Directors Report - Social Leadership Australia Presentation

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a breakfast information session put on by Social Leadership Australia.

It was great to see a good collection of Total Executive members there.

Robbie Macpherson is their head and he provided the introduction...

Robbie covered a little history about Social Leadership and The Benevolent Society which is very interesting given they are Australia's first charity - almost 200 years old - and were responsible for things like starting the age pention and also the first Women's hospital in Sydney.

Robbie then went on to explain the importance of leadership and how it is changing as we face more and more complex challenges.

The core solution is now based in a form of 'adaptive leadership'

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Directors Report - Responsible and Effective leadership - is this a contradiction of terms?

The other day I caught up with Lanning Bennett - founder of the COI Group which is a highly regarded diagnostics provider based in Sydney with international clients. Lanning provided some interesting insights into how 'Responsible' and 'Effective' leadership could be seen as contradictions - though are still measured using the same diagnostics...

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Responsible and Effective Leadership

Is there a contradiction in these terms? Many would say so. Sometimes to be effective certain responsibilities may be forfeited. Responsibilities require compromises to maintain effectiveness. The balance between these two are in constant review.

Lets talk about measurement – how do we know a leader is responsible. How do we know they are effective?

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Directors Report - What Executives are Thinking about Leadership

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The other day I had the pleasure of catching up with Kelly Magowan - CEO of Six Figures Executive Recruitment.

Over a coffee we spoke about the definition of Responsible and Effective Leadership and where we were heading.

Kelly pointed out we are now moving into a new area where executives are considering more and more about 'Protecting People' versus 'Protecting Profits'.

And how this was brought about by the concept of loyalty dissappearing...

For me, the most interesting feedback was to learn how now...

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The New Inventors 2010 Grand Final

Last week I had the fortunate pleasure of attending The New Inventors 2010 Grand Final.

Tonight it is live so I can release this article.

As always, it was an entertaining event. Here are the finalists...

Solar Paint

This is a very exciting new technology that is 'still in development'. Basically they have created a printed organic solar cell that is immersed in water soluble components.

Solar Paint is an environmentally friendly solar cell technology that will allow every household in Australia to generate their own electricity, affordably and sustainably.

The invention involves the development of a completely printable organic solar cell based on semiconducting polymer nanoparticles dispersed in water. Essentially these tiny particles in suspension are a water-based paint, which can be printed or coated over large areas. In the first instance these coatings will be put onto plastic sheets that can be placed on the roof of a house. However, in the longer term it will be possible to directly paint a roof or building surface.

View the video and more information here

Granex

GRANEX is a technology platform developed initially for geothermal power generation. A University of Newcastle study has found that GRANEX can deliver a 40% improvement in both thermal efficiency and power generation. The technology delivers higher thermal efficiencies than conventional power plants and increases the amount of electricity that can be generated from low-grade heat sources such as geothermal and industrial waste heat.

View the video and more information here

D Drive

An infinitely variable geared transmission which allows an engine to operate at it’s most efficient setting while allowing the vehicle speed to be continuously varied to suit driving conditions.

View the video and more information here

EVestG

EVestG is a new diagnostic technique that measures the patterns of electrical activity in the brain’s vestibular (or balance) system allowing Doctors to dramatically fast-track the detection of mental and neurological illnesses. Correctly diagnosing mental illness is a massive problem Worldwide and some say this is the best invention ever to come out of Monash University.

View the video and more information here

Gald

GALD stands for Gated Auto-synchronous Luminescence Detector. In brief, it is tool that goes into a microscope to make the identification of dangerous bacteria much faster, cheaper and easier.

View the video and more information here

There was also the Young Inventors Bright Spark Award - won by:

Traffic Light for the Colour Blind

This invention is a traffic light for the colour blind. By using symbols as well as colours, it is easier for drivers, motorcycle riders, bike riders and pedestrians who may have trouble identifying colours and will make it safer for everyone on the roads. The traffic light for the colour blind system is designed as a cover to fit over the existing traffic lights instead of having to replace them.

View the video and more information here

And the 2010 New Inventors Winner of the Year is:

EVestG

EVestG is a new diagnostic technique that measures the patterns of electrical activity in the brain’s vestibular (or balance) system allowing Doctors to dramatically fast-track the detection of mental and neurological illnesses. Correctly diagnosing mental illness is a massive problem Worldwide and some say this is the best invention ever to come out of Monash University.

View the video and more information here

About the Inventor

Brian Lithgow, Senior lecturer, Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering. Brian’s research interests include Neurological, Neurodegenerative and Vestibular diagnostics and modeling particularly related to Parkinsons, Scizophrenia, Depression and Meniere's diseases.

Jayashri Kulkarni commenced her appointment as Professor of Psychiatry, The Alfred and Monash University in 2002. She directs a large psychiatric research group, the Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc), with approximately 119 staff and students. The Centre is dedicated to discovering new treatments, new understanding and new services for people with a range of mental illnesses. 

Jayashri Kulkarni completed her MBBS degree in 1981 at Monash University and worked mainly in Emergency Medicine before deciding to specialise in Psychiatry. She became a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in 1989 and was awarded a PhD from Monash University in 1997 for her thesis “Women and Psychosis”. Jayashri has pioneered the novel use of estrogen as a treatment for schizophrenia and is internationally acknowledged as a leader in the field of reproductive hormones and their impact on mental health.

Contact

For more information about EVestG, contact the following:
http://www.neuraldiagnostics.com/index.html

View many more inventions featured on The New Inventors here 

The evening was followed with a great period of networking with many creative people as well as stars of the show. A very enjoyable evening.

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Directors Report - Having Trouble Sleeping? A Luncheon with Dr Peter C. Farrell - Founder and Executive Chairman of Resmed

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting up with Dr Peter C Farrell AM at the Australian German Association luncheon.

Many of you will be familiar with Peter as the founder and executive chairman of Resmed, a business Peter has grown from 1.25 million investment with less than 1 million in sales in 1990 - whilst losing $250,000/year to revenues now over $1billion per year, over 3,500 employees in 70 countries and listed value of around $5.5 billion making $190million a year after tax.

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