Advertise on podcast: Conversations with Thought Leaders

CONVERSATIONS WITH THOUGHT LEADERS KEYNOTE EVENT: Turning Strategy into Reality DATE: Wednesday 18 October 2023 HOSTS: David Webley - Founder & Managing Director, Granite Consulting KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Rob Loader – Strategy & Transformation Executive Roberto Calati – Co-Founder & CEO Granite Data Guy Brunsdon – Product & Technology Executive In this keynote event, Roberto Calati, Rob Loader and Guy Brunsdon covered current trends in transformation, workforce insights, a Silicon Valley perspective, and a practical discussion on how to bridge the expensive gap between strategy and execution.

CHAPTERS 00:00 Ch.01 Event Welcome and Introductions 07:21 Ch.02 Brian's Dyslexia Journey 11:25 Ch.03 What is Dyslexia? 13:26 Ch.04 Not Tied to Low IQ 14:25 Ch.05 Spikes in the Profile 15:09 Ch.06 Dyslexia in the Workplace 19:11 Ch.07 Fourth Industrial Revolution 19:55 Ch.08 Skills Forecast 20:50 Ch.09 The Value of Dyslexia 29:22 Ch.10 Attracting and Retaining Dyslexic Workers 35:06 Ch.11 Thanks and Close CONVERSATIONS WITH THOUGHT LEADERS KEYNOTE EVENT: Building Competitive Advantage Through Neurodiversity DATE: Wednesday 16 August 2023 HOSTS: David Webley - Founder & Managing Director, Granite Consulting KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Brian Heatherich – Technology Leader & Advocate for Neurodiversity In this event, Brian talked about what dyslexia is and what it isn’t, what are the “superpowers” of a person with dyslexia that organisations should tap into, the current representation of people with dyslexia within in the corporate environment, the power of tapping into neurodiversity for organisations of the future and recommendations on how to commence or continue your corporate neurodiversity journey.

CONVERSATIONS WITH THOUGHT LEADERS KEYNOTE EVENT: How to Unleash a World Class BA Practice DATE: Wednesday 14 June 2023 HOSTS: David Webley - Founder & Managing Director, Granite Consulting Mark Carter - Director Granite Consulting KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Maria Montgomery – Leader, Author, Trainer, and Speaker In this session Maria Montgomery shares insights from her recently released book ‘A Guide to Getting Business Analysis Done the Right Way’. Maria talks about why getting business analysis right is crucial for organisational success, where to focus your efforts to build Business Analyst capabilities and establish a 'Centre of Excellence'. CHAPTERS 00:00 Ch.01 Event Welcome and Introductions 05:44 Ch.02 Evolution of Business Analysis 09:49 Ch.03 Current Challenges and Problems 15:39 Ch.04 Impacts of Poor Business Analysis 17:03 Ch.05 The Model for Getting Business Analysis Right 18:17 Ch.06 So What Does it Take to Do Well 20:05 Ch.07 Best Practice 22:39 Ch.08 The Business Analysis Checklist 23:08 Ch.09 Thanks and Close

DATE: Wednesday 24th May 2023   HOSTS: David Webley - Founder & Managing Director, Granite Consulting KEYNOTE SPEAKER:   Gemma Suanders – Chief Workplace Editor and Proud Queer Executive Alana Bennett – Human Experience Fanatic and Coach   In this edition of Conversations with Thought Leaders we talk to two exciting guests, Alana Bennett – Human Experience Fanatic & Coach and Gemma Saunders 🌈 GAICD – Founder & Lead Consultant, Workplace Edit. With our very own David Webley - Managing Director & Co-Founder hosting, Alana and Gemma talk about what is driving and derailing connection within an organisation and why connection matters.

CONVERSATIONS WITH THOUGHT LEADERS KEYNOTE EVENT: Winning With Data DATE: Wednesday 22nd March 2023 HOSTS: David Webley - Founder & Managing Director, Granite Consulting Roberta Calati - General Manager, Granite Data Solutions KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Bharath Venkataraman - Senior Data Leader ABOUT ROBERTO: Roberto is an accomplished technology leader with nearly 20 years of experience driving digital and technology transformation in multiple industries and has held executive technology roles at Myer, Toll Group and Tabcorp. Throughout his career, Roberto has had a passion for data from the very beginning, where he worked in research labs collecting and transforming data, right up to leading BI and data teams as a divisional CIO. Under Roberto's leadership, his teams have delivered numerous successful data-driven initiatives that have had a significant impact on the businesses they support. This has included millions of dollars of cost out through BI initiatives and developing cross-functional insights that led to the creation of new product categories. Seeing the massive, sustained increase in the demand for data platforms, people and capability drove Roberto to co-found a data company and help businesses build world-class data capabilities. ABOUT BHARATH Bharath Venkataraman is a senior Data leader with extensive experience in creating and delivering organisation wide BI and Analytics vision and strategy, across various domains such as FMCG, Telecommunications, Supply Chain, Logistics and Retail to support strategic business goals and enable best-in class information delivery. Bharath has over 15 years’ experience in recruiting, developing, and managing high performing teams to deliver complex Analytics solutions and well considered, multi-level insights to a variety of stakeholders to enable customer teams to make better, more informed strategic decisions.

CONVERSATIONS WITH THOUGHT LEADERS KEYNOTE EVENT: What's the Fuss About Flutter? DATE: Wednesday 22nd February 2023 HOSTS: David Webley - Founder & Managing Director, Granite Consulting Sam Jenkins - Lead Consultant Software Development, Granite Consulting KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Christian Findlay - Independent Flutter Developer ABOUT CHRISTIAN: Christian is a highly experienced and respected Technology leader with over 20 years of experience in the IT industry. Christian has partnered with large organisations such as MYOB, Toll Group, Loan Market Group and Telstra Health. Christian has been running his own business, christianfindlay.com, for just over 3 years where he has specialised in content creation and development with Flutter. Having previously worked with Xamarin, Christian strongly believes that Flutter is the future for cross platform application development, not just from the point of view from the Developer, but due to the hugely reduced costs and times for companies. Christian has a history of releasing apps on the Google Play, Microsoft and Apple stores. He currently has Flutter apps in the two stores and is overhauling two existing apps for release soon.

HOW TO GROW BEYOND DIVERSITY DATE: 1 June 2022 HOST: David Webley, Founder & MD of Granite Consulting GUEST: Gemma Saunders – Founder and Lead Consultant, Workplace Edit ABOUT THIS EPISODE This episode explores diversity and inclusiveness in the workplace, and the ways that organisations are best able to not only nurture a diverse workforce but leverage it for strategic advantage. Although many organisations pay it lip service, those that truly embrace diversity are emerging as employers of choice, growing their talent pool, and yielding the benefits that this stands to offer. With Gemma’s first-hand experience working with numerous companies in this space, the webinar is sure to provide many insights and tips that attendees are able to apply in their own teams and organisations. ABOUT GEMMA Gemma is the founder of ‘Workplace Edit’, a consultancy that partners with organisations to adapt and leverage the huge amount of value of having a diverse workforce. Gemma is a proud queer woman and parent of two. She has many accolades including being a finalist at the Australian LGBTI Awards (alongside the cast of Netflix show ‘Orange is the New Black’) and has been on the board of ‘Wear It Purple’ and ‘Minus18’ (organisations that do pivotal work in LGBTIQ+ inclusion). Gemma was a senior executive at Medibank until 2020 where she helped build a diverse and inclusive workplace and has since worked for Afterpay, Linktree, Koala, Sportsbet and approximately 30 other global & local brands over the past two years.

FIVE CONVERSATIONS TO BUILD YOUR CULTURE DATE: 27 April 2022 HOST: David Webley, Founder & MD of Granite Consulting GUEST: Shane Hatton – Leadership Author, Trainer, Coach & Speaker, Author of 'Let's Talk Culture' ABOUT: Shane is an author and speaker on culture, coaching, leadership and communication. Whether you want to rebuild your culture in this new post-COVID world or improve your ability to inspire your team towards success, this podcast will dare you to walk new paths as a leader and unlock what seems impossible. What is covered in this podcast: - What do we mean when we talk about ‘culture’? - Can culture be influenced, or does it just happen? - How do you create a world-class team culture by design?

LEADERSHIP AS A LIFESTYLE   DATE: 8 September 2021   HOST: David Webley, Founder & MD of Granite Consulting   GUEST: Colleen Callander – Keynote Speaker, Director, Author of 'Leader By Design' In this episode David speak to Colleen Callander (former Sportsgirl CEO, Founder of Mentor Me Women and Author of ‘Leader By Design’) and covers topics such as the foundations of leadership, how kindness can be used by leaders, how to recognise and avoid burnout, and building the confidence to be a better leader. INSIGHT 1 Confidence is a skill and not a trait.  It's therefore something that can grow and be nurtured and developed.   INSIGHT 2 A degree of chaos and disruption is healthy and helps to lift resilience and innovation.  However there is a significant difference between disruptive and destructive leadership and an organisation will only grow from the former and not the latter.   INSIGHT 3 Although kindness is often perceived as weakness, the opposite is true.  It requires courage to make strong and tough decisions with kindness.

RESILIENCE MATTERS, MORE THAN EVER DATE: 18 August 2021 HOST: David Webley, Founder & MD of Granite Consulting GUEST: Maggie Roberts – CEO Creative Factory, Director Diving Australia, GAICD This conversation explores resilience and how it has featured in Maggie's journey from elite athlete to corporate executive. It provides listeners with a range of concepts and techniques to develop and nurture resilience, which during these unprecedented times is more important than ever.   INSIGHT 1 Visualisation is a powerful tool that can be used in all walks of life.  Deep visualisation will help you believe it is possible.  What you believe, you can achieve. INSIGHT 2 Values are fundamental to resilience and what bring it to life.  Living by values such as courage, strength, excellence, perseverance, and belief, will help you grow from setbacks and be more resilient. INSIGHT 3 Reflect, not regret is a mindset that reframes setbacks as opportunities to learn.  This not only provides a genesis for growth, but is key to maintaining a positive outlook and improved mental wellbeing.

LEADING THROUGH OUR (ULTRA) MARATHON CHALLENGES DATE: 14 July 2021 HOST: David Webley, Founder & MD of Granite Consulting GUEST: Dr. Kay Bretz – Author, Facilitator, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Elite Athlete This conversation explores the mental preparation of competing in ultra marathons and how these techniques can be applied to everyone's work and life challenges. INSIGHT 1  To achieve step level gain, rather than just marginal gains, a fundamental shift in mindset is required. Although doing bits and pieces may enable the one percenters, it’s necessary to deliberately diverge from your default, to turn right instead of left, to attain your 22% step level improvement. INSIGHT 2  We all have our limiting beliefs that are self-fulfilling and provide a safety net in work and life. It’s not until we honestly confront and dispel these limiting beliefs, which takes courage and vulnerability, that our true potential can be realised. INSIGHT 3  When we accept that pain and discomfort is an essential part of the journey, and from which we learn the most, we can embrace it and use it as fuel for growth. Resisting pain can cause more suffering than the pain itself, and by accepting it, will often allow the discomfort to dissipate.

DATE: 9 June 2021 HOST: David Webley, Founder & MD of Granite Consulting GUEST: Bill Davoren – High Performance Coach Development Manager, Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) This conversation explores what high performance development looks like at an elite athlete level, and whether any parallels can be drawn to manage the performance of individuals and teams in the business world. INSIGHT 1 When individual team members are prepared to make personal sacrifice to put team ahead of self, team performance is raised to a new level. This is where a team of champions can become a champion team, and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. INSIGHT 2 There’s no point striving for the final percent of marginal gain until the ninety nine percent has first been attained. For teams and individuals at this level, the focus is then often more about maintaining, rather than attaining, their leadership position. INSIGHT 3 As teams and individuals ascend to higher levels of performance, mental strength and resilience is of growing focus. At the elite level, it is usually mental strength, rather than physical talent, that is the differentiator.