Creating Synergy Podcast

Appointed as Commissioner for Public Sector Employment in 2014, Erma Ranieri is driven to create a world-leading public sector that delivers great results and outcomes for the South Australian community through an agile, flexible and inclusive workplace.

Erma’s extensive career has focused on helping organisations optimise productivity and employee wellbeing and has spanned roles in the private and public sectors.

Erma has been described to me as a great leader who creates more great leaders, and her amazing qualities haven't gone unnoticed. In 2021, she was awarded the Public Service Medal and added to the Honours list for her long-standing advocacy of gender equality, diversity and disability employment, as well as her commitment to public sector reform. Previous to this she has also won the Telstra Business woman of the year award, a feat not achieved by a person in government before.

In this episode, Erma and Daniel touch on Erma's journey being born in a small village in Greece/Macedonia all the way to today where she finds herself as the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment.

 We also deep-dived into:

• Erma's journey, where she describes that her parents didn't allow her to study, and wanted her to be a home carer;
• How she got to a very successful career in the public sector;
• The influence of mentors gave her the foundation to flourish;
• The positive impact of Erma's work in South Australia around gender equality, diversity and disability employment;
• Leadership and Erma's superpower of creating great leaders;
• How to engage people, teams and organisations through change;
• Impact and learning of Covid.

Where to find Erma Ranieri PSM

• LinkedIn

Join the conversation on Synergy IQ LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram (@synergyiq) and please support other leaders by liking, subscribing and sharing this podcast. 

Access SynergyIQ Website to get to know more about us. 

Say hello to our host Daniel Franco on LinkedIn.

Books and Podcast mentioned on this episode:

• Burnout - The secret to solving the stress cycle - By Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski
• The Road Less Travelled - A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth - By M. Scott Peck
• Daring Greatly - How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead - By Brené Brown
• Super Soul Podcast with  Eckhart Tolle 

What does it take to lead an entire public sector while championing innovation, collaboration, and economic growth?

From the fast-paced world of finance to leading South Australia's public sector, Nick Reade has built a remarkable career. As Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Head of the Public Sector, Nick is focused on driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and making government more accessible.

With 30 years of experience, including his time as CEO of Bank SA and senior roles at Westpac, Nick shares his journey from the private sector to public leadership and the lessons he’s learned along the way.

In this episode, Nick dives into:

• How INSEAD’s Strategy Course shaped his leadership approach
• The rebranding of Bank SA and the success of the "Let’s do this" campaign
• Making tough decisions as a CEO and bringing people on board for change
• His transition to the public sector and his day-to-day responsibilities
• The 3 strategic pillars reshaping government operations
• Challenges with workforce shortages and fostering innovation in the public sector

This conversation is filled with valuable insights, reflections on leadership, and Nick’s vision for South Australia’s future.

Where to find Nick Reade

• LinkedIn

Join the conversation on Synergy IQ LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram (@synergyiq) and please support other leaders by liking, subscribing and sharing this podcast. 

Access SynergyIQ Website to get to know more about us. 

Say hello to our host Daniel Franco on LinkedIn.

Gavin Wanganeen is a former AFL player who played for Essendon in the AFL and Port Adelaide in both the AFL and SANFL.  

Wanganeen won the 1993 Brownlow Medal and has been inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.  

He was a 2x AFL premiership player (1993, 2004), was a SANFL premiership player (1990), was a John Cahill Medallist in 2003 and the Port Adelaide captain between 1997-2000.  

In addition to this, he was a 5x All-Australian team representative (1992, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2003) and participated in the National Football Carnival championship of 1993. 

Further to this, Wanganeen was awarded the following honours: Michael Tuck Medal (1993), Essendon Team of the Century (back pocket) and Champions of Essendon (number 19). Port Adelaide also have the Gavin Wanganeen medal for the best young player and has been honoured by having the eastern stand at Adelaide oval named after him. 

Today, Gavin is an Indigenous Australian Activist, who is also working as an artist, painting stories that remind him of his heritage. In his business career he is a Director for the Port Adelaide Football Club, and founder & managing director of Murra Partners, a recruitment company that does all types of recruitment from blue-collar to white-collar, however, has the vision aims to close the gap in corporate Australia. 

Gavin says 'It's an area that is neglected and so we're playing a leading hand at MURRA in creating culturally safe workplaces, educating leaders and creating role models to ensure brilliant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have clear pathways to peruse their dream careers and be mentored along that journey." 

In this episode, we talked about all things football and business:

• Career highlights 
• The importance of his team 
• The importance his coach the Great Kevin Sheedy had on his life 
• The transition from an athlete to be an Entrepreneur 
• How he became a professional artist 
• The work he is doing at Murra Partners, a recruitment company for aboriginal people in corporate roles 
• Passion to change a narrative to change the scenario of aboriginal people in the corporate world 
• Importance of Culture aware Sports contributed to his success as an artist and entrepreneur Growth time.

Where to find Gavin Wanganeen

• LinkedIn
• Website 

Join the conversation on Synergy IQ LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram (@synergyiq) and please support other leaders by liking, subscribing and sharing this podcast. 

Access SynergyIQ Website to get to know more about us. 

Say hello to our host Daniel Franco on LinkedIn.

Dr Gemma Munro is a thought leader, a transformational facilitator and an uplifting and award-winning speaker, with a PhD in performance psychology and a flair for lighting up leaders. Winner of the Duncan Prize for speaking, and a two-time Telstra Businesswoman of the Year finalist, Gemma is known as a catalyst for laughter, a-ha moments and wake-up calls.  

Dr Gemma has spoken to audiences at Google, Amazon, PayPal, Qantas, Vodafone, and the NHS in London. She has inspired over 72,000 people around the world, and her keynote at Google headquarters in Silicon Valley was live-streamed to every Google office on the planet.  

As a classically trained singer, Gemma has performed in Westminster Abbey, Radio City Music Hall and, somewhat heart-stopping, to 53,000 screaming fans as a backing vocalist for the Rolling Stones. 

In this episode, we deep-dived into:   

• Her journey from where she was described as “too passionate“ to be taken seriously as a consultant, to starting her own business and building the very well respected Inkling Group, to now in her new business, Lighting up leaders, where she is following her mission in helping ignite the spark in leaders all across the world. 
• The importance of finding your own lane in life, and how transformative this can be 
• Gemma then described how she found her own lane, and we talked about the idea of having parallel lanes in our life, which makes room for other passion projects such as music, poetry or anything really. 
• How singing helped her on her speaking career and her advice on what she did to become a better speaker 
• The science and art of setting a vision and making it a reality 
• How to be brave with your choices, and some practical tips on how to control the inner voices and that pesky lizard brain, it was during this piece that Gemma decided she would try to get into the inner workings of my brain, which can make for an amusing listen, it is a bit of a mess up there. 
• Importance of taking downtime, and creating a space to listen to the signs to avoid burnout 
• The work she is now doing in lightning up leaders

Where to find Dr Gemma Munro

• LinkedIn
• Website 

Join the conversation on Synergy IQ LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram (@synergyiq) and please support other leaders by liking, subscribing and sharing this podcast. 

Access SynergyIQ Website to get to know more about us. 

Say hello to our host Daniel Franco on LinkedIn.

Books mentioned on this episode:

• Taste - My Life Through Food - By Stanley Tucci
• Hooked - How Crafting Saved My Life - By Sutton Foster

Today we had our first international podcast, from  Massachusetts, USA, Alain Hunkins. 

ALAIN HUNKINS Is the CEO of the Hunkins Leadership Group, a Forbes Contributor, Author of Cracking the Leadership Code and TEDx Speaker who spends his days helping high achieving people become high achieving leaders. 

Over his twenty-year career, Alain has worked with over 2,000 groups of leaders in 25 different countries. His Clients include Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Citigroup, General Electric, State Farm Insurance, IBM, General Motors, and Microsoft to name a few.

In addition to being a leadership speaker, consultant, trainer, and coach, Alain is the author of CRACKING THE LEADERSHIP CODE: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders which has been endorsed by leadership luminaries such as Daniel Pink, Jim Kouzes, Barry Posner, and Marshall Goldsmith. 

On top of all this, Alain is a faculty member of Duke Corporate Education, which was ranked #2 worldwide in 2019 by Financial Times on its list of customized Executive Education programs. Alain's exceptional writing has also been featured in Fast Company, Inc., Forbes, Chief Executive, Chief Learning Officer, and Business Insider. 

After reading his book, Cracking the Leadership Code, I can honestly say it was a fantastic, extremely practical guide on leadership. So many key pearls of wisdom that I empower all leaders and aspiring leaders to read. You will most definitely learn something that will take your leadership level to the next height. 

In this episode, we deep-dived into: 

• What does Alain me when we talk about the "the leadership code" 
• The three c's of leadership in connection, communication and collaboration 
• The importance of being a consistent leader 
• How to become a better communicator and 
• How to build a culture of great communication 
• Can an entrepreneur think about rapid growth and bring their best leadership to the table?
• Meaning of success
• What leadership will look like coming out of the pandemic 

Where to find ALAIN HUNKINS:

• LinkedIn
• Website 

Join the conversation on Synergy IQ LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram (@synergyiq) and please support other leaders by liking, subscribing and sharing this podcast. 

Access SynergyIQ Website to get to know more about us. 

Say hello to our host Daniel Franco on LinkedIn.

Books mentioned on this episode:

• Cracking the Leadership Code - Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders - By Alain Hunkins

Brendan Rinaldi is an Executive leader at the ANZ, managing the health sector portfolio and who is focussed on creating high-quality leaders and managing their wellbeing, which leads to high performing cultures. Brendan is a mentor to many, a father and grew up on a family farm, which is still in operation and something he is very passionate about. 

With a background in accounting, restructuring, banking & finance, Brendan previously worked for PwC & KordaMentha before joining ANZ. He now leads large national and state teams and has done so over the past 8 years, focusing on creating a world-class culture with a values-based approach.  

Brendan is always keen to develop and expand on leadership skills and bring the best out in others, particularly with a passion for wellbeing and performance, and has put a lot of time and effort into his own leadership development and growth. He is highly sought after to speak and discuss the great well-being initiatives he and the team have implemented with the ANZ bank. On top of this, Brendan is one of the masterminds behind the very well regarded ANZ Community ball, which raises $100,000's of dollars each year for charity. 

In this episode, Brendan shares his journey, from his early career to becoming of the youngest executive leaders of ANZ. 

We also deep-dived into: 

• His learnings when building a team from scratch 
• Diversity & Inclusion 
• His background in sport and how it helped him to succeed as a leader 
• The importance of connecting with clear & constant communication with the team  
• How he managed his Australian wide team from a distance 
• The benefits and return on investment of focussing on the wellbeing of his team 
• His non-formal approach to his Personal development 
• Life after the pandemic, risk of burnout and why it is important to focus on well being 
• ANZ involvement with the community and 
• We both love reading, a lot, so we spoke about some of our amazing book recommendations

Where to find Brendan Rinaldi:

• LinkedIn

Join the conversation on Synergy IQ LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram (@synergyiq) and please support other leaders by liking, subscribing and sharing this podcast. 

Access SynergyIQ Website to get to know more about us. 

Say hello to our host Daniel Franco on LinkedIn.

Books mentioned on this episode:

• Can't Hurt Me - Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds - By David Goggins
• Fear Less - How to Win at Life Without Losing Yourself - By Pippa Grange
• The Wim Hof Method - Activate Your Potential, Transcend Your Limits - By Wim Hof

As CEO of the Langley Group and Academic Director of the Langley Group Institute, Sue inspires people to apply emotional intelligence, positive psychology and neuroscience to achieve the best possible outcomes for themselves and their businesses.
 
Since founding the Langley Group in 2002 Sue has had a remarkable gift for synthesising science into simple, practical tools to teach and advise thousands of leaders, change agents and human resources professionals how to harness the brain's potential and use emotions more intelligently.

Sue has chaired conferences and presented her research work internationally and developed large-scale projects with organisations such as Salesforce, Schneider Electric, Unilever and WHSmiths to cultivate a positive culture and emotionally intelligent leadership.
 
A Licensed Master Trainer in evidence-based emotional intelligence and strengths tools, Sue has earned an industry reputation as the leading advisor in Australia on the practical workplace application of emotional intelligence, positive psychology and neuroscience. Sue was one of the first people to earn a Masters in Neuroscience of Leadership, a rigorous new research degree and the most in-depth credential in this emerging field.

Sue is the lead developer and facilitator of Australia’s first and only Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing and partners with the UK’s Centre for Applied Positive Psychology to bring innovative strengths-based approaches to organisations across Asia-Pacific.
 
She sought after a media expert, having been featured as an emotional intelligence expert in the ABC TV series Redesign My Brain. She is also a Director of Wellbeing Australia and a member of the Student Wellbeing Action Network, a new alliance of researchers, practitioners and educators furthering positive education.

In this episode, Sue shares her journey of 20 years of experience, from her early career, to where she finds herself today as a highly sought after speaker, teacher and consultant.

We also deep-dived into:

• Definition of positive psychology and flourishing
• Gratitude, mindfulness, psychological wellbeing
• How to be present when we have to plan for the future?
• The role Happiness plays in our lives
• How positive psychology helps with burnout and stress
• Why do we feel guilt and how we can turn it into a positive
• The challenges of shame and imposter syndrome
• The power of the language we use in self-talk, and why we should take notice

Where to find Sue Langley:

• LinkedIn
• https://langleygroup.com.au/

Join the conversation on Synergy IQ LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram (@synergyiq) and please support other leaders by liking, subscribing and sharing this podcast. 

Access SynergyIQ Website to get to know more about us. 

Say hello to our host Daniel Franco on LinkedIn.

Books mentioned on this episode:

• The Upside of Stress - Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It - By Kelly McGonigal
• Social - Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect - By Matthew D. Lieberman

Vinh Giang’s passion for magic and self-taught business skills lifted his family out of poverty and into a top tier income bracket. An award-winning entertainer, international speaker, and entrepreneur, he is the co-founder and director of the Encyclopedia of Magic, an online magic school that instructs over 41,000 students per year. Additionally, he is the CEO of Luminary Productions, where he coaches a select few businesses and leaders, teaching them how to compete on an emotional level.

Just six months short of completing a degree in accounting, Vinh decided to take a leap of faith and do the scariest thing he could imagine; he told his parents that he was giving up school to pursue a career as a magician and entrepreneur. Needless to say, his father was not happy that his son wanted “to be Harry Potter,” but after three years of hard work, Vinh’s magic tutorial website began to take off, winning him the prestigious South Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2013. The business has since joined forces with 52Kards, a leading U.S. based online magic school. Together the two organizations will instruct an estimated half a million students per year.

In recent years, Vinh’s speaking career has exploded due to his unique ability to seamlessly interweave the principles of magic, business, and success. Pre-pandemic, Vinh spent 80% of his time travelling from continent to continent performing and presenting one-of-a-kind business keynotes about building confidence, boosting presentation skills, facing fears, problem-solving, and pushing limits.

During the pandemic, Vinh turned his skillsets to creating online programs for many of his clients, specifically for the company's Learning Management System, with one of his key current clients being Microsoft where Vinh has created an internal communications program. Other key clients of note have been Facebook, Linkedin, Zoom, Merk and many many more.

In this episode, Vinh and I touch on his journey from being a MAGICIAN to becoming an International Keynote Speaker, his strong belief in that "life is a miracle" and we should not take it for granted.

 We also deep-dived into:

• The story of his family
• His thoughts on entrepreneurship and building a successful brand 
• How to overcome impostor syndrome 
• His definition of great communication
• Some tips & tricks on communications and becoming a better communicator 
• Self-Awareness and reflection  
• And managing Fear

Where to find Vinh Giang:

• LinkedIn
• https://www.vinhgiang.com/

Join the conversation on Synergy IQ LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram (@synergyiq) and please support other leaders by liking, subscribing and sharing this podcast. 

Access SynergyIQ Website to get to know more about us. 

Say hello to our host Daniel Franco on LinkedIn.

Books mentioned on this episode:

• How to Win Friends and Influence People - By Dale Carnegie
• The Magic of Thinking Big - By David J Schwartz
• The Almanack of Naval Ravikant - A Guide to Wealth and Happiness - By Eric Jorgenson

Adrian Tembel is a prominent South Australian lawyer and businessman and is an economics and honours law graduate of the University of Adelaide. He began practising corporate and technology law at Thomson Geer in 1993, became a Partner of Thomson Geer in 1997, and went on to become Chief Executive Partner in 2009 and held the position ever since. 

When operating as a full-time lawyer Adrian specialized in the Corporate and Technology space and had the opportunity to serve on some amazing pieces of work, one name was with one of the greatest drivers in Formula One, Ayton Senna's Merchandising team. 

Adrian’s focus is now on leading Thomson Geer, whereas Chief Executive Partner, he has grown the Adelaide headquartered Thomson Geer to a major Australian Law firm with annual revenue close to $200m.  

At the time of the podcast, Thomson Geer is ranked 10th largest law firm by partner number, 22nd in South Australia's top private companies and rose 32 places in the 2019/2020 Australia's top 500 private companies ranking, and now has offices all across Australia in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth. 

Adrian is an Adviser to the Premier of South Australia, Steven Marshall, and in 2018, Adrian was appointed as a Commissioner of the South Australian Productivity Commission and went on to become Chair of this commission in July 2021, Adrian,  and further to this he also has time to serve as a Director of the Menzies Research Centre. 

In this episode,  Adrian and I touch on his journey from being a full-time lawyer to becoming the Chief Executive Partner at Thomson Geer, and as a very proud South Australian, he provides his insights into how we can build and make South Australia better by focusing on building a world-class Research and Development platform. 

 I loved the modesty coming from Adrian in this podcast, where he describes himself as an 'insecure' and 'not very talented' person, but was able to share with us that through hard work and persistence, it is possible to achieve really great things.  

We also deep-dived into his thoughts around: 

His journey and how he ended up in the legal world 

• How the impending liquidation of the company led him to become the Chief Executive Partner 
• The strategy and the mindset that turned the around companies financial position 
• His learnings and experience through this process  
• His thoughts on the role CEO's play in the company culture 
• How he manages his time. 
• His role as an adviser to Premier Steven Marshall 
• And provides some amazing advice for up and coming CEO's 

Where to find Adrian Tembel:

• Thomson Geer

Join the conversation on Synergy IQ LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram (@synergyiq) and please support other leaders by liking, subscribing and sharing this podcast. 

Access SynergyIQ Website to get to know more about us. 

Say hello to our host Daniel Franco on LinkedIn.

Books  and podcasts mentioned on this episode:

Robert Menzies - The Art of Politics - By: Troy Bramston

Chris' background in coaching and mentoring packs a mean punch when it comes to working with elite performers. This covers Military, Elite Sports, Performing Arts and Corporate Athletes.  

Spending the early part of his career working with developing future leaders, Chris identified that a necessary part of the succession plan is to improve the individual’s performance capacity and this can be achieved by adapting the individual capacity in three key areas: physical, mental and emotional. Chris works with these leaders to help develop these three key components and reduce the risk of burnout! 

Now, more than ever we are seeing that leaders in the business world, that are dealing with the constant Cognitive Fog and the feeling of Groundhog Day can no longer be accepted as the new 'norm'.  

This is why Chris built an accelerated program that supports those of us go ALL IN and true candidates to face the risk of Burnout.  

In this episode,  Chris and Daniel touch on his journey from arriving in Australia from the UK and setting up his first business in his backyard, to his current work and mission of helping people see the early warning signs in order to avoid burning out.

Chris shares with us his research and findings around: 

• What is burnout? 
• Is Productivity related to stress? 
• The correlation between burnout and the need to please.
• Covid and the stress and burnout associated with that.
• Stress is caused by working from home and returning to work.
• And some tips and tricks in how to manage stress and avoid burnout.

Books mentioned in this podcast:   

• Risk Starts and Ends With People - Demystifying risk for executives and leaders
  By: Lisa Sisson
• Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers -Revised Edition By Robert M. Sapolsky

Where to find Chris Wilson:  

• LinkedIn   
• Facebook
• Website: https://stress-scientist.com/

Join the conversation on Synergy IQ LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram (@synergyiq) and please support other leaders by liking, subscribing and sharing this podcast.    

Access SynergyIQ Website to get to know more about us.    

Say hello to our host Daniel on LinkedIn.