The Caring CEO. For leaders who want to grow teams who are more caring, fun filled and productive. For leaders who care.

Tareef Jafferi is the CEO and Founder of Happily.ai, an organisation that has created a platform to provide real time feedback for managers and employees to learn how to work better together. Tareef discusses his evolving perspective on care, emphasising the importance of allowing individuals to express their true selves and offering support rather than trying to solve every problem. He also underlines the importance of creating psychological safety in nurturing a genuinely caring work environment where employees can contribute effectively. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Martin McNamara takes a very structured approach to building a culture of care across their not-for-profit organisation focussed on using evidence to develop policies to improve health and wellbeing. A recent engagement survey shows they are on the right track with 86% of staff saying they know what they need to do to be successful in their role and 91% say they are proud to work for the Institute. Martin believes that these high scores come from active listening and encouraging all to share their ideas and opinions. Martin shares what they have done to keep those scores high in the new world of hybrid work. Martin is also the Chief Investigator for the 45 and Up Study, one of the largest studies in the world, tracking the health and wellbeing of over 267,000 people in NSW. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kylie Green is the Managing Director APAC for Reward Gateway, who provide technology for organisations to embed a reward and recognition culture. Kylie gives us many examples of how small recognition and rewards lift motivation and productivity. She highlights the findings from the Workplace Engagement Index for 2024, revealing that a staggering 83% of employees feel more motivated and productive when they have a caring manager. It's a testament to the undeniable connection between empathy and efficiency in the workplace. Kylie also offers timeless wisdom on balancing empathy and productivity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robert Jurcec, Co-founder and CEO, OneKloudX, was kicked out of home when he was 18. He made his way out of this crisis through education, and now celebrates every success and encourages a recognition culture where people describe Robert as kind, thoughtful, and supportive. Now committed to building a culture of trust and wellbeing, Robert attributes his success to asking lots of questions to understand people’s individuality. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Van Schie, Founder and Managing Director of FlourishDX, which uses technology to measure and assess the psychological health and safety of organisations, is passionate about providing practical tools and information for leadership to better understand this topic and is also the co-host of the Psych Health and Safety Podcast. We had a wide-ranging discussion about the new laws that make psychological health and safety just as important as physical. We delve into Jason’s valuable insights on the psychosocial risk of a workplace. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Moir, Founder and CEO of The Moir Group, a recruitment organisation specialising in senior leaders in finance, emphasises that beyond technical finance skills, the ability to exert influence across the company is crucial. Passionate about the environment, Stephen and his wife Carolyn founded the ‘Professionals Advocating for Climate Action’ network dedicated to practical actions. Stephen believes that work significantly shapes our lives, and a satisfying job is essential for a good life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Olivia Carr, Founder and CEO of Shhh Silk, a global brand that sells silk pillow cases in 50+ countries, shares her remarkable journey, including a marketing coup involving Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner. Despite a very challenging childhood and lacking tertiary qualifications, she built a successful multi-million-dollar business. In her new book "Self-Made." Olivia has now created a blueprint that has helped hundreds of women to develop and build their own businesses. Olivia's resilience and innovative approach have transformed her life, making her a true self-made entrepreneur. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucas Patchett, the CEO of Orange Sky, co-founded this charity that is dedicated to a simple service, which provides an opportunity for Australians doing it tough to connect through regular laundry and shower services. Although still in his 20’s, Lucas has achieved more in life than many 60 year olds. As you will hear – it hasn’t always been easy – and they have needed lots of resilience to try – fail – learn and grow. Lucas also outlines a simple thing we can all do when we encounter a homeless person on the street. He has achieved a huge amount after being in the workforce for less than 10 years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Darren Black, the CEO of SuperFriend, is an innovative and pragmatic leader who strives every day to create a culture of care. As a former Army Officer, UN Peacekeeper, and now sitting on the Board of Suicide Prevention Australia and The Australian Men’s Health Forum, he has worked with a number of NFP that have focused on improving the wellbeing of Australians, as he is passionate about improving mental health and suicide prevention. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Victoria Butt, established the recruitment company Parity Consulting, in 2012 when she was just 29. She is passionate about hiring the best employees who also share Parity’s values. As an authentic leader who is prepared to be vulnerable and admit mistakes, she has championed rapidly growing work issues such as mental health and how the workplace can be more understanding and helpful to women going through menopause. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon Owen, the CEO and Pastor of the Wayside Chapel in Sydney, is proud of their continuing mission of creating a community of no ‘us and them’. In his role as CEO, he leads a team of 110 employees and 800 volunteers. Jon is passionate about how the community can play a role in everyone having a better life. He cares deeply about the people he serves and is a passionate communicator. He is not afraid to take on big challenges. Jon has a great sense of humour and has a real spirit for service. His story is inspiring, however he is very humble. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charlotte Lockhart, is the Co-founder and MD of 4 Day Week Global, advocating for a productivity-focused, reduced-hour workplace.Charlotte is also a Board member of Oxford University's Wellbeing Research Centre and co-founder of the World Wellbeing Movement.Her company has helped oversee 4 Day Week trials in UK, US, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Charlotte gives us some fascinating insight into the findings of the trials. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amy Edmondson, is a Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business school, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society. Her area of expertise is showing leaders how to increase team psychological safety which is a critical foundation of great teams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew O'Keeffee has a fascinating background which has taken him from his origins in Broken Hill to studying indigenous groups in Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the Amazon and North America. This was via a career in mining, manufacturing, in industrial relations and senior HR roles. Andrew's shares great insights for leaders into how how we structure organisations, select and appoint leaders, motivate followers, and influence culture based on his research into indigenous cultures which began when he met with Maasai elders on a trip to Kenya. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simone Allan and Graeme worked together at Morgan and Banks (now Hudson). After leaving Morgan and Banks, Simone went on to establish her own company Mondo Search. She grew that company into one of the top 40 search firms worldwide. Having experienced the benefits of mentoring herself, she then went on to establish Mondo Mentoring. After suffering a career crisis at the age of 43 which left her burnt out and overwhelmed, Simone took some time to undertake deep self-flection. With the covid pandemic devastating the recruitment industry so completely,Simone used her new found sense of purpose to establish the Women's Resilience Centre, a haven for women and children that were experiencing domestic violence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Olivier Dubuisson has the intriguing title of – Head of Future of Working for the global pharmaceutical company Novartis. He is also the Chairman and Co-Founder of Rythmik, a global consulting firm, based in Switzerland, specialising in the future of working and employee experience. Olivier stresses that when it comes to workplace flexibility, we need to spend less time worrying about when and where our employees work, and more time on how they work. He refers to this as moving from Hybrid 1.0 to Hybrid 2.0. Our discussion also delves into the Metaverse, and using virtual reality goggles and other technology to foster collaboration and belonging in a virtual world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Richard Turner is the ultimate entrepreneur. He is a specialist in market disruption, having founded four successful companies in Australia across four completely different industries. He has multiple awards including EY’s South Australian Entrepreneur of the year and 4th fastest growing company by BRW magazine, and is also the entrepreneur in residence for the University of South Australia. Today, Richard is fiercely passionate about helping people successfully start and scale companies – setting out the essential rules to give first time entrepreneurs the best chance of success. He has learnt many lessons in the last 40 years of business and shares some of them here with us. He has also recently published a book called The Essential Entrepreneur" explaining how to start, scale and ultimately sell a business. It is a book that contains all of the wisdom he wishes he had read when he was starting out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bruce Watson, CEO of WorkCover QLD, has always been inspired by the life of Nelson Mandela. He admired his unwavering belief in a better South Africa, fierce focus and determination – coupled with huge empathy and humility – he has been a powerful guide in Bruce’s life. One of his life’s highlights was meeting him in person whilst on a mission to help improve the safety in South African mines. Not surprisingly he describes the lasting impressions from that meeting. For Bruce, care has been a driving force his whole life. Losing his Dad at the age of 17 taught Bruce the value in making the best of everyday, and making a positive difference, and care is an integral part of that. It became his life's purpose and his work purpose. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr Kirstin Ferguson AM, our first guest for 2023, is the author of the newly released book, HEAD & HEART: The Art of Modern Leadership. Pip Marlow, CEO of Salesforce Asia Pacific – said this – “HEAD & HEART will be joining my favourite leadership books on my bedside table.” Leading with your head and your heart is a concept that is very much aligned with our belief that a caring CEO strives for a culture of care and a culture of high performance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suzanne (Suz) Steele, was the VP and MD for Adobe's ANZ operations before moving back to the UK to take up the same role for the UK and Ireland operations, which is one of Adobe's largest markets globally. She has risen to this position from humble working class beginnings in Northern Ireland, in which attending university was not an option in her family.In fact, she left school at 16. This worked against her in her early days until she landed a role in a start-up with a manager who saw her "street fighter" and "make it happen" qualities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.