Ellis Brover is the former CIO of Toyota Australia and an Independent Board and Executive IT Advisor. He has a proven track record over three decades of building and leading world-class IT organisations and his experience spans a range of roles and industries, from startups to multi-nationals. In this episode of Crisis Talks, we talk about the changing IT landscape over the past few decades, the nature of cyber threats and how they have evolved, and the importance building trust in your crisis t...
Dec 13, 2023•41 min•Ep. 32
“Data should be treated as a liability - not an asset” - Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus With recent high profile cyber attacks targeting Medibank and Optus, Australian boards are scrambling to understand the risks a cyber attack may present to them and what they can do to prevent, prepare and respond. In this episode of Crisis Talks, I speak with Claire Pales and Anna Liebel, Co- directors of The Secure Board , and co authors of the book with the same title . They share their insights into how a...
Dec 08, 2022•47 min•Ep. 31
“Don't look at these events as black swans… I don't think any business should plan around what if, every business should plan on when.” Thomas Knudsen Thomas Knudsen is the Managing Director of global supply chain business Toll. Having previously lived through the global cyber attack at Maersk, he joined the business as the head of their Global Forwarding Division before being appointed Managing Director in January 2020. At this time, Australia was emerging from the disruptions of the Black Satu...
Apr 13, 2022•34 min•Season 4Ep. 1
From a career as a journalist working as a police reporter covering some of the worst crimes in Victoria’s history to the Executive General Manager Corporate Affairs, Government and Communications at the Australian Football League, Brian Walsh has had an amazing career in issues and crisis management. In this interview on Crisis Talks, we talk about his formative years as a journalist and how the “high emotion” of dealing with people on their worst day helped prepare him for his role in a highly...
Nov 24, 2021•49 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Charlton Clark embodies the saying, "Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics." Imagine having to plan and prepare for an operation that is 2 years away? How would you select the right people and the equipment needed for the task two years before that task is required and ensure that they are all in position and capable to perform that task on that given day? In this episode of Crisis Talks, I interview Charlton Clark, the General Manager Antarctic Operations and Safety at the Austra...
Aug 07, 2021•47 min•Ep. 30
11 Years on from the Anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon Crisis, we pick up from the moment the Crisis team observes the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig sinking in the Gulf of Mexico and the subsequent environmental disaster that ensued. In this episode, we talk through the shift in the response objective from People to the Environment and the realisation that Clint and others felt when confronted by the enormity of the environmental catastrophe. Importantly, we also explored the indelible impact tha...
Apr 27, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 29
On the 20th April 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers, injured 17 more and resulted in the largest marine OilSpill in history. Clint Honeycutt was one of the BP Health and Safety Advisors at the time and was activated as a part of the Company Incident Management Team to respond to the incident. In this multi part series, we discuss his experience working through the immediate response as a part of the incident management team. We discuss th...
Mar 03, 2021•48 min•Season 3Ep. 1
From a 15 year old volunteer firefighter in Duffy’s Forest Fire Brigade in 1985 to leading 70,000 firefighters during the response to the 2019-2020 fires, Shane Fitzsimmons rise to being the most trusted face in the bushfire crisis has been a story of resilience, hardship and humility. From losing his father in a routine back-burning operation to overseeing the fire season which claimed the lives of community, volunteer and international firefighting professionals, the qualities that stood out t...
Oct 05, 2020•52 min•Ep. 28
With thousands of Australians still stranded overseas due to the pandemic, I thought it was important to share the story of one man’s success despite another stunning failure of Australian Bureaucracy. Shocked by a sudden and harsh lockdown in India in the early days of the pandemic, thousands of Australians turned to their High Commission and Foreign Affairs teams for advice on what to do, only to be told that there was no plan to help get them home. Enter Sanskrit student and English Teacher S...
Sep 24, 2020•40 min•Season 2Ep. 8
“The leaders who can lead from a place of compassion and empathy and really understand that we are all suffering, then I think they’ll achieve great things.” Interested in an expert’s perspective on the US’ response to the pandemic? Regina Phelps is an internationally recognised expert in the field of crisis management, continuity planning and exercise design. She is the founder of EMS Solutions Inc, (EMSS) and since 1982, EMSS has provided consultation and speaking services to clients in four c...
Aug 09, 2020•51 min•Ep. 27
"You can have the greatest resources in the world, but the weights aren't going to lift themselves". Tarkyn Lockyer is a 227 game champion of the Collingwood Football Club who now heads up the Australian Football League's National Talent Development Program. In this episode of Crisis Talks, we explore some of the highs and lows of his amazing career, from the disappointment of missing the 2010 premiership selection, his transition to coach in the same club and how he has found his own leadership...
Jul 21, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 26
Justin Dunlop leads Ambulance Victoria’s response to public crises as the Director of the Emergency Management Unit. In this Episode, we talk about the simple strategic objectives his team has applied to ensure the safety of staff and the continuity of service for Ambulance Victoria during the CoronaVirus Pandemic. His insights are a masterclass in adaptive planning and leadership. Since 2004, Justin has been involved in managing Ambulance Victoria's response to major public events including the...
Jun 22, 2020•58 min•Ep. 25
Tony was appointed Victoria’s first Inspector-General for Emergency Management in July 2014, an independent Governor in Council Statutory Appointment, working closely with emergency management sector partners and the community to strengthen Victoria's emergency management arrangements and enhance community safety. For nearly 40 years he has worked in intelligence, security and emergency/crisis management performing senior operational functions in a number of Victorian emergency service organisat...
Jun 05, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 24
Tim Walmsley is a veteran and the founder and CEO of BenchOn, the world’s first Talent Sharing Platform. Heeding the call for business owners and entrepreneurs to share their ideas to help get us through this Crisis, Tim joins me to discuss how organisations can keep their workforce and share their skills rather than standing them down. We talk about how he came up with the idea for this world-first solution, the process he applied to developing his business plan, and how you can use his solutio...
Apr 02, 2020•28 min•Ep. 23
From the frontlines of the NZ SAS to the frontline of a global pandemic, Anaesthetist Bill Bestic has seen the best and worst of humanity and understands leadership during uncertainty. In this episode of Crisis Talks, Bill gives us a unique insight into the preparations that are underway in our hospitals, the fears of our medical staff and the courage people are showing every day as they prepare for the worst case. “As a healthcare worker, I know exactly why I’m being Intubated. ‘Cos my lungs ha...
Mar 29, 2020•43 min•Ep. 22
After working on crisis management and continuity with corporates and government departments preparing responses to Ebola, Foot and mouth, H1N1 and now COVID-19 Jason Jarrett asks the question “Is the three-second rule dead?” Jason Jarrett is an adjunct professor in risk management, a consultant on risk and resilience and runs a mega Podcast, A Buddhist Podcast. Jason shares some unique perspectives on lessons from Ebola, Mad Cow and other crisis events that we can apply to confront Coronavirus....
Mar 26, 2020•39 min•Season 2Ep. 1
With fires ravaging Australia and questions about the affect of climate change, I sat down with Craig Lapsley, the former Emergency Management Commissioner of Victoria to discuss the lessons learnt from fires in Australia over the past 40 years. Craig’s work here and overseas, enables a unique perspective on how to best prepare for the fire threat and how we compare with other international response organisations. Have we learnt from these lessons forged in fire?
Dec 16, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 21
If there’s nothing more Australian than strangers coming together to help others in their time of crisis, then there is no one more Australian than Darren Hodge. Darren has spent over thirty years in the Victoria Ambulance Service, now serving as one of the elite few MICA Flight Paramedics. In this episode of Crisis Talks, we explore some of the cases he wrote about in his book, ‘A Life on the Line’ and we talk about motivation, fear, failure, success and the chain of life.
Dec 03, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 20
“Our currency is empathy”. When social media erupted after the Gold’s bus crash in 2016, we turned to Clare Gleghorn, the CEO of Bastion Reputation Management for support. Clare shares her insights into the impact of social media outrage and how her team measures influence to ensure a balanced response in a crisis; how to manage reputational risk in the digital age; the importance of empathy; and how organisations can prepare for the worst case.
Nov 05, 2019•35 min•Ep. 19
@Cyberhacker Podcaster and CEO of CTRLGroup, Bastien Treptel joins us this week to talk about Cyber Security. He describes some of the industrious ways that hackers and nefarious threats are targeting and accessing our data and what we can do to prevent, prepare and respond if a cyber crisis strikes.
Oct 26, 2019•33 min•Ep. 18
Josh Hawes is the Principal Psychologist and Technical Director of Critical Components. He formerly served as a Clinical Psychologist in the Army with the Australian SAS and specialises in critical incident response and recovery. I have used Josh and his team in support of a number of workplace crises. In this episode we talk about psychological resilience, high performing teams and how to prepare, respond and recover from workplace crises.
Oct 17, 2019•59 min•Ep. 17
I had the honour of serving under Major General Field 20 years ago when we deployed to East Timor. At that time, he was the Operations Officer of our Battalion. Now, he is the Forces Commander of the Australian Army, in charge of thousands of men and women. We talk about his experiences in different theatres overseas or at home leading the recovery to the 2017 cyclone or the 2011 floods in Queensland. He is a meticulous planner, an erudite professional and a humble and empathetic leader who alwa...
Oct 09, 2019•58 min•Ep. 16
Steve Bell is the Crisis Management and Workplace Health and Safety Partner for Herbert Smith Freehills in Melbourne. Steve’s insights on crisis response challenge the legal archetypes and break down some of the common misperceptions about the primacy of legal response during a crisis. His points about empathy, values and pace when making decisions in the heat of the moment are extremely refreshing and demonstrate his experience advising organisations affected by crisis.
Sep 29, 2019•50 min•Ep. 15
Cameron Schwab, the youngest ever CEO of an AFL Club shares his leadership insights. He talks candidly about leadership, creativity, crisis and fatherhood. This interview is raw, authentic, insightful and inspiring.
Sep 19, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 14
If necessity is the mother of invention, then a crisis is the perfect time to look at innovative ways to solve complex problems. Human Centred Design Thinking (HCD) is an approach to problem solving that places stakeholders in the centre of the process, and helps organisations shape novel or unique solutions to their problems. In this breakout session of Crisis Talks, I talk with James Merchant, an expert in design thinking to look at ways that HCD can be applied in a crisis.
Sep 14, 2019•39 min•Ep. 13
Bill Bestic and Dan Cooney each espoused the importance of debriefing during or immediately after a crisis to ensure we capture the lessons learnt for our own improvement. In this Video, I take the opportunity to debrief the first series and reflect on some of the key lessons and themes drawn from the first 11 episodes of Crisis Talks. With a great head for Podcasts, this is my first fireside debrief by video. Let me know what you think at grant@leftofboom.com.au . More To Follow. Over!...
Sep 07, 2019•9 min•Ep. 12
Its March 2018 in South Africa and the Australian Cricket Team are caught in a ball tampering scandal which causes all Australians to question their love of the game. In this Episode of Crisis Talks, I interview Earl Eddings, the Chairman of Cricket Australia. We talk about Cricket Australia’s response to the crisis, the role boards play in leading the culture of an organisation and the importance of assurance after an event in restoring trust.
Aug 29, 2019•31 min•Ep. 11
Jim Molan AO DSC has led a distinguished life of service, firstly as a highly decorated General in the Australian Army, and more recently as a Liberal Party Senator. Jim gives a frank assessment on the state of leadership in Australia from the lens of a person who has worked as an Attache in Indonesia during the East Timor crisis; as a General running time critical targeting of terrorists in Iraq; and as a Liberal Party Senator in NSW.
Aug 20, 2019•48 min•Ep. 10
In Part 2 of Get the Gringo, with the rescue mission well under way, we explore how Kelvin picked himself and his team up from the initial despair of their first unsuccessful hole and how he and his team drew inspiration from the families of the trapped miners to go on and find them all alive. Kelvin’s story about his experience and the life-changing effect it has had on him is an inspiration.
Aug 12, 2019•31 min•Ep. 9
Eps 8 & 9 - "Get the Gringo". We go back to August 5, 2010 to Copiapo in Chile, where an underground collapse trapped 33 Miners sparking an international rescue. I speak to Kelvin Brown, the Aussie Drilling Expert, flown in on the direct request of the Chilean President, who told the pilot “Please do not spare the fuel”. Kelvin’s life-changing story of his technical execution under the watchful eyes of the world is a story you cant miss.
Aug 12, 2019•34 min•Ep. 8
