Association CEO Index 2024 - Flipbook - Page 37
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Business feature
Graham Catt
CEO, Independent Schools Australia
A change agent in good company
Is there a greater test of leadership than a crisis? And
has there been a greater crisis in recent history than
COVID-19?
The answer to both questions is arguably no. And if you
experienced – or know about – how tough it was to run a
business during the pandemic, just imagine being the
head of the organisation representing small and medium
businesses – in the nation’s capital.
Graham Catt was that person, beginning his tenure as
CEO of the Canberra Business Chamber in January of
that memorable 2020.
Across three eventful years, he guided a shell-shocked
business community through COVID-19 restrictions and
lockdowns, created a new strategic plan to increase
influence and improve member value, contributed to a
20% growth in membership, elevated policy and
advocacy to broaden the Chamber’s impact across
various business issues, and featured in more than 250
interviews annually across radio, print and television.
“Everything was intensified during COVID,” Graham
recalls. “Our focus at the Chamber was helping small-tomedium businesses adapt and respond to an
environment that was all about change.
“One of the memorable moments for me was being able
to get a restriction lifted three weeks earlier than the
government was otherwise going to lift it, so some of
our members could open their shops. Probably not
earth-shattering in terms of overall legislative change,
but it was significant for those owners.”
Graham recalls homeschooling their two children with
his wife, while also working 14- or 15-hour days.
“One of the things that kept us going was the wonderful
sense of humanity and vulnerability across all of the
people that we worked with,” he says. “You know, doing
the Zoom call and having someone’s kid or cat wander
past in the background. It was a beautiful silver lining to
the pandemic that I sense has disappeared again.
“When I left the Canberra Chamber, a lot of local media
outlets covered the story and that really meant a lot. The
great reward for me was the realisation all the time I had
put into those relationships was being paid back by that
respect. It was
really lovely.
“From a member point of view, it was the realisation you
led local businesses from Point A to Point B. Now, Point
B might not be revolution, but when someone tells you
that you got them through a challenging time, those are
the moments that resonate the most.”
Challenge, change, turmoil, culture resets, restructure.
Where many would run in the opposite direction, these
have emerged as magnetic specialities for Graham, who
celebrates 20 years in association leadership in 2024.
Having founded and later sold out of a communications
company called Digital Eskimo, which featured
Greenpeace and Bendigo Bank on its client list, Graham
changed tack in 2004 to join the Royal Australian
College of General Practitioners (RACGP) as NSW & ACT
State Manager. It was a time of industry upheaval as
general practices started becoming ‘corporatised’ and
training programs were split from the RACGP and
offered in a new, competitive market.
“The organisation really had to reinvent itself,” Graham
recalls from his home in Canberra. “When you have that
change in an association, you not only have to reinvent
the member value proposition, you also have to look
inwards and examine the people, the processes, the
culture and the mentality. Quite often, they aren’t geared
towards that new value proposition, so they have to
change as well.
