We invite you to join us at an exclusive talk with leadership, change and innovation expert and author Professor Richard Badham and co-author Brenda Santiago, as they share insights from their latest book Ironies of Organisational Change at UTS Business School on Thursday 27 July.

Richard and Brenda will be in conversation with

Allan Parker, Managing Director of Peak Performance Development Pty Ltd and recipient of the Order of Australia for his contribution to business and dispute resolution
Professor Carl Rhodes, Dean of the UTS Business School and author of Woke Capitalism: Democracy Under Threat in the Age of Corporate Righteousness
Elizabeth Aris, COO of Swarm Dynamics and an accomplished corporate and tech industry leader, having held executive roles at Telstra, Microsoft and Westpac

as they provide a fresh perspective on how organisations can effectively navigate the emerging challenges of today’s world and explore how we can harness change to improve our work, organisations and society for the better.

Badham and Santiago brilliantly points at ironies, difficulties and dilemmas, and at the same time provides an excellent overview of what to consider in change work, offering a very good balance between advice-giving and awareness of problems and obstacles in organizations that are seldom adaptive to plans rarely fully working when confronted with reality."
Mats Alvesson, Lund University

Organisations have endured unprecedented challenges in recent times, making effective approaches to change more important than ever. Richard will share practical approaches to managing the challenges of change in a world in which ‘victory is elusive and virtue is not reliably rewarded’ and discuss how a ‘lightness of being’ can help achieve outcomes, find meaning and look after yourself and others in the process.

“In Ironies of Organisational Change, Richard, and Brenda M. Santiago, present an inspired, creative and practical way of addressing a practice that has confounded managers for generations. They challenge us to reimagine the myths about change that we have held onto for too long, providing a fresh perspective on what can be done to get it right.”
Professor Carl Rhodes, UTS Business School

About the panel

Richard J Badham is a Professor of Management at UTS and the University of Sydney, and international consultant and speaker in leadership, change and innovation. His research is focused on leading innovation and change, with particular attention to power and politics, paradox and irony in leadership development.

Richard has developed and led innovation projects and leadership programs for the European Commission, the West German Government, Datacom, BHP Steel, Ford, James Hardie and Hoover, as well as numerous other government agencies and corporations in Australia and worldwide. He has been a Visiting Professorial Fellow at Yale and a Visiting Professor in Berlin the year the Wall came down.

Richard is the author of the best selling text Power, Politics and Organizational Change, with books and articles on leadership and change have been published in the Harvard Business Review, and most recently by Edward Elgar, Ironies of Organizational Change: Introduction to Change Management and Organizational Theory.

Brenda Santiago explores how individuals and organisations can expand their powers of connection and transformation. Fascinated by the needs and challenges of bridging, translation and collaboration in our increasingly globalised world, she creates value for organisations and communities by engaging with stakeholders across private, public, academic and non-profit sectors.

She works alongside leaders of organisations with concerns ranging from education and training to integrative medicine, fighting childhood cancer, infrastructure and development, philanthropy and sustainability. She has developed and led numerous multi-million-dollar initiatives in Australia, Europe, the US and Puerto Rico.

A biologist by training, Brenda is one of a few women who has attained the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) board certification (CEcD) and is qualified as an MBA in strategic management.

Allan Parker is the Managing Director of Peak Performance Development Pty Ltd, a Sydney based consultancy company, operating both within Australia and internationally. Allan was a member of the High Level Consultative Committee at the OECD that was responsible for the development and ratification of Global Policy for Small to Medium Enterprise (2000 to 2004 involving 85 OECD Countries). More recently Allan moderated 2 meetings at the United Nations World Investment Forum in Ghana.

In 2019, Allan received the Order of Australia (OAM) for his contribution to business and particularly dispute resolution He is the co-author of the best-selling book Switch on Your Brain; author of the Negotiator’s Toolkit, and is one of the co-authors of Beyond Yes – Negotiating and Networking. His clients have included Microsoft in 11 countries, AMP, BNP Paribas in 4 countries, Macquarie Bank in 4 countries, NSW Bar Association, Deutsche Bank, 5 different Ombudsman’s Offices in Australia and New Zealand, The Royal College of Physicians, the OECD and United Nations.

Carl Rhodes is a Professor of Organisation Studies and Dean of the Business School at the University of Technology Sydney Business School. His research investigates the ethical and political dimensions of management and leadership. Carl's most recent books are Woke Capitalism: Democracy Under Threat in the Age of Corporate Righteousness, Organizing Corporal Ethics (with Alison Pullen), Disturbing Business Ethics, and CEO Society: The Corporate Takeover of Everyday Life (Zed, 2018 with Peter Bloom). Carl regularly contributes to the media with articles and commentary on issues related to ethics, politics, and management.