day.  Bianca shares with us about 'waking up to win' - for yourself, your team but ultimately your customer, how missing a Radiohead concert was the catalyst for a career change and getting inspiration from TV, laughter yoga, colleagues and other organisations. 

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Welcome to Season Two of the Culture Makers Podcast! We are committed to bringing you stories of culture building from the people who are out there doing the work. 

In this episode we're delighted to be talking to Alicia Aitken - who cannot easily be summed up such is the diversity of her skills, experience and passions. Alicia is an entrepreneur, tech start-up founder (before that was even a thing) and Australia's first Chief Project Officer - a role she fulfilled for Telstra before moving to ANZ where she is now Head of Investment Management and Delivery. Alicia has so many insights into what it takes to build teams, create culture and delivery outstanding work, and has the results to back it up. I'm a fan! 

"Culture is a product of the people in the community."

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I sought out Mohan Aiyaswami after hearing him speak at conference because I was blown away by his breadth of experience in delivering huge pieces of work, his humility and humour.

Mohan's perspective on successful transformation - and the importance of culture in that - was shaped by an early role at Indian Railways working on a complex and ambitious project to introduce online reservations to the largest public sector company in the world at the time. 

From there Mohan has worked on the Coles-Myer integration and been CTO of the Australian Defence Force as well as roles at Toll Group, Optus, Mercator Software, Haltek and Citicorp India. 

In this episode of Culture Makers Mohan shares his experiences and perspectives on:

Always remembering the end user

Risk-based cultures

Recognising and accepting different cultures and sub-cultures

Disagreeing without making it personal

How innovation lives everywhere

The role of the leadership team in the change journey

How giving back brings people together.