Authentic Leadership Podcast Gabrielle Dolan

Imagine you started losing your sight at the age of 15 and within six weeks were blind. This is exactly what happened to Dan Stubbs, the Victorian Disability Worker Commissioner. Gabrielle had the pleasure of interviewing Dan on her latest Authentic Leadership Podcast episode.

Dan was appointed in October 2019 by the Governor-in-Council, on the recommendation of the Minister and in consultation with the Disability Worker Registration Board of Victoria. As Commissioner he is responsible for regulating the conduct of disability workers.

Dan is passionate about the rights and entitlements of vulnerable people and has a history of advocating for their rights. He has worked in the community legal sector for the past 10 years as a lawyer and recently as CEO of Inner Melbourne Community Legal. Here he led innovation and law reform advocacy, advancing the rights of vulnerable people including people experiencing homelessness, people with disability, people escaping family violence and those from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds.

During their interview, Dan offers some great insights into leadership. He also discusses how his management style has changed over the decades, especially as he was thrown into leadership roles at a relatively young age. What’s more he shares some unique challenges that visually impaired people had to navigate during the pandemic.

Dan is a truly passionate leadership who has had an amazing career.

On this episode of Authentic Leadership Gabrielle has the pleasure of speaking with Grant McBeath who is the Customer Director at Spark New Zealand.

As Customer Director at Spark New Zealand, Grant is a part of the organisation’s Leadership Squad. Grant leads the customer facing teams across the Spark Business Group and Consumer Channels and is focussed on creating an environment where teams can thrive and deliver amazing customer outcomes.

Prior to working for Spark, Grant held a number of global roles at Nokia throughout Asia, and other global roles with Chevron Texaco, Coca-Cola and Cadbury in NZ. Grant completed a BCom at Auckland University, and also completed his MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics.

Gabrielle first met Grant several years ago when she conducted a series of Storytelling workshops across Spark. Over the last six months she has been working with him and a selection of his team on Thought Leadership. What immediately struck Gabrielle about Grant was his vulnerability and authenticity when interacting with his team. Subsequently, he is greatly respected across his team.

It was then somewhat of a surprise to Gabrielle, that perfectionism is his Achilles' heel. After realising that this was having a negative impact on his leadership, he decided to lean into vulnerability.

For any leader that is still thinking that showing vulnerability is a sign of weakness or that you have to have all the answers, Gabrielle urges you to listen to this, at times quite emotional, podcast.

Grant is a living example that perfect leaders aren’t real and real leaders aren’t perfect.

On Gabrielle's first Authentic Leadership Podcast for 2022, she had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Rynski. Julie is a senior executive at NAB looking after Business Banking, Regional and Agri for Australia. She is also the chair of Medfin.

Julie joined NAB in October 2017. She is a senior finance industry executive with more than 25 years’ experience in financial services and human resources. Julie has held a variety of senior leadership roles across Retail, Business Banking Projects and recently acted in the role of NAB Group Executive Group Chief People Officer.

Julie has a MBA from UNSW, a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and a Graduate Diploma in Australian Rural Leadership. She is also part of the Alumni of London Business School and IMD Lausanne Switzerland and has worked closely with The Big Issue.

In this personal interview, we hear about the influence her amazing mother had on her. She shares her passion for gardening and bees, and you might just be surprised about her all-time favourite song.

Plus, Gabrielle has found another leader who is sick of hearing the word pivot.

On this latest episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast, Gabrielle speaks to Tim Watsford. He is the CEO of the Northern Territory Major Events Company (NTMEC). Listen in to discover how this career sports administrator (namely with the National Rugby League and Australian Rugby Union) and avid surfer at Manly beach, moved to Darwin with his family several years ago to take on his current role.

Tim has worked in the industry for more than 15 years, and has extensive experience in delivering major events, project management and government relations.

Over the past 18 months, Tim has led the NTMEC team in new directions as they navigate an events sector profoundly affected by COVID-19 restrictions. The result has seen the team successfully deliver several large-scale major events in the Territory that have attracted national and international attention, and record attendance numbers.

Tim shares how he loves nothing better than swimming and surfing in salt water. Unfortunately for him there is not a lot of surfing going on in Darwin and a whole lot of saltwater crocodiles. He also shares some great insights into the challenges he has faced and his ‘Oh Shit!’ moment being in the events and tourism industry when Covid-19 hit.

Margaret Cole is the newly appointed Executive Board Member at the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA). She joins Gabrielle on her latest episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast. Margaret and her husband moved from the UK to Australia mid last year and brought their dog and horse with them.

Margaret Cole was appointed as an APRA Member from 1 July 2021 for a five-year term.

Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Margaret graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in law. She spent more than 20 years in private legal practice specialising in commercial litigation with an emphasis on financial services.

Margaret brings to APRA a strong blend of regulatory and private sector experience, with a particular focus on conduct, risk management and enforcement.

In this episode Margret talks about the strong influence of her mother. She not only instilled some solid values but also passed on her love of Shakespeare and beautiful quotes.

Margaret is also a woman after Gabrielle's own heart and hates the overuse of the word ‘pivot’.

On the latest episode of the Authentic Leadership Podcast, Gabrielle speaks to the CEO of Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT), Deb Ganderton. Besides discussing Deb’s very authentic leadership style, they also talk about the future of cemeteries and the role they can play for both the living and the dead.

In 2019, Deb was appointed CEO of GMCT. This community-focused non-profit organisation manages 19 cemeteries and memorial parks in Melbourne. It is one of the leading players in Australia’s funeral and cemetery industry. Her ambitions are to lead a resilient and happy GMCT workforce who remain committed to providing an essential service to Melbourne’s diverse communities.

Deb has significant management and leadership experience in the public and private sector. What's more she owns and operates her own business.

In this episode, Deb shares what shocks her about her job and the impacts of COVID-19. She also discusses what she loves about her job. And you may be surprised by just how many pairs of glasses she owns.