Thriving in Uncertainty with Marie Boland
Our next Trailblazer’s interest in history and learning from it, particularly the history of labour movements and work, has been a common theme that has led her throughout her fascinating career. Marie Boland, Chief Executive Officer at Safe Work Australia, discusses this further in our latest episode on Taking the Path Less Travelled.
Our next Trailblazer’s interest in history and learning from it, particularly the history of labour movements and work, has been a common theme that has led her throughout her fascinating career. Marie Boland, Chief Executive Officer at Safe Work Australia, discusses this further in our latest episode on Taking the Path Less Travelled.
Listen to episode twenty-one:
About this episode:
Marie talks about growing up in Ireland and how her dad, who was a great history buff, used to take them around Dublin, telling stories and looking at statues of famous people. He particularly liked stopping at statues of great union leaders, and the stories and figures stuck with her.
After moving to Australia in 1992, Marie worked as a curator in museums. While working at one particularly council-run museum, Marie had the opportunity to be a staff representative during council amalgamations in South Australia, where she was part of the negotiations and enterprise bargaining. And the rest, as they say, is history. Through this experience, Marie ultimately became a union member, reigniting her interest in law and then studying law with the long-term aim of being a labour lawyer and working in industrial relations.
Listen in to hear from Marie as she talks about both personal and professional drivers that keep her going during confronting and tough times at work. She explains how she is focused on harmonising and strengthening tripartism during her tenure as CEO of Safe Work Australia, working with unions, businesses, and the government to reach consensus outcomes. Marie also talks about how she believes your time will come and the importance of backing yourself.
We also discuss Marie’s 2018 national review of model work, health, and safety laws and how this helped to influence the Commonwealth to change the 2011 regulations to include psychological health. Together, we discuss the pivotal role that leaders need to play in keeping up to date with what’s going on in their organisation through risk management and consultation and the importance of the work design piece in potentially eliminating potential hazards at the point of deciding how work is done.
Whether you believe in fate or not, this enthralling episode is a testament to how interests and passions in your life, even from a young age, can help lead you to the path you were meant to be on.
Episode references:
Codes of Practice
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/law-and-regulation/codes-practice
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Marie Boland
Chief Executive Officer
Safe Work Australia
Marie Boland has been the Chief Executive Officer of Safe Work Australia since 1 November 2023.
Marie is a Member of Safe Work Australia and its subsidiary committees and a Commissioner of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission. She is a member of the Respect@Work Council and the G20 Occupational Safety and Health Expert Network, and an observer on the Heads of Workplace Safety Authorities and the Heads of Workers’ Compensation Authorities.
Before joining Safe Work Australia, Marie offered independent work health and safety and workplace relations consultancy services.
Marie’s work health and safety experience spans many roles, including completing the 2023 review of the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner, the 2022 Review of the Conduct of Work Health and Safety Prosecutions in the Australian Capital Territory, an independent review of the South Australian local government sector's One System WHS Management System in December 2020 and the 2018 National Review of the model work health and safety laws (Boland Review). Marie was the 2021 Inaugural Thinker in Residence at the University of South Australia's Psychosocial Safety Climate Global Observatory. Marie has held senior roles at SafeWork South Australia as an Executive Director, Policy and Community Engagement Director and Chief Policy Officer.
Marie holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and Master of Arts from University College, Dublin, and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Adelaide.
Tune in next time as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Thriving in Uncertainty - Episode ten with Judith Formston
Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services at the Department of Health and Wellbeing SA, joins us in this episode to discuss authentic leadership. Judith shares her experience leading others by showing her human side, which helps her team realise she is just like everyone else. She also provides strategies for how her organisation fosters connections to create a safe space where everyone is invited and feels that they can express themselves freely through a range of initiatives, that help workers to disconnect from the workplace, but connect with each other, including coffee breaks, Friday night wines, groups, and communities of practice.
Often, asking simple questions such as “Is everything OK?”, “What’s happening with you?” or “What are you working on at the moment?” can help us learn more about the people around us and form connections with one another. Many post-pandemic workplaces have a range of flexible working arrangements, and it can be challenging for those workers to feel connected to others, leaving many lonely, burnt out, or disengaged.
Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services at the Department of Health and Wellbeing SA, joins us in this episode to discuss authentic leadership. Judith shares her experience leading others by showing her human side, which helps her team realise she is just like everyone else. She also provides strategies for how her organisation fosters connections to create a safe space where everyone is invited and feels that they can express themselves freely through a range of initiatives, that help workers to disconnect from the workplace, but connect with each other, including coffee breaks, Friday night wines, groups, and communities of practice.
Listen in as Judith talks about key takeaways from the Jarwun Program she participated in. She enjoyed the yarning circle, where she connected to others during lunchtimes by basket weaving and talking. She also discusses the current journey her department is on to give their employees a better experience and improve mental health through organising meditation sessions.
Judith is a great example of a humble, authentic, and ‘human’ leader. We hope that you get as many takeaways from this episode as we did.
Listen to episode ten:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Judith Formston
Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services
Department of Health and Wellbeing
South Australia
Judith is a Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate and Infrastructure, at the Department of Health & Wellbeing, where she has Executive responsibility for Workforce, Finance, Procurement and Contracting and Infrastructure Projects. Judith has worked in Government over 20 years and has held Executive and Senior Management positions across a number of Government agencies in South Australia.
Judith is leading the project delivery team, in delivering the new Women’s and Childrens Hospital to the South Australia, being the State’s largest health infrastructure project.
Judith has a passion for reform and project delivery, leading a number of reform projects across Corporate Services, driving change and innovation across systems and processes. Judith has a key focus on the Employee Value proposition and embedding diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.
Tune in next week as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Thriving in Uncertainty – Episode Six with Erma Ranieri
Developing, supporting, and guiding this next generation of leaders is imperative. Erma Ranieri, Commissioner for Public Sector Employment for South Australia, joins Andy this week to discuss the topic of next-generation leaders and offer her lived experiences of being an authentic leader who’s driven to support others through a whole-person approach and provide fairer opportunities for all.
Welcome back to our weekly podcast series on Thriving in Uncertainty, where we spotlight leaders who have gotten comfortable in ambiguity and hear their professional stories of overcoming challenges to navigate change successfully.
As the final states send their kids back to school over the next week, many parents will be thinking about the year ahead for their children and what they’ll learn; others may be excited for their children as they take their next steps into their tertiary education, or even possibly start their own professional career in their given field.
Whatever the case, developing, supporting, and guiding this next generation of leaders is imperative. Erma Ranieri, Commissioner for Public Sector Employment for South Australia, joins Andy this week to discuss the topic of next-generation leaders and offer her lived experiences of being an authentic leader who’s driven to support others through a whole-person approach and provide fairer opportunities for all.
Erma also talks about how important it is for every generation to be clear on their own sense of purpose and how, even with the best technological skills, future leaders must also be self-aware, vulnerable, and resilient, ensuring that human interactions and connecting with each other are valued.
Erma shares examples of some of the numerous mentoring programs that she’s led, detailing what it means for leaders to take a whole-person approach to support their workforce’s mental health and how she’s used her past setbacks to forge a new path for others in avoiding the disadvantages that she encountered earlier in her career.
It’s a powerful conversation that will leave you wanting to make a difference in supporting those around you.
Listen to episode six:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
References from this episode:
Conversations matter – Case managers guide to mental health support
The Happiness Expert That Made 51 Million People Happier: Mo Gawdat
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Erma Ranieri
Commissioner for Public Sector Employment
South Australia
Appointed as Commissioner for Public Sector Employment in 2014, Erma Ranieri is driven to create a world-leading public sector that makes a difference for the South Australian community through an agile, flexible, and inclusive workplace.
Throughout her extensive career in the public and private sectors, her dynamic and inclusive leadership style has helped organisations optimise productivity while also enhancing employee wellbeing.
Erma was awarded the Public Service Medal in the 2021 Australia Day Honours list, for her long-standing advocacy of gender equality, diversity and disability employment and her commitment to public sector reform.
Tune in next week as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Trailblazing with CorbettPrice Podcast - Episode 5
Welcome back to our podcast series on organisational health and the seven dimensions of wellness. This week in episode five, we continue to explore the theme of employee experience by looking into one of the crucial factors that impact this positively or negatively, an organisation’s culture. Workplace culture is our fifth relational dimension of organisational health.
Listen to episode five:
Also available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts:
Workplace culture, as defined by BambooHR, is the personality of an organisation – it’s a shared set of workplace beliefs, values, attitudes, standards, purposes, and behaviours. Research by Gallup shows that employees with a strong connection to their organisation’s culture are more likely to be engaged and less likely to experience burnout as often as those without.
Cherie Canning from Luminate Leadership joins us to discuss this essential topic, where she draws on real organisational case studies to talk through the attributes leaders need to have to create a people-centric culture, how this starts with psychological safety and how to create that, how organisations can overcome toxic workplace cultures, why mental health first aid is essential for everyone throughout an organisation, and how to build a connection with employees regardless of whether they are in the office, or working from home.
This episode is must listen for anyone who wants their organisation to be more people-centric or learn how to maintain a positive and strong workplace culture.
Download the full transcript of episode five (with references):
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Cherie’s passion lies in inspiring people to achieve their potential by developing their 'human skills'.
Cherie is a passionate optimist, an avid traveller and the Founder and Director of Luminate Leadership.
With almost two decades of leading and developing leaders at Luminate and previously at Flight Centre Travel Group, Cherie has proven results and her authentic communication style and workshop content continue to leave a long-lasting impact on leaders and their businesses.
Cherie founded Luminate Leadership in 2020 with one purpose in mind; to grow and inspire leaders of today to create a better tomorrow. Her intention is to embrace human based Leadership traits such as connection, collaboration, courage, empathy, compassion and kindness.
It’s her mission, and the mission of Luminate to share these skills with as many Leaders as possible, inspiring them to be the best humans they can be and bring as much joy and fulfilment to their work and lives. Cherie will also host Luminate Leadership’s annual IGNITE conference this August, celebrating Women in Leadership through coming together to connect, learn, inspire and be inspired.
Web: www.luminateleadership.com.au
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cheriecanning