Agile Leadership Lessons

Watermark Search International

Benefit from the experience of current leaders to help you better achieve your business and career goals. Our Watermark team ask highly regarded leaders to share their knowledge and expertise of agile leadership spanning a multitude of different sectors. Avoid the pitfalls and hear key takeaways of how to navigate different leadership challenges, clearing the path for your success. ​We have recently added another series within our podcast channel: The Masterclass Series! This series transforms our esteemed interim webinars into easily accessible podcast episodes.

Episodes

  1. MAY 28

    Navigating Client Loyalty: How Today’s Partners can Become Tomorrow’s Rainmakers

    In this episode of the Watermark Search International Agile Leadership Lessons Podcast, host Robert Atkinson, Partner in our Executive Search Professional Services practice, welcomes guests Rory Channer, founding partner of DCM Insights and Pat Spenner, APAC Managing Director for DCM Insights. Together, they delve into the evolving landscape of client loyalty in professional services. The discussion centres around the emerging challenges faced by professional services leaders, in particular the decline in client loyalty, what underpins this decline and how to adjust to stem the rising tide of procurement and consensus decision making.  Rory and Pat share the research insights (off the back of 2,941 interviews across Professional Services - Law, Consulting, Accounting, Executive Search, Public Relations and Investment Banking), which combined formed the basis of their new book, The Activator Advantage. They also introduce the "Activator" profile, a key driver of higher performance in business development. Listeners will gain valuable perspectives on the five types of professionals in the industry: the Expert, the Confidant, the Activator, the Realist, and the Debater. The episode explores how Activators, with their proactive and collaborative approach, can significantly enhance client engagement and drive growth. Tune in to learn about the impact of consensus decision-making, the importance of consistent value creation, and the role of technology in supporting business development. Whether you're a seasoned professional or new to the field, this episode offers actionable strategies to adapt to the changing dynamics of client relationships in professional services.

    47 min
  2. JAN 29

    Successful and Healthy Leaders: The Intersection of Wellbeing and Agility

    In our first episode for 2025, we delve into the essential aspects of maintaining mental and physical strength as a leader. Join Watermark’s Chris Grant, Partner in our Health and Human Services practices and guest speaker, Peter Dijkema. Peter is a separation coach, and seasoned leadership and executive coach with decades of experience across diverse settings, cultures and countries. As an ICF-certified coach and a Thrive-accredited practitioner, Peter brings a unique perspective to the intersection of personal and professional growth. The episode starts with Peter’s top three takeaways to stay mentally strong and then we explore the significant link between job satisfaction and overall health, discussing how both enjoying your work and engaging in meaningful work can positively impact both your physical and mental wellbeing. Our guest also opens up about his personal fitness routine and the best advice he’s received for staying fit and healthy. The conversation then moves to the role of mateship and relationships in wellbeing and how this contributes to you being a leader as well as key advice for executives on what to focus on for sustained wellbeing and longevity. To wrap up, Peter shares his motivational mottos and discusses the importance of mental and physical wellbeing, meaningful work, strong relationships, and continuous personal growth for leadership agility. Peter also suggests some great podcasts and books to further your thinking and action on this topic. If you are a leader looking to build resilience and foster a healthy relationship with yourself and those around you, you will take a lot away from this episode.

    41 min
  3. 11/13/2023

    Part 2 - Mastering Leadership Agility: Lessons from a CEO and Board Director in Hospital, Health and Aged Care

    In the highly anticipated Part 2 of "Mastering Leadership Agility: Lessons from a CEO and Board Director in Hospital, Health and Aged Care" your host, Jocelyn Santosa, Partner at Watermark Search International, is joined once again by the remarkable CEO, Chair, and Board Director in the healthcare, hospital, and aged care sectors, Toby Hall. This episode dives deep into different aspects of leadership in these critical fields. Together, they tackle essential questions such as:   Public vs. Private: Are there differences in working in these settings, and what key insights should individuals be aware of when operating in these unique environments? The Transition Challenge: How difficult is it to transition from public to private, or vice versa? Discover the complexities of this shift and the skills required to succeed. Boardroom Dynamics: Unravel the mysteries of boardroom leadership. Learn how to ensure that your leadership team is well-versed in key governance issues. The Art of Board Membership: What qualities make an exceptional board member? Toby Hall shares invaluable insights on what it takes to excel in this role. Board Selection: Explore due diligence strategies to employ before committing to a board position, ensuring it's the right fit for you. Continuous Self-Reflection: Discover the importance of self-reflection when choosing board roles, ensuring you make choices aligned with your values and goals. Join Jocelyn Santosa and Toby Hall for a conversation for those navigating the ever-evolving healthcare landscape and the importance of leadership agility.

    31 min
  4. 07/17/2023

    Private Equity – Business, leadership & high performing teams

    Have you ever wondered about private equity and the experience of working with private equity? What do private equity firms look for in businesses? What do they look for in leaders? What is their operating rhythm? David Evans, Managing Partner at Watermark Search, has extensive experience in this area and in this episode he chats to Mark Baldassarre, a highly accomplished leader in Private Equity. Mark brings over 25 years of private equity and international banking experience. He is deeply experienced in acquiring, integrating, and growing businesses, as well as providing strategic direction to company boards and management teams. Mark has looked at hundreds of private equity deals and has invested and exited in dozens. David and Mark have a great chat explaining what private equity is and how it works. Mark then answers some interesting questions such as: When looking to invest, what are the key things that you are looking for when you evaluate businesses? What do you look for when you're assessing these businesses and the leaders? What is the difference between a good leadership team and average leadership team? How have the good leaders reacted to external shocks and how have they got through the change? What are some standouts in your experience around some leaders that have navigated change? What are the different operating rhythms that you partner with? What do you expect from them? How involved are you in the business? What are the board meetings like? How do you support owner managers or leadership teams with getting the business ready for an exit? Listen to the full podcast below to gain insights and advice for current and future leaders.

    28 min
  5. How to increase your leadership agility

    09/12/2022

    How to increase your leadership agility

    At Watermark Search, we believe that those with higher leadership agility have higher performance. We are passionate about supporting leaders reach this, helping them learn and giving them the opportunity to change, influence and increase their leadership agility. So how do we get we get data and science behind our philosophy and how can leaders use this data to enhance their own leadership journey?   To discuss this, we invited Peter Berry, Managing Director of Peter Berry Consultancy and Ryne Sherman, Chief Science Officer at Hogan Assessment Systems to join us on this episode. Peter is a keynote speaker, facilitator and executive coach who specialises in leadership development, coaching, change management and business performance. Ryne is an expert on personality assessment, leadership and organisational effectiveness.   Our speakers defined leadership agility and answered some important questions: What attributes do you need to be a successful leader and how does agility come into this? What are the key attributes of leadership agility? Can leadership agility be learned? What is the science and data behind how we should be measuring a leader? How important is it that leaders are aware of gaps in their personality and agility? How can leaders identify these gaps and how can we help them improve on them? How important is data in doing this? What are the key takeaways for leaders trying to increase their leadership agility?

    27 min
  6. 01/31/2022

    Changing transformation priorities

    As we enter different stages of this pandemic, we are seeing it effect individuals and businesses in different ways. Transformations are increasing and priorities have evolved. What was urgent and important at the start may no longer be as urgent and all of a sudden there are more pressing priorities. As a leadership cohort, how do we adapt, how do we lead and how do we engage with our teams in this fast-moving world? Joining Watermark Search International's Managing Partner, David Evans, in our third episode is Natasha Moore, Partner in Charge of Transformational Program Management at KPMG, Amanda Cattermole, CEO of the Australian Digital Health Agency, and Kieran Duck a published author on transformation. All three leaders have led through major transformations recently; Amanda was at the forefront of changing a health system to respond to a pandemic, Kieran went through a four-year transformation at Essential Energy and had to constantly adapt and rework the program due to the changing market environment, and Natasha had to rethink how they engaged with risk and amend collaboration tools to deal with the new virtual world. Our speakers discuss their organisation’s purpose, how their priorities evolved, how they, along with their teams, got through the transformational journeys by adapting, and about the effective processes and experiences that got leaders on board with the pace of this change. They also highlight what they have done and seen that has worked well to get their people to express an opinion and contribute during this change. Listen to the full podcast below to gain insights and advice for current and future leaders.

    33 min
  7. 08/24/2021

    How do leaders and leadership teams respond to events that weren’t in the business plan?

    At Watermark, we're advocates of the for purpose sector. Not only do we contribute as a firm, but we also appoint many executives in for purpose entities. In this episode we are joined by three leaders from some of Australia's best known for purpose entities to share some of their experiences. Hosted by Watermark Search International's Managing Partner, David Evans. In this episode we're joined by; Colin Seery, CEO of Lifeline, who saw an increase of 30% in calls to the main crisis support service through the bushfires crisis and the COVID pandemic, Judy Slatyer, most recently the CEO of the Australian Red Cross, whose team had to quickly adapt from dealing with the devastation of the bushfires in early 2020 to managing COVID and the pandemic and Susannah Le Bron, CEO at the Y in New South Wales, (formerly known as the YMCA), who experienced the pandemic through a different lens, adapting to a crisis environment that directly impacted more than half of her organisation. Our speakers discuss leadership agility, and how they adapted to an unprecedented crisis situation. Anticipating change, assessing new risks and the importance of setting clear principles to guide their organisations and their people through the crisis. And the day-to-day tactics they implemented to remain connected with their teams, their organisations purpose, and to ensure themselves and their teams were looking after each other from a personal and professional point of view. Listen to gain their insights and advice for current and future leaders.

    30 min
  8. 05/16/2021

    How has this constantly evolving landscape impacted how we lead into the future?

    How did you react to events in 2020 and how has this affected how you're looking to the future? Philip Holliday, William Cox, and Elizabeth Mildwater share their experiences. Hosted by Watermark Search International's Managing Partner, David Evans. In this episode we're joined by; Philip Holliday, CEO of the NSW Ports Authority, whose team was deeply impacted by the events of 2020 reacting to the Ruby Princess (the cruise ship at the centre of one of Australia's largest coronavirus outbreaks), William Cox, CEO of Aurecon, who has a different perspective with his team of consultants who have seen all sorts of organisations evaluating their evolving requirements, and consequently how they must adapt their own business to support this changing landscape, and Elizabeth Mildwater, CEO of the Greater Sydney Commission, who has had to deal with changes in not only how we work but also how these events will impact us over the longer term. Our speakers highlight the changes in opinions on flexible working, how some companies who offered flexible working prior to the pandemic have now actually gone backwards and require staff to be in the office 5 days a week, or companies who have foregone the office all together and have moved to a fully remote workforce. They discuss the 3/2 hybrid working split and their concerns for the more inexperienced employee's learning and development with reduced opportunities for face to face mentoring and guidance from more experienced team members. How will this effect the future workforce? Listen to gain their insights and advice for current and future leaders.

    31 min

About

Benefit from the experience of current leaders to help you better achieve your business and career goals. Our Watermark team ask highly regarded leaders to share their knowledge and expertise of agile leadership spanning a multitude of different sectors. Avoid the pitfalls and hear key takeaways of how to navigate different leadership challenges, clearing the path for your success. ​We have recently added another series within our podcast channel: The Masterclass Series! This series transforms our esteemed interim webinars into easily accessible podcast episodes.