Holiday Archive - Andy Penn on preparing for cyber attacks, effective Chair-CEO relationships and governance at the National Gallery of Victoria
Release Date: 12/15/2025
Skipp Williamson: Why Transformations Go Off Track
Boardroom Confidential
Skipp Williamson has spent decades working with organisations on one of the most persistent challenges in business: execution. As founder of Partners in Performance, she has seen first-hand how even the most compelling strategies can unravel when delivery falls short. In this conversation, Skipp explores why execution risk is often underestimated at board level, and how major projects can drift off course despite appearing on track. She explains the difference between the “pageantry” of project management and the realities of delivery, and why traditional reporting often obscures more than...
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Former MYOB boss Tim Reed on boards’ potential AI blind spots, Australia’s productivity puzzle, and what actually happens when private equity buys a business
Boardroom Confidential
Tim Reed has led through growth, disruption and transition as CEO of MYOB for over a decade, President of the Business Council of Australia, and now as a director, investor and climate policy contributor. In this conversation, Tim reflects on the importance of setting a clear long-term vision, building a culture that delivers, and staying close to customers. He shares lessons from CEO succession, including why different leaders are needed at different stages and what boards should look for when making that call. The discussion also explores the shift from operator to investor, the discipline...
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Innovation with Intent: OzHarvest Chair Lawrence Goldstone on Boards and Change
Boardroom Confidential
Lawrence Goldstone has built a career at the intersection of purpose, people and transformation. He spent decades advising major organisations on strategy, innovation and large-scale change before stepping into the role of chair at OzHarvest, Australia’s largest food rescue organisation. In this conversation, Lawrence reflects on leading through CEO succession in a founder-led organisation, balancing financial sustainability with social impact, and why scale is both OzHarvest’s greatest opportunity and challenge. He shares practical insights on innovation in the boardroom, including...
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S3E11 – Diane Smith-Gander on transitioning to the boardroom, effective chairs, and the role of AI in modern governance
Boardroom Confidential
Diane Smith-Gander reflects on a career spanning executive leadership, global consulting and some of Australia’s most complex boardrooms. In this conversation, Diane discusses the realities of transitioning from management to governance, the importance of preparation and judgement, and why effective boards are curious, disciplined and willing to challenge constructively. She shares insights from chairing organisations across mining services, health, fintech and higher education, including how boards oversee safety in global operations and navigate growing regulatory and geopolitical risk....
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S3E10 - Visibility, Values and the Boardroom: Former David Jones CEO Paul Zahra on Inclusive Leadership
Boardroom Confidential
Paul Zahra has spent his career leading through disruption - as CEO of David Jones, head of the Australian Retailers Association during Covid, board director and founder of the Pinnacle Foundation. In this conversation, Paul reflects on what crisis reveals about leadership, governance and values. He discusses why visibility matters in the boardroom, particularly for LGBTQIA+ leaders, and how boards can move beyond tokenism to genuine inclusion. Paul also unpacks the chair’s role in setting culture, managing diverse voices and balancing social impact with fiduciary responsibility. Drawing on...
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S3E9 – Former Mirvac CEO Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz on Australia’s housing challengers, gender diversity and transitioning to the boardroom
Boardroom Confidential
Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz reflects on a career shaped by unexpected turns, major leadership challenges and a decade transforming Mirvac as CEO - and how those experiences now inform her work in the boardroom. In this conversation, Susan discusses the mindset shift from executive to non-executive roles, the discipline of governing without managing, and what effective boards get right in uncertain times. She explores the balance between being supportive and challenging, the central role of the chair, and why CEO succession is the most important decision a board makes. Susan also shares insights from...
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S3E8 - Nothing About Us Without Us: Alastair McEwin on Disability, Leadership and the Boardroom
Boardroom Confidential
Alastair McEwin has spent his career pushing for a more inclusive Australia — as a lawyer, board director, Disability Discrimination Commissioner and a commissioner on the Disability Royal Commission. In this conversation, he reflects on what drew him to disability advocacy, what he learned starting out on boards in his twenties, and why great governance is a team sport. Alastair unpacks why representation at the top still lags, how boards can move beyond tokenism, and the practical changes that make boardrooms genuinely accessible. He also shares the Royal Commission’s central message:...
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S3E7 – Polycrisis and Boards: Merriden Varrall on the geopolitical risk directors can’t ignore
Boardroom Confidential
Geopolitics is no longer just background noise — it’s now central to how organisations plan, invest and manage risk. In this episode, foreign affairs expert Merriden Varrall, joins Boardroom Confidential to unpack what today’s “polycrisis” world really means for directors. Drawing on her experience at KPMG, the Lowy Institute and the UN in China, Merriden explains why boards must look beyond daily headlines to the deeper megatrends: converging climate, energy and food risks; the erosion of trust in institutions and the rise of populism; and a fragmenting global economy shaped by...
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S3E6 – Brad Welsh: Career re-invention, curiosity in the boardroom, and unlocking First Nations talent
Boardroom Confidential
Brad Welsh has built a career defined by reinvention — from child protection officer to political adviser, CEO of Energy Resources of Australia, board member at nib, and now founder of Mawal. In this conversation, Brad reflects on the choices, opportunities and turning points that shaped his path, and how curiosity and ambition have guided every reinvention. Brad discusses the lessons learned leading ERA through the complex rehabilitation of a major uranium mine, what long-term projects teach leaders about managing risk, and how to balance the expectations of diverse stakeholders. He also...
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Holiday Archive - Audette Exel on social entrepreneurship in action, learning from mistakes, and the board’s role in promoting philanthropy
Boardroom Confidential
Over the holidays, we’ll be bringing you some earlier episodes of our Boardroom Confidential podcast. This time it’s Audette Exel, the founder and chair of Adara Group. She’s also a former director with Suncorp and Westpac and previously served as Chair of the Bermuda Stock Exchange. Audette shares the story behind Adara’s unique model, which channels profits from corporate advisory work directly into life-saving development programs in some of the world’s most remote communities. She reflects candidly on the mistakes she’s made along the way, what they taught her, and why boards...
info_outlineOver the holidays, we’ll be bringing you some earlier episodes of our Boardroom Confidential podcast.
This time, it’s Andy Penn, a director with Coles and Trustee for the National Gallery of Victoria. He also spent seven years as the CEO of Telstra and previously served as the chair of the federal government’s Cyber Security Strategy Expert Advisory Board.
We talk about: lesson for boards on cyber security, advice on effective Chair-CEO relationships, and governance at the National Gallery of Victoria.