The Bendigo Business Council hopes to help local business leaders take steps towards seizing that potential – both individually and collaboratively – through a leadership program set to begin in 2016.

The Rob Hunt Transformational Leadership Development Program, named after the well-known former Bendigo Bank managing director, offers small business owners and leaders in larger firms the chance to learn from industry experts and develop skills relevant to their roles.

BBC chief executive Leah Sertori said the program will bring together leaders for a series of workshops aimed at improving self-awareness, decision-making, how they deal with significant industry change and, of course, how they exploit commercial opportunities.

“Operating a business can be really isolating at times,” Ms Sertori said. 

“Our members provided feedback that they were looking to strengthen capabilities in their own business as well as strengthen leadership capabilities as a group in the community.”

To reflect the times, the program has a global focus. One workshop is dedicated to exploring Asia’s economic transformation and what it means to local businesses.

Members of ANZ Bank’s Super Regional Team will help participants explore opportunities in Asia – where the bank has a strong presence. 

The Loddon-Mallee’s agriculture sector was one of many that could harness opportunities to trade with Asian neighbours, Ms Sertori said.

Workshops will also cover collaborative leadership, financial literacy, mental and physical health and Bendigo’s economy. Participants will be able to learn from Mr Hunt, leadership development expert Fabian Dattner, Birchgrove Property’s Damien Tangey, Jimmy Possum’s Margot Spalding and more.

One workshop will involve participants visiting Bendigo Health to learn about complex change in the local health sector and how the organisation has prepared to transition to a new hospital.

“So many leaders are grappling with constant change,” Ms Sertori said. “Changes in technology, changing demographics.”

Twenty-five places will be made available for senior business professionals. Participation in the program costs $4950, which can be paid in four instalments, while three scholarships will be offered to small business owners. 

Successful completion of the program will be recognised as one full unit credit in a Master of Business Administation (MBA) at La Trobe University.

For more information, contact the BBC on 5442 7816.

The success of Bendigo Bank’s Community Bank program and the company’s transformation from a small building society to a billion-dollar retail banker were stories Mr Hunt shared with business leaders on Tuesday.

More than 30 members of the BBC heard Mr Hunt share his thoughts on leadership during the launch of the program bearing his name.

Mr Hunt spoke of the virtues of collaborative approaches, saying that great leadership was a shared experience. He also spoke of young people’s value to the market, the importance of having community values in business and handling “disruptive models” in business, citing the taxi industry as an example.

Ms Sertori said the commerce group was privileged to have Mr Hunt as “head coach” in its leadership development program.

“It’s very informative for other business owners to understand what it is that shifts people from one mindset to another,” she said.

The leadership development program is an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to learn more about the innovation leaps being made in their own backyard, says Damien Tangey, managing director of Birchgrove Property.

Mr Tangey will take part in a workshop on collaborative leadership and its effect on innovation as part of the leadership program.

“I think there’s really good-quality people leading innovation in each of the key pillars of our economy – education, finance, health, development and manufacturing,” Mr Tangey said. “It’s hard in regional areas to get quality programs. But these sorts of events allow conversations to be fostered.”

Mr Tangey, whose development portfolio includes Canterbury Estate and Neangar Place, said business leaders should challenge their own practices by listening to their peers.

“Innovation leading to best practice most often sits between the silos of business,” he said.

For Sue Clarke, chair of Haven Home Safe, the leadership program is something that could also benefit the not-for-profit sector.

“It’s exposure to different ways of thinking and also an opportunity to network – that’s always going to be critical in the not-for-profit sector,” she said.

The organisation, which works with homeless people, was particularly interested in giving its middle managers the chance to take part, Ms Clarke added.

“I think individually for them, it’s about trialling some leadership roles and taking it into the workplace.”