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

This is the second and final part of a 2 part special 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.

Published 15th Feb, 2024

Our guest this week is Ahmed Fahour in this episode 156 (and this is the 2nd and final part 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, Ahmed and our host Vidit unpacked Ahmed's human DNA: early influences of Lebanon, Family and dealing with adversity thanks to his father’s accident and being the oldest of 8 kids, Ahmed had to grow up quickly. 

Vidit asked Ahmed about his source of self belief, how he’s learnt to understand people, build relationships and set the right foundations in the early innings of his career, and questions he enjoys asks perspective hires that report to him, particularly as he became more senior doing CEO roles. Ahmed candidly also shared 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. 

Today in this 2nd and final part of this special conversation, we deep dive into Ahmed’s career, how he became CEO at Citigroup, NAB, Australia Post and Latitutde; his highlights, lowlights and lots more.

You will notice we get into it right away, this is because we didn’t plan for this to be a 2-part episode but after we recorded and realised we have nearly 2 hours of content, it only felt right to break it up. 

So what you’re about to hear will start with me asking Ahmed about his his Citigroup role for which he moved to New York in the late 90’s. We started this 2nd part here as the first part covered Ahmed’s earlier role at BCG and how he got that, and how that led to Citigroup. Vidit asked Ahmed about what led to him coming back to Australia and how 9/11 was an influence on the decision, his transition from Citigroup to NAB, how he felt being in these senior roles, unpacking his role at NAB and key milestones including the creation of UBank, how to drive internal cultural change, his desire to get the group CEO role and not securing it and how he looks at that now. 

We cover his next transition becoming CEO of Australia post, how that happened and his first 12 months in the role. Vidit cheekily asked Ahmed to coach me on salary negotiation…listen in to learn. Vidit enjoyed Ahmed candid views on how he managed to be in the details as a CEO, the hardest part of his Australia post time. 

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

(Timestamps from this conversation are as follows)

01:16 Recap of Part One of the Conversation with Ahmed

04:10 Ahmed's Experience at Citigroup in New York

07:26 Ahmed's Decision to Return to Australia

14:20 Ahmed's Transition from Citigroup to NAB

20:20 Ahmed's Role and Impact at NAB

32:38 The Power of Lean Teams and Autonomy

33:33 The Importance of Backstory and Context

34:15 The Role of a Founder and the Challenges of Leadership

39:37 The Journey of Transformation at Australia Post

42:18 The Impact of Technology on Business and Society

45:41 The Art of Negotiation and Value Recognition

53:59 The Role of Communication and Trust in Leadership

01:02:56 The Experience at Latitude and the Future of Financial Services

01:04:54 Reflections and Closing Thoughts 

***

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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.

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