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ECI PARTNERS

Our Why

How we Add Value

How We Help

Who We Are

ECI PARTNERS
Our Why2023-03-28T01:33:14+00:00
Helping Leaders be Great
WE HAVE LIVED TO TELL, AND now WE LIVE TO SHARE.
Like you, we have been executives too, and we have also faced and overcome challenges. If your attention is focused on strategy, performance, influencing others, an entire culture, or the sustainability of an organisation, it is likely you will benefit from independent, expert advice and leadership coaching.

We know complexity, pressure and time can bind you. Experience allows us to see hidden patterns and our objective perspective brings clarity to help you achieve your goals.

It is true, small changes can unlock huge potential and rewards. Changes that see people become more effective, engaged, motivated, and courageous.

We know complexity, pressure and time can bind you. Experience allows us to see hidden patterns and our objective perspective brings clarity to help you achieve your goals.

It is true, small changes can unlock huge potential and rewards.Changes that see people become more effective, engaged, motivated, and courageous.

HOW
WE HELP

EXECUTIVE
COACHING

We provide evidence-based, one-on-one executive coaching that is developed in a bespoke plan for each individual we work with. We coach leaders to develop skills, lift and sustain performance, develop new capabilities, support remedial improvements, and more.

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POD
COACHING

Our experts work with a small number of key individuals who participate in an individually tailored intense program designed to develop people and their performance, which in turn boosts an organisation’s capabilities and culture.

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TEAM
COACHING

We take entire teams on a developmental journey to enhance performance, yielding rich and lasting results. Enhancing individual and team performance at the same time has a powerful positive influence within organisations.

STRATEGY

We help organisations to design, structure and create strategies that allow teams and organisations to become more aligned with their objectives and more purposeful by achieving greater clarity, focus and commitment.

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ADVISORY

We undertake entirely bespoke engagements by boards, CEOs and executives to address highly targeted improvement opportunities including stakeholder reviews, organisational redesigns, capability audits, business planning, and specialised engagements.

PROGRAMS

Dedicated experts design and develop tailored leadership and coaching programs to provide scalable solutions that quickly support organisations, including webinars, developmental squads, masterclasses, call-a-coach programs, and more.

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THE WEEKLY SPARK

MEET THE TEAM

INSIGHTS

Among the Chaos, there is Magic

Let’s think of organisational well-being as the physical, emotional, and social health of an organisation and that the well-being of an organisation is more than the sum of its individuals’ well-being. We know that organisations with better employee engagement, what we might call ‘organisational health’, have lower staff [...]

VIDEOS

The Power of Mindset

Welcome to our first in a series of Conversations with Coaches, where we unpack some of the key leadership conundrums of the day, and discuss ways to lean into the challenges. In our first episode, David Gwynne and Chris Corneil discuss the importance of mindset in helping [...]

CASE STUDIES

The Power of Pod Coaching

The Situation By its nature infrastructure delivery is complex work, and rail infrastructure is especially complex work. Rail Delivery does this work as an arm of Transport for NSW. And, to perform this work, Rail Delivery needs an incredible multi-disciplinary team of highly skilled professionals and support staff. [...]

ECI Partners
HEAD OFFICE
Level 5, 74 Pitt Street
Sydney
NSW 2000

Our Why

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How We Help

Who We Are

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Also in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland.
ECI Partners
HEAD OFFICE
Level 5, 74 Pitt Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Also in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland.

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Donna Phillips

Donna has been supporting the eci Partners team and clients for the last 7 years. An integral part of the business’ success, Donna brings her warmth and enthusiasm to all aspects of her role including administration, marketing and operations.  She is regularly involved directly in client work including the production of client reporting and running online diagnostic tools.

Donna’s 25-year career includes roles in Event Management, Executive Management, HR and Marketing, both here in Australia and in the UK.

Anthony Thompson

Anthony uses his 25+ years’ experience in senior executive, consulting and company director roles in Australia, the United Kingdom, Asia, Europe and the USA to apply his unique skill and experience set to assist clients create highly scalable world class performing organisations and businesses, undertake major change programs and business transitions in family businesses. Clients range from mid- sized organisations to large multi-national corporations, government departments and conglomerates.

Originally gaining qualifications in engineering, Anthony has subsequently completed an MBA and has further qualifications in a number of other areas including corporate governance and risk management.

The early part of his career was with the ANI Corporation where he worked in senior executive leadership roles in a number of countries developing a reputation for strategic marketing led turnarounds. Since leaving ANI in 1998 he has established his own business interests in management consulting, importing, real estate and software. He has also lectured MBA students at QUT in Brisbane in Creative Problem Solving and New Venture Growth and Transitions with some sessional lecturing in other subjects.

In 2005 with three others Anthony founded and became Chairman of what has gone on to become a large not-for-profit charity, Safe Places for Children which is the leading service provider in the Extreme Needs Young People sector with operations in a number of States.

Anthony currently works as a company director in a number of organisations in Australia and Asia across a wide number of sectors as well as consulting to and coaching CEO’s and Directors in Publicly listed, Private and Government entities.

Alexandra Smart

Alexandra Smart is a highly respected and creative business leader, strategist, entrepreneur, and consultant with over 30 years’ experience in hyper competitive industries.

Alexandra has held executive leadership management roles in the media and digital sectors, as well as, for the last 20 years, founding and scaling her own fashion luxury design enterprise, GINGER & SMART. She executed the sale of the business to private equity investors in 2019 and now divides her time between board directorships, public speaking, advisory work, and executive coaching and mentoring with eci Partners.

Her ability to combine creative thinking and commercial imperatives, has cemented her reputation for business acumen, leadership, strategy, and high performance. Alexandra is an expert at applying creative entrepreneurial vision to business ventures and driving for scale and profitability while operating with integrity and at the highest ethical standards.

Notably, as co-founder and Managing Director of GINGER & SMART, she led the growth and international expansion of the brand across 5 channels (national and international, digital, wholesale, and corporate). With a strong sense of changing consumer and client requirements, Alexandra has successfully navigated highly complex environments across cultures in areas such as strategy, people leadership, digital and e-commerce, design, manufacturing, supply chain management, regulatory and environment regulation and logistics. The brand is now highly recognised as a leading sustainable and ethical label focusing on social responsibility, and at the forefront of design.

With a keen focus on business, the arts and community, Alexandra is a spokesperson for the fashion industry and a seasoned public speaker. She was recently voted in the Power 30 List of Influential Retailers.

Alexandra is a Board Member of the Melbourne Fashion Festival, a member of the Contemporary Collectors Benefactors Committee (CCB) at the Art Gallery of NSW, a mentor with the AGSM/UNSW Alumni Leader Mentor program and has also been a member of the TCF Innovation Committee advising the Australian government on issues around innovation and local manufacturing for the Textiles, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) Sector. She has also been a committee member of SunSCHine, tasked with raising funds for the Sydney Children!s Hospital Network.

Alexandra holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from AGSM and a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism)

Martin Blake

Martin is an experienced front line leader with over 30 years professional services advisory experience having successfully worked in complex local, and global operating environments.

Martin was Chairman KPMG NSW from 2012 – 2019, was the Australian leader for KPMG’s Financial Services Advisory practice for 4 years, leader for KPMG’s Insurance practice for 5 years, established KPMG’s global fintech insurance community and was KPMG’s Lead Partner for NSW Government from 2017 – 2021.

During his time as senior partner in Management Consulting at KPMG, Martin worked with clients across the private and public sectors on a wide range of transformation projects that he directly led in Australia and Asia. He has a strong track record in attracting, selecting, and developing high calibre leadership teams that delivered exceptional outcomes.

He has been responsible for driving strategic and cultural change, merger integration and large-scale business restructuring. He has established a track record of addressing challenging business issues, through rapid assessment, clear analysis & planning and problem solving skills. His broad hands-on experience and pragmatic approach enables him to quickly understand his coaching clients’organisational context and support them to be most effective.

Martin holds a BSc Economics (Hons) from Swansea University, a Graduate Diploma in Banking & Finance from City University, UK, is a Fellow of FINSIA and completed the Advanced Management Program at Oxford University. He has over 10 years’ experience as a Director, is a Graduate of the AICD and is currently Chairman of the Audit & Risk Committee for the Committee for Sydney and is Chairman of the Advisory Board, Sydney University Business School.

Martin applies his passion, expertise, and knowledge to improve business performance through people, working with senior executives at eci partners to help them achieve their business and personal goals.

Lidia Ranieri

Lidia’s passion for coaching arises from her desire to help clients identify, align with and act purposefully in their pursuit of excellence. Lidia encourages the development of conscious and purposeful leadership that can generate vital and engaged workplaces, drive performance and breed success that is meaningful in times of growth or change.

As a coach with extensive experience in business and finance, Lidia supports and challenges leaders to radically understand themselves and their impact by using an evidence-based approach based upon strengths and positive psychology.

Prior to gaining her MSc (Coaching Psychology) Lidia was a Partner at Reunion Capital Partners and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs. She has over 25 years’ experience in the finance industry, predominantly in the capital markets. She brings extensive knowledge of business finance and strategy, and the demands upon senior management in the public eye, having advised Boards of Directors and Chief Executives of numerous public companies.

Lidia also holds two bachelor degrees in Business (Finance) and Law from the University of Technology Sydney, and serves as a board member on that University’s Entrepreneurial Leaders Advisory Board.

Lidia is an Associate Member of the University of Sydney Coaching and Mentoring Alumni. She is a member of The Association for Coaching International and holds certifications in market leading psychological and leadership assessments.

As a wife and mother to two boys, Lidia understands the demands of balancing a career and family. She brings market leading formal qualifications, extensive corporate experience and evidence-based psychological practice.

Katie Foulkes

Katie is a highly effective executive coach and consultant experienced in formulating and implementing strategies that enhance individual, team and organisational performance. Katie brings a truly unique perspective to clients developed from academia, elite sport and her commercial background in education, retail, utilities, government and transport.

Katie adopts an evidence-based approach, is collaborative, systematic and solution focused. She leverages from strength-based approaches, and positive and performance psychology to help others uncover and refine solutions, with the aim of enhancing both performance and well-being. By building high trust relationships, clients are supported to explore goals and opportunities for growth as well as innovative ways to positively impact their surrounding systems.

Katie’s unique experience as a dual Olympian and international rowing coach has enabled her to understand the steps needed to perform on a world stage. She was ranked number one in Australia for almost ten years, one of the first females to become a Head Coach of a national rowing team and has recently been granted the use of the post-nominal letters OLY as recognition of her contribution to sport. Katie is now an ambassador for the Women’s Olympic Network and advises Triathlon Victoria on performance and development. She is also one of ten selected mentors for the Australian Olympic Committee as well as a mentor for the Australian Rowing Team and for Women in Sport Australia. She is passionate about sustainable, long term performance and is currently conducting research on the topic of resilience at the University of Sydney.

Katie holds a Science degree from the University of Melbourne, post graduate qualifications in Psychology from Deakin University and she is currently completing a Master of Science (Coaching Psychology) degree from the University of Sydney. She is a lecturer for the MBA program at Federation University, a certified practitioner of the Team Management Systems (TMS) and Mental Toughness (MTQPlus) instruments and a member of the University of Sydney Coaching and Mentoring Association.

An expert at multi-tasking, in addition to her coaching, consulting, lecturing, research and studies, Katie provides pro-bono leadership development to local schools and sporting clubs. She is married with two young girls.

Jill Weekes

Jill has a deep understanding of the drivers of business effectiveness and sustainability. With her coaching clients she places a high priority on authentic leadership, customer and stakeholder focus, continuous innovation, operational excellence, business development and brand management.

Jill’s extensive and highly successful career as a senior executive in marketing and advertising led to her appointment, in 1998, as CEO of the Starlight Children’s Foundation. During her 11 years as Chief Executive she developed and led high performing teams and was responsible for a 300% growth in annual revenue. Under her leadership, Starlight grew from a small charity to the highest profile children’s charity in Australia delivering services to over 250,000 beneficiaries nationally in both major cities and regional areas. Many of these services are unique to Starlight Australia and do not exist elsewhere in the world.

Jill’s commitment to the pursuit of excellence via a clear, achievable vision supported by sound strategy and operational excellence, together with her experience in brand management and marketing, meant that Starlight became a leading NFP organisation in record time. An emphasis on cost control, together with a commitment to IT infrastructure development, maintained the organisation’s relevance and efficiency.

Jill’s work was recognised when she was named the 2007 Equity Trustee’s Not for Profit CEO of the Year and was a NSW Finalist in the Community and Government section of the 2007 Telstra Business Women’s Awards. She also won the 2006 JML Director of the Year Award, as well as scholarships to the Harvard Business School and the Senior Management Development Course at the Australian Graduate School of Management. In 2012 she was awarded an OAM for her services to the Starlight foundation.

Jill is committed to the personal development of her coaching clients to ensure they are inspired and supported to be the very best they can be.

Tony Thirlwell

Tony is a highly experienced CEO with special interests in leadership, strategy, marketing, and stakeholder management. He has worked in commercial, government, and not-for-profit environments and has the ability to inspire while tightly managing organisations, implementing many of the lessons he learnt at Harvard, Cranfield, and NorthWestern universities.

In the areas of strategy and marketing he has proven success with a wide range of brands, products and services and similarly his stakeholder management skills have been tested in a diverse range of industries including health, tourism, and food. Tony has had 25 years working as a CEO leading the Australian Government agency, Tourism Australia, a State agency, Destination NSW, and most recently the Heart Foundation. He has also held senior marketing roles with CSR and Qantas.

Tony is particularly proud of the teams he has led of which coaching was always a key activity and he has seen many of his direct reports go on to become CEOs in their own right.

He is committed to continue to inspire others to achieve in their various corporate environments through his work with eci Partners. He is also an active company director serving on a number of boards, mainly in the health sector.

Jonathan Sweeney

(EXECUTIVE COACH)

Jonathan has had a successful 35 year career in financial services. He has been the CEO and COO of ASX listed organisations and brings with him a strong experience in investment management, capital markets, corporate governance and fiduciary services.

He was the Managing Director of Trust Company from 1997 till 2008 and then co-founded Equity Real Estate Partners in mid 2009 that culminated in him becoming Folkestone’s COO until he left in early 2013 to pursue a non executive career.

Jonathan has led high performing teams, developed successful growth strategies, overseen the successful entry into new overseas markets and developed highly effective governance structures. He draws upon this experience to assist his clients achieve their goals.

He has been responsible for driving strategic and cultural change, overseeing takeovers and mergers, implementing two backdoor listings, negotiating a joint venture with a global bank and has been involved in undertaking many due diligence processes involving listed, unlisted and overseas organisations. Jonathan also has expertise in stakeholder relationship management issues common with listed companies and facilitating the integration of both listed and unlisted enterprises.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Laws from the University of NSW, is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has completed the AICD Company Directors Course as well as the Stanford Executive Program.

He is currently Chairman of EP&T Global Ltd (ASX code: “EPX”), a non executive director of the BT Funds Group, a non executive director of Dexus Asset Management and Chairman of Perpetual Private’s Investment Committee. Jonathan works closely with business executives at eci partners to help them achieve their business and personal goals.

Louise Shepherd

As a clinical psychologist with more than 20 years experience in clinical, health and university settings Louise is nationally and internationally renowned expert in human behaviour and has particular expertise in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy / Training (ACT) and other mindfulness-based approaches. She is also experienced in Family Systems Theory which helps makes sense of both families and organisations.

As a coach, Louise has worked extensively with executives, senior professionals and middle management from a wide cross section of corporate, government, professional service firms and not-for-profit organisations.

The issues Louise has helped clients with in coaching is very broad and includes managing relationships, conflict resolution, developing communication and interpersonal skills, stress management and building personal brand. Much of her work is in helping people to better navigate the nuances and complexities of relationships in their professional and personal lives.

She is the Principal and founder of The Sydney ACT Centre and has been running a successful private practice in the CBD since 2001. She provides coaching services through her affiliation with eci Partners.

Dr Mike Rollo

Mike has operated at CEO and Executive Manager levels with some of the world’s largest infrastructure development companies. He has 35 years line management and corporate experience in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the United Kingdom, working in the engineering construction and property development industries. During his career he has established a leadership track record in attracting, selecting, developing and motivating high calibre management teams that delivered exceptional outcomes.

Mike has demonstrated an ability to create viable business operations through clear strategic vision, utilising strong commercial acumen and project management skills to drive high performance, producing positive returns with long term sustainability. He has established a proven track record in rectifying difficult business issues, through quick assessment and interpretation; clear analysis and planning and hands-on problem solving skills.

He has been involved with many of the large infrastructure projects developed across the Australasian region over the past 20 years. His pragmatic, hands-on approach and depth of experience enables him to quickly build a rapport with business and project teams, establishing a clear framework from which to deliver results.

In 2012 Mike rejoined Leighton Holdings as Chief Risk Officer with specific accountability to oversee the risk management activities across the Leighton Group. He remained in this role during the Spanish conglomerate, ACS’s acquisition of the Leighton Group in 2014. He has recently stepped down from this role to pursue a PHD in project management at Sydney University.

Mike has been a Company Director since 1999, is a Fellow of the AICD and coaches, advises and mentors executives across a range of industries with eci partners.

Shannon Richards-Green

Shannon is a highly accomplished business professional with extensive experience developed over thirty years, as a leader, sales performance coach and people manager. Her comprehensive and diverse corporate background includes working in blue-chip global multinationals across a range of sectors from Accounting/Auditing (Coopers & Lybrand) to Academia and Big Pharma,(MSD, AstraZeneca & Sanofi). Shannon’s extensive career gives her a unique skill set and a proven ability to connect with, understand and assist her business clients. Shannon’s role as National Sales Manager at MSD, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, honed her strategy development and performance management skills to a high standard.

Shannon’s overseas experience has seen her spend six years in Fiji teaching at the University of the South Pacific and working in Chartered accounting at Coopers. Shannon has also taught at Bond University.

A life-long learner, Shannon’s deep interest in coaching, business and human development is supported by her Masters level academic studies in coaching psychology (USyd) as well as an advanced MBA (UQ) and undergraduate Commerce/Finance Law degrees. Shannon is also a certified Mental Toughness (MTQ48) practitioner.

Shannon is a committed and experienced executive coach with a dedicated focus on assisting clients to reach their potential and thrive in today’s business environment. Shannon is passionate about working with a client’s strengths to help them create solution focused outcomes that encourages the individual to flourish both personally and professionally.

Dr Prasuna Reddy

As a company director, senior academic, organisational and health psychologist, Prasuna brings a wealth of executive coaching experience across a range of sectors. She has an exceptionally strong history of executive leadership and organisational development in both academic and health services settings.

Currently, Prasuna is a Visiting Professor in Health Services and Population Health at King’s College London, member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a registered psychologist, Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and Fellow of the APS Colleges of Organisational and Health Psychologists.

Her previous professional roles include Dean International, Professor and Director of leading university health research centres in Australia, Director of organisational development and health services management consultancies, and non-executive director on boards of professional organisations, several non-government organisations, and hospital and community services.

Prasuna has an extensive background in organisational psychology teaching, research and practice, behavioural change interventions at both individual and team level, implementation and improvement science, health services research, policy and practice, and models of integrated healthcare. She has achieved international recognition for her work in establishing translational health intervention programs in primary and secondary care, health services quality improvement, and team-based practice in both private and public sector organisations.

She holds a Masters and PhD from the School of Behavioural Science, University of Melbourne, and has achieved a number of awards for excellence in professional education and applied research. In addition to a notable record of peer-reviewed grants and publications, Prasuna has co-authored textbooks in ethics and professional practice.

Prasuna has presented over 200 invited workshops, conference papers, keynote addresses, and seminars internationally and is particularly in demand for professional development programs in executive leadership and team learning. She is a strong advocate for organisational and health psychology evidence-into-practice as well as for the power of tacit knowledge in insightful leadership.

Marina Reid Wilson

Marina Reid Wilson is a practicing Psychologist with 15 years experience in executive coaching, workshop facilitation and psychological assessment. Working across a range of industries, including professional services, government and not-for-profit, Marina builds long-lasting relationships with clients, whereby trust and context can be established.

She has a special interest in leadership development and assisting clients to build resilience, develop emotional agility and flourish in complex environments. Marina varies her approach to meet the needs of clients, relying on the principles of Acceptance Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Coaching, Mindfulness and Developmental Psychology. She is an evidence-based practitioner, incorporating current research and ongoing professional supervision.

As a coach, Marina has focused on a range of topics, such as authentic leadership, high performing teams, employee engagement, mindfulness, change management, effective communication and interpersonal skill development, workplace bullying, conflict resolution, stress management, time management and workplace mental health and wellbeing.

Marina is passionate about supporting people within the community that would benefit from coaching. As such, while working with eci Partners, she also provides pro-bono coaching to The Helmsman Project, a not-for-profit organisation that runs an adventure-based coaching program for students from schools located in communities affected by disadvantage. Marina is also the Founding Director and Principal Psychologist of a successful private practice in Sydney CBD.

Marina holds a Masters of Science in Coaching Psychology from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Psychology from ANU and a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University. She is certified in various ability and personality psychometrics and The Leadership Circle. She is an Associate Member of the Australian Psychological Society, a member of the Australian Health Practitioner Agency, a Member of the University of Sydney Coaching and Mentoring Association and the Growth Edge Network.

Peter McVean

Peter has strong commercial experience in infrastructure development and building a profitable operations business gained from over 10 years as Australian CEO for the world’s largest water company (Veolia Water) and serving as a non-executive director of Veolia’s environmental services business.

Originally from Scotland, his early career included work in transport, energy and urban development, with 15 years in economics consultancy and two years as a university lecturer. Work experience spans four continents. He has an MA in Economics from the University of Aberdeen, an MPhil from the University of Edinburgh, a Graduate Diploma in Finance and Investment and has been a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors since 1997.

From 2000 to 2011, Peter served as Chief Executive Officer responsible for Veolia Water’s Australasian business which grew to over 850 staff. He also served for four years as managing director of the firm’s engineering business with 150 staff. He had responsibility for Veolia’s involvement in many of the largest water infrastructure projects in Australia during the Millennium Drought, gaining experience in a range of contracting approaches from alliancing through to Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).

As an executive manager his focus was on building businesses: people, strategy, systems, project delivery and profitable growth. As head of subsidiaries he sought to develop an approach based on local senior managers “owning” the businesses and ensuring appropriate governance for Australia. A major focus was on developing effective executive management teams to meet the growing needs of the businesses.

Since stepping down from full-time executive management in 2011 he has worked as an executive coach and been active as a director and chair of various special purpose companies delivering major infrastructure projects, including serving as chair of the company responsible for the New Royal Adelaide Hospital during construction and representing the NSW government as a board member of West Connex.

From 2009 to 2012 Peter served as inaugural Chair of the Water Taskforce of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia and from 2014 to 2016 as an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the SMART Infrastructure Facility at the University of Wollongong. Peter is a well respected coach and mentor to clients of eci Partners.

Richard Jones

As Managing Director of Oxford Organisational Consulting Associates, which was established in London in 1980 and in Australia in 1988, Richard has led major consulting assignments in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia for public and private sector organisations. He has had extensive experience in the financial services sector both in Australia and Europe. Individual and organisational change is facilitated through a repertoire of integrated executive development activities. These include design and delivery of executive development programs, coaching of CEO’s and senior managers, facilitation of senior management strategy and team development meetings, and leadership assessment and development.

Richard was based in the UK for 14 years, where he held appointments as Senior Social Scientist in the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, Clinical Psychologist with the Adolescent Department of the Tavistock Clinic and subsequently as Head of the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the University of East London. He returned to Australia in 1983 to take up the position of Director Human Resources and Organisation with the Pratt Group of Companies. From 1988 he was contracted to Monash Mt Eliza Business School to design and direct executive development programs. He established the Leadership Centre at the School and as its Director, built it into the pre-eminent centre in the region for leadership development. He developed a strategic alliance with the Centre for Creative Leadership in the United States and successfully introduced a number of their programs into Australia and the Pacific Rim area.

His professional experience covers areas as diverse as organisation development and change, social research, training, psychotherapy, environmental studies, recruitment and selection, market research, vocational guidance and group work. During his international career he held a number of visiting appointments, including Visiting Lecturer to the Graduate School of the Architecture Association (UK); Visiting Professor in the University of Warsaw; Fellowship in Sri Lanka with the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation: and as an Associate of the Ashridge and Henley Management Colleges, UK.

He has been Chairman of a Chief Executive Group with The Executive Connection since 1989, and a Senior Fellow in the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, Swinburne University of Technology and is a member of eci Partners.

Rudolf Brunovs

(PARTNER)

Rudolf is a highly regarded executive with an extensive background in the financial services finance industry. His professional knowledge, together with his experience on executive and senior management teams, enables him to provide clients with insights and alternative strategies that accelerate personal growth and drive improved business outcomes.

Rudolf’s business career was with Ernst and Young where he held a number of senior positions leading to Partner, Assurance and Advisory Services. From 1986 – 1999 he held Managing Partner positions in Sydney and Perth. As a Partner in the Minerals and Energy industry group he was directly responsible for servicing clients in the mining, oil and gas production, uranium, power generation, as well as property development and biotechnology sectors.

Throughout his distinguished career Rudolf has developed capabilities across a range of business areas, including strategy and business planning, project and financial management and business development. He has expertise in working with multi-disciplinary teams to develop value based propositions in highly competitive markets.

Since leaving Ernst and Young Rudolf has devoted his time to Board membership. He joined the board of Deep Yellow Limited, a uranium exploration company, in 2007 and is Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee. His responsibilities include dealing with a variety of corporate governance issues, implementation of risk management processes and financial reporting to satisfy the needs of both the Board and the external marketplace. Since 2005 he has been a non-executive director, and Chairman of the Audit Committee, of the Lions Eye Institute Limited, a leading provider of eye health services in Australia.

To complement his coaching practice Rudolf brings:

  • a sound understanding of business drivers for various industries
  • expertise in working with professional teams
  • personal attitude which embraces and leads change
  • a focus on the strategic fit for business decisions, and
  • experience in corporate governance and risk management

Chris Corneil

(PARTNER)

As a highly accomplished coach, consultant and advisor, Chris draws on his unique mix of executive and leadership experience, and extensive education to help senior executives and their teams optimize and improve organizational performance.

With a positive psychology and strengths-based approach, Chris coaches and advises both individuals and teams to achieve the change they need to get the impact they want. He builds on his own experience as a successful CEO of a multi billion-dollar investment management business and insights from a 30+ year career as an executive, coach and consultant.

Boards, CEOs and senior executives trust Chris for his insights, candour, sensitivity and confidentiality. His expertise is recognised as a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD).

With a BA (UWO, Canada), MBA (AGSM) and Master of Coaching Psychology (Sydney University), Chris adopts evidence-based approaches to help executives and leaders thrive in complex and uncertain environments.

Having arrived from Canada at the age of twenty-two with an empty backpack, Chris understands the drive and challenges of individuals who seek to grow and achieve personal and business success and is generous in sharing what he has learned.

Chris is co-owner of eci partners. He is also a Non-Executive Director of StreetWork Limited and shares his expertise to help at-risk Australian youths turn their lives around.

DAVID J GWYNNE

(DIRECTOR AND PARTNER)

David is a co-founder of eci Partners, a company dedicated to improving executive performance and building outstanding teams. He blends high-level skills gained as a psychologist, business consultant and senior executive to produce consistently outstanding results for his clients. His approach is contextually based, highly experiential and results oriented ensuring that the executive’s performance advances the organisation’s business imperatives and optimises return on investment

David’s 40 years of experience spans government organisations, multi-national corporations and major Australian companies as well as the development of his own business enterprises. His strengths include business strategy and change management in order to deliver commercial outcomes and create customer value. David commenced his career working as a psychologist with the Commonwealth Public Service, culminating with being appointed to the role of Chief Clinical Psychologist for the “Agent Orange Royal Commission”. From there he went on to gain valuable experience as head of strategy implementation for a major international consulting firm before establishing his own highly successful management consulting business. He subsequently joined one of Australia’s largest privately-owned conglomerates as an Executive Director, with operational and group roles encompassing property development and management, logistics, engineering and construction, and agri-business. Following a term appointment with the Sydney Olympics and to broaden his capability, David then consciously moved his career to financial services taking on the leadership of a privately held group of financial services companies. For 6 years he was responsible for the profitable expansion of the group prior to leading a highly successful trade sale.

Since 2007 David has advised, mentored and coached numerous executives and their teams to improve capability and performance across diverse sectors including property development, property management, investment banking, public infrastructure development and delivery, wealth management, asset management, retail, industrial services and products, professional services, government agencies (Health, Education, Transport, Infrastructure), tertiary education and insurance.

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