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Consulting

Ron works with organisations that are looking to meet their full potential through the identification of assets and then shows them the art of monetising them. He has an extensive history of transforming businesses in adversity to opportunity.

Interim & Advisory

Ron has developed a model that determines all the levers within an organisation to generate revenue and reduce costs. The Organisational Optimisation model determines where success will come from. The Gap Assessment develops the strategic plan to deliver success.

Inspirational Keynote Speaker

Leadership

Ron shares his experiences as a leader through adversity, crisis and how he navigates organisations through to creating new opportunities. He talks to the loneliness of leadership during difficult times.

He is well known for his conversations on The Guiding Principles that drive people’s success.

Facilitator

Ron has facilitated many workshops and seminars over the years. He has an innate ability to inspire through innovative thinking. His style delivers exceptional ideas and results for organisations.

He takes people on a journey identifying opportunities not even thought of in an inclusive way.

Saxton

Ron is also a part of the professional speaker’s circuit organised by Saxton. Topics include – From Adversity to Opportunity; Never Waste A Crisis; Leadership & Management – They are different.

Testimonials

What People Say

“Ron has an amazing energy, an inspirational leadership style and a massive array of experiences that delivers new dimension to the way we think about business”.

“Ron expects results from his team but he leads by example. He makes tough decisions that are well measured. he is as trusted advisor and he brings a clear focus to what needs to be done”

“Ron has a simple yet effective way of nailing the salient points on leadership and management principles. His pragmatic advice is refreshing”

About Ron

  • About Ron
    Ron is recognised as the “Go To” executive for organisations that are looking for significant growth through innovative ideas and strategies. He is a transformation specialist with a wide suite of experiences in good governance, asset leverage and rapidly producing profitable business growth. He has an extensive track record of turning adversity into opportunity. Ron […]
  • Professional Bio
    Ron has developed a significant reputation as the “Go To” executive for organisations who are looking for significant growth, transformation, good governance, asset leverage and/or quality leadership. He has an extensive track record of major business transformations regardless of complexity or adversities. Ron has an innate ability to navigate organisations through realising their untapped potential. […]
  • Executive Roles
    Ron’s experience spans across a variety of industries, in organisations that vary in size from small to multi national enterprises. The most notable of these are: Australian Information Industry Association Federation Square Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club Telstra Microsoft IBM Melbourne Polytechnic Board Positions Include: The Australian Information Industry Association Vicsport (Chairman) Brad Teal Real […]

Making Contact

About

Keynote Speaking

Ron is the “go to” person when adversity needs to be turned into opportunity. As a crisis manager and transformation specialist, he has continuously and consistently delivered significant growth during the most challenging times across a wide variety of industries. He is best described as a “pracademic” by those who have heard him talk through management journeys. Ron shares his experiences as a CEO and Non-Executive Board member given his unique mix of roles across technology and the high-performance sport industry. Ron provides guidance and insight on the challenges and opportunities that Boards and leadership teams should consider when managing their business and their people. Technology and the drive for optimal performance need to be understood to be leveraged.

The Guiding Principles

The Case for Change – Transformational Leadership

Leadership in the Face of Adversity

From Adversity to Opportunity

The Power of Networking

The Business of Sport

Negotiation is about Everyone Winning

Organisational Optimisation

The Loneliness of Leadership

The Role of Technology in your business

The Growth Agenda – Building with the Right Tools

Ron is also an accredited Speaker with the Saxton Network

https://www.saxton.com.au/speakers/ron-gauci

Media Posts

In the Media

The YOU Project with Craig Harper (Podcast)

I really enjoyed this conversation with Craig covering a wide range of topics.

Fear and Greed – Economic Growth Driven by Technology

Ron joins Sean Aylmer and the team and Fear and Greed to discuss how we grown a sustainable, globally competitive economy through the enabling power of technology.

https://fearandgreed.com.au/all-episodes

Ron Gauci calls for National AI Strategy

Ron joins the Cyber Security Weekly Podcast

Ron Gauci, CEO of the Australian Information Industry Association discusses the call for sufficient funding into Australia’s national Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy.

The AIIA is calling on the Federal Government to allocate $250 million in the May budget to ensure Australia becomes a global leader in AI research and commercialisation and doesn’t fall behind its international peers.

When the Government does announce its National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy it must come with significant funding over the $29.9 million it currently contributes over four years. The Australian Government commissioned the Artificial Intelligence: Solving problems, growing the economy and improving our quality of life, in November 2019 to assist its AI Roadmap which outlines the many opportunities and benefits available from investing in a National AI Strategy.

The AIIA is urging the Federal Government to support AI efforts, and focus on supporting R&D through to commercialisation of innovative products and services. This will help to maximise the return for Australian businesses and boost the AI sector and ensure our traditional industries remain internationally competitive including in agriculture, finance, health and manufacturing.

https://australiancybersecuritymagazine.com.au/episode-259-call-for-an-australian-national-ai-strategy/

The Inner Chief with Greg Layton

Ron has become famous for his track record in turning around organisations and setting them on the path to fantastic success. He has been called Mr Fix-It and The Turnaround CEO. 

  • We talk all about
    • The stories of some of his major turnarounds and the key principles that guided him
    • His three step process for launching turnarounds
    • How to have the difficult conversations and get buy-in from a wide range of often highly emotional stakeholders

https://theinnerchief.libsyn.com/187-ron-gauci-ceo-of-aiia-on-leading-turnarounds-and-principles-of-leadership

The One Shot Podcast with Craig Schulze

As you go thru business, there comes a point when you need to tackle bigger problems to scale and grow. Ron Gauci is one of the go to people when it comes to tackling this space. Ron is a known high level executive coach, keynote speaker and has previously sat on a lot of boards for consulting. Known as Mr. Fix-it, today we interview Ron as he shares his expertise in business, scaling agencies and solving problems. Listen to today’s episode of The One Shot Movement Podcast.

Listen: https://lnns.co/-5fkXd8U3aJ

Interview with Anne Jamieson from Saxton

A great discussion over the challenges leaders face during this difficult time of COVID-19.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgMX_lwKx44

Interview with Holly Ransom on leadership

“The easiest thing for leaders to do right now is to cut costs… but nothing grows while you’re choking it!” I spoke to Ron Gauci GAICD to understand the hashtag#leadershipskills needed to steer our businesses successfully through the hashtag#covid19 crisis. What do we do when every decision is a tough decision? How do we formulate, communicate and get buy-in for our plan? A few key conversation points stand out: 1. Nothing grows while you’re choking it 2. We only get one chance at trust 3. Never waste a crisis 4. Empathy is your critical competitive advantage From a leader who has walked into many a crisis situation and emerged out the other side with both personal values and business value intact, we hope this practical conversation supports you to lead through COVID-19.

Watch: https://lnkd.in/gmxc2ua

Listen: https://lnkd.in/guniJdj

Interview with Chris Cubbage for CyberSecurity Weekly Podcast

COVIDsafe gets peak industry backing – with support provided by the AIIA – we spoke to AIIA CEO Ron Gauci GAICD this morning for the MySecurity Media Cyber Security Weekly Podcast – as of today 2.8 million Australians have downloaded the hashtag#Covidsafe App hashtag#covid19aus

LINK is https://lnkd.in/gJZjUeZ


Australian Leadership – “Aussie Brazenness” – With Joseph Ghaly and Victor Perton The Centre for Optimism

Ron Gauci talks to Australian Leadership‘s Joe Ghaly and Victor Perton on Australian Leadership.  During a diverse executive career, Ron Gauci has led organisations adapting to disruptive change and competition. These organisations include Melbourne’s iconic Federation Square, then financially-troubled Melbourne Polytechnic (formerly NMIT), the Melbourne Storm Rugby League Club after the infamous salary cap rorting scandal and the Aust/NZ operations of Verizon Business.  Ron sits on theBoard of Softball Australia and the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports (CAMS) Foundation.

Link: http://australianleadership.blogspot.com/2016/11/ron-gauci-on-australian-leadership.html

Habits of Successful People

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/books-magazines/the-daily-habits-of-successful-people-storm-boss-ron-gauci/news-story/fb383c8592b10f475f0889a95873a99f

R & D Investment for Growth

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N3yzjPPF78zm3wkAoDXFjrtCIPZyxWCt/view

Staff Retention is Key

https://www.cio.com/article/3498620/staff-retention-key-for-tech-companies-in-2020-aiia.html

Melbourne Storm Ten Years On

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/the-moment-that-defined-the-melbourne-storm-10-years-on-20200421-p54lq5.html

Digital Mentors

https://www.business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/digital-champions/digital-mentors

Australian Business Continuity

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The Guiding Principles

One of the topics Ron gets asked to talk about regularly in presentations he gives to the corporate community is around effective leadership and management, remembering that they are both very different concepts.Over the years, through his extensive experience with and research on successful people, he has developed for his own purposes what has become known as his Ten Guiding Principles of Effective Leadership and Management. 

Recruit & keep the right people. They are either on the bus or off the bus

We all talk about the importance of our people and yet managers’ actions suggest that it is no more than lip service. I have always believed that you hire people who will do their job better than you do. Many managers become somewhat paranoid about whom they hire. See it as an opportunity to recruit your successor. Choose well. 

Hire Slowly Fire Fast. Take your time to recruit the right person. This requires a good number of discussions, reference checking, alternative views from others, scenario setting to name a few stages of the process. Conversely, if you have the wrong person, and more often than not you will know quickly, then “fire fast”. The damage you can cause through inactivity can become substantial. Both parties will know if it is not working out. Sound processes will enable you to both hire slow and fire fast.

One of my prescribed readings is a book by Jim Collins called “Good to Great” where he talks about the importance of having people “On the Bus” in terms of your strategy and vision. If they are not on the bus, then you need to get them off it or they will seriously hinder what it is that you are trying to achieve. Getting buy-in is critical and is an art form in itself.

I have always been fortunate that I have surrounded myself with people who make me look good and successful. All I then need to do is acknowledge and reward them, earning their loyalty. If I only need to have one skill as a manager, it is to recruit and keep the right people.

Know your role and be accountable

It is interesting that sporting teams point to their success being anchored by everyone on the field knowing their role and being accountable for it. It is no different in business. The organisational structure needs to be clear and pertinent to the business. Each person needs to know and understand their role in the context of the entire organisation. They need to have a clear Job Description with KPI’s that are directly linked to their objectives within the achievement of the organisation’s objectives. These need to be specific, measurable, achievable with a clear time frame. Each member of the team then needs to be held fully accountable for that role. Providing constant feedback formally or otherwise is also important.

I have developed a model to ascertain and achieve “Organisational Optimisation” which is about making the structure and levers function effectively at a fully optimised level enabling you to determine through a gap analysis any potential risks or opportunities for your business.

Remove the de-motivators

I have often said that my job as a manager and leader is not to motivate people. This should always come from within, if not you have a different issue. My role therefore is to remove the de-motivators that are within my control. They are processes, issues, factors, hygienic or otherwise, that get in the way of good people being their best. I have often said that if you have recruited wisely and bring in a person who has been successful elsewhere and they are not producing the return they are capable of then perhaps they aren’t the problem.  I have become very adept at running through brick walls. 

Plan to succeed

You know the old saying that those who don’t plan are planning to fail. What amazes me is the frequency in which people and organisations set on a path of a project or a business plan without defining clearly what success looks like at the end of it. If you can’t define clearly what success looks like, communicate it and get the buy-in of all the stakeholders then how can you possibly achieve it let alone know when you are there. A great plan not only defines the objectives and a strategy to achieve them, but it has a clearly articulated definition of what success looks like.

No Data. No Decision

Emotion in business is an enemy. It creates blindness and impairs judgement. Gathering the right information is critical to making the right decisions. I am not advocating analysis paralysis, but I do believe very strongly that you need to ensure that you gather the best information available to enable you to make a calculated and informative decision. Data gives you a knowledge base to work from and removes the hazards of the heart dictating the mind.  

If you don’t ask you don’t get

Once again, we know of sayings around “we don’t know what we don’t know” or what happens when you make assumptions. I have seen many examples of people gaining advantage and moving forward by just merely asking. You don’t want to have regrets finding out afterwards that if you had only asked for this and done that certain something that makes the difference. You can ask for anything from and say anything to anyone as long as you remember and respect the fact that it is all in the way that you do that. Learning the art of asking the right questions is key.

A crisis needs a cool head.

The most stressful situations require the best decisions and you can’t make your best decisions when you are stressed. That is when you need to have all your wits and thoughts about you to ensure that you make the right decisions. Great leaders perform at their best in a crisis. It is when they shine.  People around you will look for your strength as a leader in these situations.

WIIIFM: Have a clear value proposition

Too often we are so focussed on what we want out of a situation, deal or outcome that we don’t give enough if any, consideration to what is in it for the other party or parties. We need to be clear on what the value proposition is for the other party or parties otherwise there is no compelling reason for them to commit to what ever it is that you are proposing. The other party in any negotiation or proposal wants their needs addressed before they are prepared to commit. Always assess a situation from the other party’s perspective. 

Communication is key: Get the language right

Rarely can you ever over communicate. People like to be informed. The message needs to be delivered continuously to ensure that everyone remains on the same page. Reinforcement of the key messages is what improves dramatically, the probability of success. In a crisis situation, communication is critical to ensuring that you get through it. It is also an opportunity for leadership to shine, through clear and public direction at a time when it is needed most.

If you can’t measure it you can’t improve it

It is an old saying but still very pertinent today. You need to build in processes that not only determine what the key success indicators are, but how you measure whether they have been achieved. This measurement then enables you to set benchmarks and parameters that enable you to determine how you can then improve them further. Without measurement tools then you are effectively stabbing in the dark. Can you imagine life without accurate measuring tools when buying property, constructing buildings, establishing road rules around speed limits to suggest just a few as examples? Therefore why don’t we apply the same importance to putting in place measurement tools inside our business? Measurement gives us certainty and clarity.