Grant Hackett is a three-time Olympic gold medallist and undoubtedly one of the greatest distance swimmers of all time. Since stepping out of the pool more than 15years ago, he’s crafted a second chapter as an executive and now as CEO of Generation Development Group (ASX:GDG), a diversified financial services business that has grown fifteen-fold under his leadership to become an ASX 200 company.

Grant is a unicorn leader. His experiences as not just an elite sportsperson, but one of Australia’s greatest, give him a unique perspective on leadership, motivation, discipline, and resilience. He’s not someone you’d want to back against — and that mentality has flowed through into how GDG has intentionally scaled its culture as it has grown.

This is both a personal and business story of reinvention, drive, strategy, and thoughtfulness.