Libsyn Directory

371. George Hunt, former CIO of the Year, on Winning hearts and minds, technology as a strategy, and the little things of leadership [Best of Series]

The Inner Chief

Release Date: 08/12/2025

371. George Hunt, former CIO of the Year, on Winning hearts and minds, technology as a strategy, and the little things of leadership [Best of Series]

The Inner Chief

“The one analogy I use for technology change programs is that we're trying to upgrade an aircraft whilst it's in flight. This allows people to understand the risk profile.” In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat we had in 2019 with George Hunt, former CIO of the Year, on winning hearts and minds, technology as a strategy, and the little things of leadership. 🎧👉 👂 WONDERING WHAT CAREER MOVE TO MAKE NEXT? GET THE CHIEF MAKER BOOK AND BE GUIDED BY THE GREAT METHOD FOR CAREER ACCELERATION: At the time of the recording, George was the Chief...

Mini Chief: Building culture through trust and humour, with Linda Carroll of G8 Education

The Inner Chief

“It's really important to keep a sense of humour, especially if you're in a stressful environment. Show people that you're human.” This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Linda Carroll, Chief People Officer, G8 Education. Her full episode is titled Driving business success through the development of your people. You can find the full audio and show notes here:...

370. The secret life of HR professionals, having it all, and AI in the workplace, with HR Chief of Adaptalift Group, Kate Newey

The Inner Chief

“HR is such a diverse role. At any given time we see people at their worst, and people at their best. We’re expected to be lawyers and are constantly making commercial decisions.” In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Kate Newey, HR Chief of Adaptalift Group, on The secret life of HR professionals, having it all and AI in the workplace. 🎧👉 👂 IS YOUR PROGRESS BLOCKED BY DIFFICULT STAKEHOLDERS? Download this step-by-step guide to build trust, get buy-in and turn difficult stakeholders into ambassadors: Kate is a highly...

369. Driving business success through the development of your people, with Linda Carroll, Chief People Officer of G8 Education

The Inner Chief

“HR has shifted towards partnering with the business as a trusted advisor to the executive team, as people have started to realise the value of human capital.” In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Linda Carroll, Chief People Officer of G8 Education, on driving business success through the development of your people. 🎧👉 👂 FEELING OVERLOADED? Constant emails and meeting requests flooding in? Too much to do and not enough time? Learn how to prioritise your time with this strategic focus tool. As an experienced People and Culture...

Mini Chief: Balancing career, parenting and guilt, with Nicolette Rubinsztein AM [Best of Series]

The Inner Chief

“There's work guilt because you worry that you're not delivering 100%. There's guilt that you're not being the best mum possible. So, it really is guilt on all fronts if you're not careful.” This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous CEO guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Nicolette Rubinsztein AM, Professional Board member and author. Her full episode is titled Removing guilt, building female confidence,...

368. Becoming Bulletproof: The 3 Cs of Success [Minisode]

The Inner Chief

“When you develop all three traits, you become bulletproof. You create momentum, confidence, and long-term impact.” Chief, today we dive into what I consider to be a core framework that I’ve observed after working with hundreds of top-tier executives and CEOs through the podcast and our day job at Chief Maker over a number of years. These three traits keep showing up, without fail, in every high-performing leader I meet. If you don’t have these in your toolkit, I can almost guarantee you’ll struggle to hit your definition of success. 🎧👉 👂 WANT TO ACCELERATE YOUR NEXT...

Mini Chief: Being sale-ready and art of timing your exit, with Dean Salakas

The Inner Chief

“You’ve got to get yourself in a position to exit, and then give yourself the time to exit properly. The biggest advice I give sellers is to not be in a rush to sell.” This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Dean Salakas, Former CEO of The Party People. His full episode is titled Being sale-ready, Forecasting like a CFO, and Selling confidently on your terms. You can...

367. Nicolette Rubinsztein AM, Board member and author, on Removing guilt, building female confidence, and overcoming busy-ness [Best of Series]

The Inner Chief

“There's work guilt because you worry that you're not delivering 100%. There's guilt that you're not being the best mum possible. So, it really is guilt on all fronts if you're not careful.” In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat we had in 2019 with Nicolette Rubinsztein AM, Professional Board member and author, on removing guilt, building female confidence, and overcoming busy-ness. 🎧👉 👂 RIGHT PERSON, WRONG ROLE? Use this checklist of questions to determine the right future development plan for your leaders: Nicolette is a qualified...

366. Being sale-ready, Forecasting like a CFO, and Selling confidently on your terms, with former Party People CEO, Dean Salakas

The Inner Chief

“You’ve got to get yourself into a position to exit and then put time on your side. Don't be in a rush to sell, but when you are ready, put a deadline in place for buyers to make an offer.” In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, I speak to Dean Salakas, former Party People CEO, on Being sale-ready, forecasting like a CFO, and selling confidently on your terms. 🎧👉 👂 EQUIP YOUR MIDDLE MANAGERS AND SENIOR LEADERS WITH THE TOOLS TO DRIVE CHANGE AND RESULTS. JOIN THE WAITLIST: Dean is a retail advisor, keynote speaker, and former CEO of The Party...

Mini Chief: Navigating AI & an uncertain future, with Professor Joel Pearson, Director of Future Minds Lab

The Inner Chief

“Imagine any city with 50% job losses, it's a completely different place. I don't see governments getting things ready. It's going to take time.” This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Professor Joel Pearson, Director of Future Minds Lab. His full episode is titled Leading in uncertainty, Future-proofing for the AI Revolution, and De-risking innovation. You can find...

More Episodes

“The one analogy I use for technology change programs is that we're trying to upgrade an aircraft whilst it's in flight. This allows people to understand the risk profile.”

In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat we had in 2019 with George Hunt, former CIO of the Year, on winning hearts and minds, technology as a strategy, and the little things of leadership.

🎧👉 chiefmaker.com/371 👂

WONDERING WHAT CAREER MOVE TO MAKE NEXT? GET THE CHIEF MAKER BOOK AND BE GUIDED BY THE GREAT METHOD FOR CAREER ACCELERATION: chiefmaker.com/book

At the time of the recording, George was the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Sydney Water. He is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of Smart Energy Water in the UK, a role he has held since November 2020.

George is a recognised technology leader within the global utility sector, with a successful track record in implementing technology infrastructure to support increasing customer expectations, challenging regulatory outcomes and corporate business goals.

He has also held roles as a Global Consulting Partner at Wipro Digital in the UK and CIO for Wessex Water.

George has a Bachelor of Engineering from Birmingham University and a Master of Information Systems from Kingston University in London, and was awarded CIO Australia’s CIO of the Year in 2018.

In this Best of Series Masterclass we talk about:

✅ How to win the hearts and minds of your people and aligning to achieve a vision

✅ Why Technology has evolved to become a key strategy for most organisations

✅ Some great analogies for leading a business through rapid change, and

✅ The Little Things of Leadership like the power of goodwill.

Stay epic,

Greg

Connecting with George Hunt

You can reach George via LinkedIn.

Books and Resources

Be Like Amazon - by Jeffrey Eisenberg, Bryan Eisenberg, Roy H Williams
The Advantage - by Patrick Lencioni
Who Moved My Cheese - by Dr Spencer Johnson
Leading on the Edge - by Rachael Robertson
Be The Business: CIOs in the New Era of IT - by Martha Heller

Similar Episodes on strategic technology

Ant Moorhouse, Co-Founder & CEO of EarthTech, on Purpose-driven leadership, and changing the planet by harnessing technology and capitalism
Greg Steele, Global President of Arcadis Mobility, on The importance of broad experience, bringing people with you and dealing with difficult issues
Angus Stevens, Co-Founder & CEO of StartBeyond, on Taking learning by experience to new frontiers, putting guardrails on innovation, and creating useful technology for tangible real-world problems

Connecting with George Hunt

Books and Resources

Similar Episodes on strategic technology

Follow Chief Maker

TOPICS