This year, like every year, BOSS Magazine has profiled some of the nation's sharpest minds and taken a look at who reigns supreme in business, finance and the law, as well as some of the young-guns hot on their heels.
How Satya Nadella revived a tech giant
It was three years ago that Satya Nadella stood alongside industry legends Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer to be named as just the third chief executive since technology giant Microsoft was founded in 1975. To say he had a turnaround job on his hands would be an appalling understatement.
How quiet achievers can get noticedÂ
Does your ability to get things done without fuss fail to get you any attention let alone the public praise you so richly deserve? Yet the "squeakier wheels" around you manage to get all the plaudits Here's how to increase your visibility and be noticed in the way you want to be noticed.
One mistake every founder should avoidÂ
As a start-up entrepreneur Rebekah Campbell has made lots of mistakes. But one mistake irks her the most – because it can't be rectified. Campbell fell into it at the beginning when, surrounded by a group of friends at a cafe, she formed her first company, Posse.
Six months later, her friends had disappeared. The idea hadn't exploded as they had hoped and her friends weren't prepared for years of low-paid hard work. One decided to travel, another became a parent and needed a stable job. But five years on, they still hold significant shareholdings in the business. This is a common mistake.Â
Top directors of power and influence 2017Â
The 2017Â BOSSÂ rankings of Australia's most powerful and influential directors revealed a changing of the guard and a wave of new blood flowing through the boardrooms of corporate Australia.
Since our last study in 2015, 33 per cent of the ASX's 5222 directors are new, but turnover on the power and influence lists was smaller.
Epic fail on gender diversityÂ
Despite all the time, talk and money being poured into lifting the number of women in middle and senior management, the data reveals that the needle has barely moved.
While vast improvements have been made at graduate and entry levels over the past decade, the gender gap emerges at middle management before widening at the senior level. Only 5 per cent of the CEOs of our top 200 companies are women.
Deloitte's John Meacock on the strategy juggleÂ
John Meacock, chief strategy officer Asia Pacific and Australia for Deloitte, has found himself often quoting from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen in his boardroom discussions.
John Van Valen's Red Queen hypothesis argues that in the struggle for survival, no single species pulls ahead for long because when an organism develops an adaptation giving it an advantage, other organisms adapt to harness that change, or negate it.
Meacock points to the business parallels: while companies are pouring resources into process and product improvement, it is not propelling them ahead of the competition, because rivals are doing the same.
Boss Young Executives 2017
There is nothing like role-playing a chief executive for a day to reveal your shortcomings and natural talent. The rush of adrenalin experienced by aspiring BOSS Young Executives 2017 as they grappled with the intense demands of leading a tech business means the day's lessons are unlikely to be forgotten.
Start-ups challenging big power companies
The battle to control behind-the-meter energy is just getting started – but the stakes are huge. If the energy entrepreneurs interviewed by BOSS for this story are correct, big power companies have less than a decade to reinvent themselves or see their business models blow up – just as legacy media, music, retail, transport and accommodation companies have been disrupted.
Born CEO: Orica's Alberto Calderon
The mining and resources sector in Australia would look very different today if circumstances hadn't conspired to change the course of Alberto Calderon's career.
Calderon seemed destined to become chief executive of BHP Billiton or, in another life, perhaps president of Colombia. Instead he became head of global explosives giant Orica. The rest is history.
Can these two people make AMP great again?Â
When a spike in insurance claims hit AMP last year, it set off a chain reaction which has shaken the business to its core. After the group announced $1.2 billion in losses and goodwill writedowns, AMP shares slid more than 15 per cent and the nation's fourth biggest fund manager and largest financial advice group fell ignominously out of the ASX20.
Why had Australia's biggest financial adviser and wealth manager, a beneficiary of the rich flows of superannuation, a 168-year-old business with a great brand, failed to capitalise on its unique position, investors demanded. Could it ever make money from putting customer interests first?
