Ahmed Fahour, Ex-CEO, Australia Post, NAB, Citigroup

This is part 1 of a 2 part conversation with Ahmed Fahour in a rare public interview appearance. Ahmed is a prominent business executive who has held leadership positions in various organizations around the world. He moved to Australia from Lebanon at a young age, and is currently CEO of The Gurner Group. Previously, he has held well known roles including as CEO of Australia Post, NAB, Citigroup and Latitude Financial Services alongside board roles with Invest Victoria and the $15B National Reconstruction Fund.

Ahmed is an active member of Muslim community and was Australia’s Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and one of the founders of the Islamic Museum of Australia. Ahmed is married to Hannah and between them they have six children.

He was born in Lebanon and now lives in Melbourne, Australia.

It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Click the links below to listen and enjoy now!

Our guest this week is Ahmed Fahour in this episode 155 (and this is part 1 of a 2 part special conversation)!

Ahmed Fahour is a prominent Australian business executive who has held leadership positions in various organizations. He moved to Australia from Lebanon at a young age, and is currently CEO of The Gurner Group. Previously, he has held well known roles including as CEO of Australia Post, NAB, Citigroup and Latitude Financial Services alongside board roles with Invest Victoria and the $15B National Reconstruction Fund. Ahmed is an active member of Muslim community and was Australia’s Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and one of the founders of the Islamic Museum of Australia.

Ahmed is married to Hannah and between them they have six children.

In this part 1, learn about Ahmed’s sunrise in Lebanon and moving to Australia at a young age, the influences of his family, particularly his parents who had to take on various jobs to make ends meet. Ahmed, being one of 8 kids shares candidly how his father’s accident very early on forced him to grow up, and be the adult in the household.

Our host Vidit, loved asking Ahmed about the source of his self belief and confidence from an early point in his career, how he planned his career including his move to New York with Citigroup in a senior role relatively quick.

We cover how to understand people, how to build relationships, how to set the right foundations in a new role and questions he asks perspective hires. Ahmed candidly shares how work impacted his family, his divorce and re-marriage, the 5 people in his metaphorical hall of fame room, his framework for saying yes to jobs, and why and how he said yes to his new role as CEO of the Gurner group.

In Part 2, we deep dive into Ahmed’s career, his various roles, how he got them, his highlights, lowlights and lots more.

It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!

00:00 Introduction and Welcome to the High Flyer Podcast

01:01 Meet the Guest: Ahmed's Journey and Achievements

03:11 Ahmed's First Public Interview in Five Years

04:10 Fun Facts about Ahmed

09:25 Ahmed's Early Life and Family Influence

12:04 Ahmed's Career Beginnings and Challenges

17:40 Ahmed's Career Growth and Success

22:39 Aspirations at age 18

26:26 Ahmed's source of self belief

38:03 Reflecting on Formative Experiences and Career Beginnings

38:21 Transitioning to Citigroup and the Impact of Change moving to New York

41:03 Podcast Break and Reflection on Covered Topics

41:45 Navigating Personalities and Building Relationships

47:24 The Impact of Work on Family Life

50:49 The Importance of Diverse Interests and Opportunities outside the day job

01:00:39 Framework to choose opportunities and his new role at Gurner Group

01:12:21 Final Sprint Rapid Fire Round

The High Flyers Podcast is a "meticulously researched audio biography" that uncovers the untold stories of remarkable people and companies—redefining what it means to be a high flyer. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past two years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200 episodes released. A flagship product of the Curiosity Center, it has been featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW, offering raw, relatable insights from childhood to career, helping listeners become 1% better every day.

200+ guests have joined Vidit Agarwal on the show from 15+ countries, including The CEO's of multi-billion dollar companies like Bunnings, Australia Post, Woolworths; Board Members at Macquarie Bank, ANZ, Reserve Bank; Former Prime Minister of Australia; Globally renowned tech leaders from Google, Microsoft, Xero; Successful Venture Capital and Family Office Investors; CIO's at the world's biggest superannuation funds; Leading Entertainers; Olympic Gold Medal Winning Athletes and interesting minds you wouldn't have heard of that are changing the world.

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