Peter Dornan AM believes that men can be both troubled and troublesome — often to themselves and to the women in their lives. Despite contributing to the advancement of modern society, many men still struggle with its demands and their own responsibilities. A former senior Queensland Australian of the year (2020) and renowned physiotherapist, Peter, in his book 'In Search of Manhood – A guide to better male health and lifestyle’, explores the complexities of modern masculinity. Drawing from a li...
Aug 01, 2025•46 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Influence Me - Season 3 focuses on thought-provoking conversations with leaders who influence the emergency services sector. The big challenges facing the industry are explored in this series, whilst emphasising the role of leadership in driving progress. My guest for this important discussion about sub-culture is Shannan Quain. Shannan is an experienced Senior Leader with a demonstrated history of achievement across all levels of Government. Skilled in Innovation, Strategy, Leadership, Organisa...
Jul 14, 2025•50 min•Season 3Ep. 1
My guest for this Podcast, Dr Nikola Stepanov, has spent much of her career in service to the public sector and community. Her background is in professional ethics and governance, research and research regulation, mediation and dispute resolution, and board governance. She has expertise in resolving complex and contentious conflicts where there are grave personal or governance risks. She holds six degrees, including a Juris Doctor (JD) and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). She completed her PhD at t...
Jul 01, 2023•27 min•Season 2Ep. 7
“At times, you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” ― Alan Alda (Actor and Educator) In this ‘Influence Me’ Leadership Podcast, I speak with my friend Doug Beitz (former emergency service officer, and successful business leader) about the benefit of understanding and then using your intuition for personal and professional effectiveness. Do yourself a favour and consider how ...
May 26, 2023•47 min•Season 2Ep. 6
When a potential guest says he is dangerously allergic to the archaic approach to leadership development - I want to interview him! For this episode, my guest Matt Callow is a registered Psychologist with over 10 years experience consulting to organisations and delivering success in talent management, organisational development, learning & development; and strategic human resource management solutions. Matt blends commercial realism with proven behavioural science to help organisations incre...
Feb 26, 2023•40 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Brenton known as “Ben” grew up and was educated in country Western Australia. In 1980 Ben joined the Australian Army where he began a journey that would last for 32 years. He developed a passion very early in his career for training and leadership which over his extensive career took him from being a Junior Commander through to senior management level as a Unit Commander. Among numerous experiences and qualifications Ben specialised as a Bomb Disposal Technician operating in and leading small te...
Jan 15, 2023•40 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In this rich and informative Podcast I discuss matters of leadership during emergency operations with John Cawcutt AFSM. John is an Assistant Commissioner with the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services where he leads a multi-disciplinary team of over 1000 fire service officers, emergency managers and public service officers in the delivery of all-hazards prevention, preparedness and emergency response operations for Brisbane city and regional surrounds. John has been a firefighter for over thir...
Jun 24, 2022•44 min•Season 2Ep. 3
As it is said, from little things big things grow. Robert’s initial experience with the fire services was as an untrained and ineffectual volunteer firefighter with the CFA in the early 1980’s. In 1983 he fled the Ash Wednesday fires with his wife and month old daughter, and shortly thereafter while he worked in TAFE, and before the era of Certificates, he conducted many Train-the-Trainer programs for the CFA trainers at Fiskville. Robert went on to work with the Fiskville trainers to develop tr...
Apr 02, 2022•39 min•Season 2Ep. 2
What an opportunity to speak with Doug Beitz, a long-term colleague and friend. Doug was previously an emergency services officer, a successful business operator, with him now moving into the role of life coach. This podcast tells his life story to date, including the many lessons he has gleaned, all with lots of meaning. Doug is incredibly curious when it comes to life, and he is someone who I have learnt from personally. During our conversation, we cover three distinct phases of his life, and ...
Jan 01, 2022•33 min•Season 2Ep. 1
For this podcast it’s a pleasure to have Queensland Ambulance Service - Deputy Commissioner Dee Taylor-Dutton ASM as my guest. In her current role, Dee has accountability for all aspects of QAS frontline operational service delivery. Commencing in 1995 as a Student Ambulance Officer in Townsville, Dee has since held positions in operations, communications, corporate services and management, as well as leading operational service delivery to rural, remote, and urban communities across Queensland....
Nov 10, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 26
My guest for this Podcast Nick Dunn is a corporate professional with over twenty years in management and leadership positions with his current role with global insurance firm Aon as their Operations, Projects and Facilities Manager for Queensland and Northern Territory. Nick also travels nationally, project managing, design and construction of new office sites for Aon; as well as being the lead for Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity. Nick has been volunteering with the SES for nearly ten ...
Aug 29, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Kerry Howard is a best-selling author and psychologist specialising in trauma prevention and treatment. Kerry has won two international awards for her commitment to treating PTSD and improving mental health in Australia. Since 2010, Kerry has presented at a variety of international conferences including the USA, Europe and Australia. She developed professional development training in the promotion, prevention and early intervention of traumatic injury. Kerry is a former executive level leader wh...
Aug 02, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 24
“Be honest, frank and fearless and get some grasp of the real values of life… Read some good, heavy, serious books just for discipline: Take yourself in hand and master yourself.” W.E.B. Du Bois (Civil Rights Leader and Author). My guest his Podcast Bruce Byatt AFSM is a second-generation firefighter who started his fire service career with the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Service on 14th January 1977 and was promoted to station officer in 1983. He relocated to Queensland in 1992 and worked out o...
May 30, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 23
'Whether we realise it or not, in the battle arena we call life most of our time is spent in one grey area or the another' - Adelle Bradford (Author). Brian Cox is currently a senior officer within the Queensland State Emergency Service. He has an extensive 40-year military career as a regular, and still maintains his ADF connection as a current Colonel in the Army Reserve. His military highlights include joining as a trooper in 1980 driving Leopard Tanks, working with the British Army on the Rh...
Apr 07, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Such a pleasure to host Assistant Commissioner Joanne Greenfield for this special International Women’s Day episode of ‘Influence Me’. Joanne has extensive experience across emergency management, health services and various international United Nations missions. Prior to joining QFES, Joanne gained experience in many countries ranging from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe leading responses to pandemics, epidemics and natural and manmade disasters for the UK Government and the United Nations. Joanne has b...
Feb 05, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 21
“Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.” — Les Brown (Motivational speaker and author). My guest for this Podcast, Ali Lane is a principal at an IT consulting firm called Enable, a role which involves project management, people leadership and managing customer success. Whilst she loves being an “Enabler” celebrating her organisation’s employee-first culture, it is no secret that her passion lies in her “side-gig” in the SES. Ali is an aspiring leader in the Brisbane SE...
Jan 29, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Costa Georgiadis is a landscape architect who gardens with his hands and his heart and in 2019 won the Australian Logies award for the Most Popular Presenter. Costa has an all-consuming passion for plants and people - he knows how to bring out the best in both of them, and takes great pleasure in bringing them together. In this podcast I discuss matters of people and he shares what he’s learnt along the way about influencing people in working together for a common cause. Enjoy!
Jan 13, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Jason Sertori is a former QFES officer who courageously took an opportunity with the United Nations in 2016. Currently based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jason Sertori is the Chief officer of the United Nations largest fire service, and has held this position since leaving QFES in 2016. In 2019, Jason was temporarily appointed as the Senior Coordinator for the Tactical Operations Centre for the Ebola Emergency Response, a position he held for several months, before returning to his norma...
Dec 04, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Stuart Ellis AM is an experienced leader in the emergency management sector and was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AFAC in 2012. Stuart is focussed on national initiatives that progress the effectiveness and professional standing of fire and emergency services and has a focus on progressing an industry wide, integrated approach to emergency management. Previously, Stuart Ellis was the Chief Executive Officer/Chief Officer of the South Australian Country Fire Service. In 2002 he established...
Oct 31, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Shannan Quain is a senior executive leader with experience across all levels of government. As the Chief of HR for a large Queensland Government Department she isn’t your typical CHRO as she started her career as a sports scientist and brings a different lens to the typical issues that organisations face. She isn’t afraid of a tough challenge and speaks with authority and respect as someone who has met many challenges head on to come out the other side a stronger and more capable leader. In this...
Oct 08, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 16
“Your brand is a gateway to your true work. You know you are here to do something – to create something or help others in some way. The question is, how can you set up your life and work so that you can do it? The answer lies in your brand. When you create a compelling brand you attract people who want the promise of your brand – which you deliver”. – Dave Buck (Business Coach Professional). With a rich background encompassing many different sectors and agencies, Gen Wilcox brings clarity to mat...
Sep 15, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Andrew Crisp is the current Emergency Management Commissioner for Victoria, heading up Emergency Management Victoria. He started the role on the 13th of August 2018. Previously he held the position of Deputy Commissioner of Regional Operations of Victoria Police. Andrew is clearly a people-centric type of leader, and it’s a pleasure to discuss matters of leadership with him. He has a view that ‘confident humility’ is an approach that all leaders could benefit from by using it as part of their ov...
Sep 02, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 14
‘Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful’ (Ann Landers). My guest for this Podcast - Craig Harper is one of Australia’s leading presenters, writers and educators in the areas of health, high-performance, resilience, self-management, leadership, corporate change, communication, stress management, addiction and personal transformation. In this Podcast we discuss the concept of Self-Awareness including Internal and External aspects. I absolutely enjoy the fr...
Aug 03, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 13
“Ego is just like dust in the eyes. Without clearing the dust, we can’t see anything clearly, so clear the ego and see the world.” (Anonymous.) What a pleasure to discuss matters of ego with Eleni Dracakis. Eleni is a Business Psychologist, entrepreneur and strategist, dedicated to helping leaders and teams thrive. In this Podcast we jump in to the wicked issue of big egos in teams and organisations, and in society more generally. We explore the questions around how egos can be healthy or unheal...
Jul 14, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Commissioner Greg Leach joined the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services in December 2019. With 33 years’ experience in the emergency services, Greg Leach is a highly-regarded emergency services executive with both country and metropolitan fire and ambulance services. Now six months into his current role, Commissioner Leach agreed to speak with me on his own leadership journey, including his early life experiences and influences, and importantly we discussed his views on how personal values are...
Jul 01, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services keeps Kate busy with the corporate relationships that build community and strengthen the organisation, especially supporting the volunteer services of Rural Fire Service and the State Emergency Service. Sponsorship is too common a word for what happens with that. Outside of that ‘work’, one of Kate’s goals is to build better humans and Kate uses Taekwondo to do that. She has a solid perspective on people that has stemmed for a generation involved in that co...
Jun 12, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 10
There’s nothing as good as talking with individuals who have lived a full and challenging life, particularly one enriched with many leadership moments. Adrian d’Hage’s life is rich with experience, including his life as a soldier, commencing as a platoon commander and serving in the Vietnam war. He was awarded the Military Cross for ‘gallantry during active operations against the enemy’. He then subsequently rose to the rank of Brigadier, and on concluding his military career, he successfully tr...
Jun 01, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 9
As CEO of the South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network (SEMPHN), Dr. Elizabeth Deveny knows a thing of two about leadership. Like most successful leaders, Elizabeth probably learnt a few things the hard way. In this Podcast I discuss matters of values-based leadership with Elizabeth. Martin Luther King Jr. once posed, ‘a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a moulder of consensus’. This Podcast explores how values-based leadership plays a central role in bringing people toget...
May 15, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 8
For Podcast 7 I’m delighted to have Deputy Commissioner Mike Wassing AFSM as my guest. Mike has now served in senior leadership roles in two states, and he is well known for his very personable style, and for his values-based leadership approach. The podcast topic is Mission Command, a concept that has been central to the success of countless organisations, both in the military setting and broader. Mission Command has been known to drive success, however certain supporting concepts are required ...
Apr 30, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 7
As posed by the founder of the Harvard Kennedy School of Public Leadership, Mr Ronald Heifetz, ‘exercising adaptive leadership is about giving meaning to your life beyond your own ambition’. In this Podcast I speak with a respected State Emergency Service volunteer and leader, on matters of leadership within the context of her own personal journey. Enjoy!
Apr 10, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 6
