Greg Bull - Founder

Greg spent the first 20 years of his career working in and leading teams and organisations building successful frontline leadership teams.

The next 15 years Greg has worked in many diverse industries helping organisations improve their operating performance. The bulk of that time has been coaching leaders and teams at all levels the leadership techniques that improve performance and create a better workplace and more engaged people.

For Greg, the most satisfying aspect of his work is watching the people he coaches develop and grow their capability and fulfil their full potential.

"I was wide eyed, curious and above all wanted to do a great job for whoever I worked for..."

When I decided not to pursue my PhD in Pharmacology, and pursue a career in the downstream operations in the oil industry I had no idea what the future would hold. I had a keen interest in people, marketing and a keener interest in understanding how things worked. Years in a lab doing research for me didn't align with these values so I tried my luck in big business. I was wide eyed, curious and above all wanted to do a great job for whoever I worked for, not too different to most of us when we embark on our careers!

"my interest in people and curiosity meant I learnt a lot and got the opportunity to apply myself in wide variety of experiences..."

Downstream operations in the oil industry captures a broad array of disciplines; Distribution, wholesaling and multi-site retailing, franchising to name a few! You learn a lot about business process, process improvement and how to operate in high volume low margin, and low volume high margin environments. You meet people from all walks of life, from the highly educated PhD boffin's, c-suite executives, the 'seat of pants' entrepreneurs, small business owners, frontline workers and tradies. This diverse and eclectic mix of people and roles combined with my interest in people and curiosity meant I learnt a lot and got the opportunity to apply myself in a wide variety of experiences. All of these required me to influence people whom I was directly or indirectly responsible for, and others in more senior roles, external stakeholders, customers and government agencies. Like many of you reading this, much of this was 'done by the seat of my pants' supplemented with a variety of highly credentialed leadership training courses and training programs and my own initiative to seek out advice and mentors from the broad network I had developed.

"The most successful projects are those where a strong 'vertical leadership' and operating rhythm are developed..."

When I left the oil industry I took with me a track record of having led organisation's of 300+ staff and at times up to 20 direct reports as well as having led multi-jurisidictional transformation and change projects spanning all points of the globe. The next 12 years I worked as a business improvement consultant, once again leading large change and transformation projects, but most importantly working very closely on a day-to-day basis with the frontline 3-4 layers of management. These projects spanned organisations of all sizes from less than 100 staff to ASX200 listed companies. I now work in many industries, financial services, healthcare, mining, not-for-profit, hospitality. The most successful projects I've been involved with are those where a strong 'vertical leadership' and operating rhythm is developed and maintained as part of the program.

"working with many people and companies has opened my eyes to the huge chasm of knowledge and expertise our frontline leaders have..."

I have met and learned from people at all levels that excel in leadership; exemplars of what good leaders are capable of. Observing these people informs and underpins what iV-Leadership is all about. That said, working with many people and companies and helping them to change and improve has opened my eyes to the huge chasm of knowledge and expertise our frontline leaders have. Right up to the c-suite, the majority of us are learning by the 'seat our pants', been 'thrown to the wolves' and learning via the 'school of hard knocks'!

What I also discovered is that if your give people some knowledge, some coaching and a way of navigating the challenge of leading teams of people, they can very quickly improve the way they work, reduce their stress levels and improve the morale of their team. Most of all, I was helping people in a real and impactful way that made them and me feel good!

"The content I have developed is and aggregation of my expertise and acquired knowledge..."

During Covid lockdowns I had the time to reflect on leadership and analyse the ingredients for success. Through a combination of my experience, reading and talking to people; I distilled Leadership Intelligence into the 5 forms of Leadership Intelligence that make up the iV-Leadership program. The content I have developed is an aggregation of my expertise and acquired knowledge. The exercises were developed not to test participants but for them to practically apply what they have learned in their environment. This method embeds the knowledge AND kicks off the change process. The program is best done with coaching. Participants can complete the lessons online or in virtual or face-to-face classrooms with others. Coaching sessions are generally in small groups, as sharing peer-to-peer experiences is a really powerful way to learn. I also offer individual coaching as add-ons to the core program.

So, that is how iV-Leadership came about, a lifetime of working with many people, in many organisations across multiple geographies. I know it works because the entire course is based on the success stories and coaching I have provided and the successful outcomes I have observed over the journey. 

Take the time to reflect on your Leadership journey and how the leaders in your organisation are developed. iV-Leadership fills the gaps of trial and error and theoretical programs. It provides participants with a ready to use leadership framework tailored to their organisation, customers and people.

Organisations previously worked with: