Lessons in Leadership with Ciaran Davis, CEO of APN news and media.
Ciaran Davis, CEO of APN News and Media, one of Australia’s largest media companies, addressed a packed room of enthusiastic members and supporters of the Australian Ireland Fund’s Young Leaders Network on Wednesday 13 April. APN’s divisions include newspaper publishing, online publishing, broadcast radio and outdoor advertising in Australia and New Zealand.
Ciaran, who was named CEO Magazine’s CEO of the year in 2014, spoke generously and at length about his experiences as CEO of a major media company, and the path that has taken him to this role. He outlined how he turned around the fortunes of the ailing Mix FM radio station to become the huge success that is now Kiss FM. He also spoke candidly about the challenges that are now facing him as he attempts to deal with the legacy issues and huge change needed in the publishing industry to effect the same turnaround.
He gave some valuable advice to the group assembled, including, most memorably, to surround yourself with kings if you want to be a king (i.e. surround yourself with the best people). He also advised us to know what you don’t know – be aware of your shortcomings and decide how to address these. Ciaran chose a very unique video to open his presentation and wake up his audience, and throughout his presentation he demonstrated how important video content has been for his success and the success of the Australian Radio Network.
He also stressed the importance of making time for everything – your job, professional development and self-development. Balance is key. He closed with some insights into the people culture that he has built at APN, stressing that employing the right people and making sure that you do enough to retain them and inspire them to do their best is the most important thing a CEO can do.
There was some time for a Q & A session, with Ciaran ably fielding questions that ranged from dealing with resistance to change from within the organisation to his motivations for supporting the Australian Ireland Fund.
Thanks to Ciaran, our generous sponsors Clyde and Co and Cut-e, and our attendees, we raised over $3500 to go towards supporting our projects.
Thank you to Clyde & Co for generously hosting us again this year and providing a great breakfast and facilities for our guests to network.
