‘Rolling Turns’
A special gathering for the ‘G
In the Arena
“Leadership finds you wherever you are, but never leaves you where it found you”
The conversations we have on the road, taken somewhere deeper.
Stories, laughter, leadership and the hard days that define us — with four people who have lived it all at the highest level.
‘Rolling Turns’
A special gathering for the ‘G
In the Arena
A different kind of conversation
This one's for the 'G. A conversation about leadership and high performance — with people who have lived it at the highest level, among mates.
Plenty of us carry leadership roles, some of us don't. It doesn't matter. The conversations we have on the road — pressure, work, setbacks, family, what's next — are the same ones we're having at this table, just with more time and better food.
Stories are what the 'G does well. And stories are how this evening works — every story carrying an idea, and a challenge, told by people who have led in the most demanding environments in sport and business, the way they'd tell them among friends.
Because whatever the arena, the job of a leader is the same: creating the conditions that enable the people around you to perform at their best.
We'll explore the question at the centre of my work:
"What does the role truly expect of me?"
A different kind of conversation
This one's for the 'G. A conversation about leadership and high performance — with people who have lived it at the highest level, among mates.
Plenty of us carry leadership roles, some of us don't. It doesn't matter. The conversations we have on the road — pressure, work, setbacks, family, what's next — are the same ones we're having at this table, just with more time and better food.
Stories are what the 'G does well. And stories are how this evening works — every story carrying an idea, and a challenge, told by people who have led in the most demanding environments in sport and business, the way they'd tell them among friends.
Because whatever the arena, the job of a leader is the same: creating the conditions that enable the people around you to perform at their best.
We'll explore the question at the centre of my work:
"What does the role truly expect of me?"
Never trust a leader without a limp
Co-hosted by Cameron Schwab and Andy Gowers, with special guests, former AFL coaches Michael Voss and Neil Craig — who started out in elite cycling, as sports scientist with Charlie Walsh's Australian Cycling Team — hosted at the stunning Eclat, a vision our very own Paul Tuddenham brought to life.
The best leaders carry wisdom from their setbacks — and the best stories. The limp is the evidence you've been tested in ways that matter, and done the work to come back better. Everyone in this room has one.
Together, we'll get into:
What elite sporting environments teach you about pressure — and what they cost
The hard days that define us — what happens when it all goes wrong, and what it actually takes to recover
Creating the conditions for the people around you to perform at their best — the trust that sits beneath every good team
Handling the moments when you don't have the answer
Event Details
Held at Eclat, in the members' lounge in Hawthorn East. Afterwards we'll settle in for a beer, a wine and quality nibbles — and the conversation and laughs the 'G does best.
No cost — just something a bit different. If you lead people, a lot of this will hit close to home. If you don't, it's a rare look inside elite sport and what high performance actually demands, from four people who've lived it.
Tuesday 25 August 2026
3:45pm arrival for a 4:00pm start, concluding at 9:00pm
Eclat, 4 Monteath Avenue, Hawthorn East, Victoria
About your hosts, and our special guests
Cameron Schwab
Cameron Schwab spent 25 years as CEO of three AFL clubs — Richmond, Fremantle and Melbourne — appointed at Richmond at just 24, the youngest CEO in the history of the game, and the second longest-serving CEO of the modern era.
His leadership was forged in clubs at their lowest ebb, playing a central role in major transformations in an environment where results are publicly scrutinised weekly, and failure has nowhere to hide.
As the founder of designCEO, Cameron has spent the past decade invited into the inner lives of CEOs as their coach and mentor, working with senior leaders and their teams across many industry sectors. He holds an MBA and Master of Marketing from the Melbourne Business School, and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
He explores the challenges he faced as a leader with openness and generosity, bringing not just theories but game-tested wisdom.
Andy Gowers
Andy Gowers is President of the Hawthorn Football Club, elected in December 2022. His leadership at Hawthorn spans decades and roles — a premiership player in the club’s 1991 flag-winning side across a 140-game AFL career with Hawthorn and Brisbane, he later served as Football Director from 2014 to 2017, a period in which the club won two premierships and completed its famous ‘three-peat’.
In business, Andy built, ran and successfully sold his own boutique wealth management firm, Time Advice, and is a founding partner of Vest Advisory, guiding families and business owners through succession, wealth transfer and inheritance.
He now mentors executives and elite performers, applying the principles of elite sport to leadership and life.
Michael Voss
Michael Voss is one of the greatest players in the history of Australian football. A five-time All-Australian and 1996 Brownlow Medallist, he played 289 games for the Brisbane Bears and Lions, and as the Lions’ longest-serving captain led the club to three consecutive premierships from 2001 to 2003 — one of the great captaincy achievements in Australian sport.
He is an inductee of the Australian Football Hall of Fame and an official Legend of the Brisbane Lions.
His coaching career has spanned both ends of the leadership experience — senior coach of Brisbane, assistant at Port Adelaide, and most recently senior coach of Carlton, where he ended the club’s decade-long finals drought in 2023. Few leaders have known the game’s highest peaks and hardest tests from both the playing field and the coach’s box, and Michael speaks about leadership, resilience and performance with rare authority.
Neil Craig
Neil Craig’s leadership education began in two of the most demanding environments in Australian sport. A brilliant SANFL player, he played 319 games for Norwood and Sturt — including premierships with Norwood in 1975 and 1978, the Sturt captaincy, and 11 State of Origin appearances for South Australia.
A sports scientist by training, who holds an Honorary Doctorate in Sports Science from Flinders University, he worked under legendary cycling coach Charlie Walsh with the Australian Cycling Team — an apprenticeship in elite performance that shaped his coaching philosophy, one he carried into eight seasons as senior coach of the Adelaide Crows and senior performance roles across the AFL.
Neil now mentors coaches at the Australian Institute of Sport, and has mentored world-class coaches including Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham Hotspur), Brian Goorjian (Australian Boomers), Eddie Jones (Japan Rugby), and Luke Beveridge (Western Bulldogs), bringing extraordinary insights from across elite sporting environments to our conversations about leadership at the highest level.
About your hosts, and our special guests
Cameron Schwab
Cameron Schwab spent 25 years as CEO of three AFL clubs — Richmond, Fremantle and Melbourne — appointed at Richmond at just 24, the youngest CEO in the history of the game, and the second longest-serving CEO of the modern era.
His leadership was forged in clubs at their lowest ebb, playing a central role in major transformations in an environment where results are publicly scrutinised weekly, and failure has nowhere to hide.
As the founder of designCEO, Cameron has spent the past decade invited into the inner lives of CEOs as their coach and mentor, working with senior leaders and their teams across many industry sectors. He holds an MBA and Master of Marketing from the Melbourne Business School, and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
He explores the challenges he faced as a leader with openness and generosity, bringing not just theories but game-tested wisdom.
Andy Gowers
Andy Gowers is President of the Hawthorn Football Club, elected in December 2022. His leadership at Hawthorn spans decades and roles — a premiership player in the club’s 1991 flag-winning side across a 140-game AFL career with Hawthorn and Brisbane, he later served as Football Director from 2014 to 2017, a period in which the club won two premierships and completed its famous ‘three-peat’.
In business, Andy built, ran and successfully sold his own boutique wealth management firm, Time Advice, and is a founding partner of Vest Advisory, guiding families and business owners through succession, wealth transfer and inheritance.
He now mentors executives and elite performers, applying the principles of elite sport to leadership and life.
Michael Voss
Michael Voss is one of the greatest players in the history of Australian football. A five-time All-Australian and 1996 Brownlow Medallist, he played 289 games for the Brisbane Bears and Lions, and as the Lions’ longest-serving captain led the club to three consecutive premierships from 2001 to 2003 — one of the great captaincy achievements in Australian sport.
He is an inductee of the Australian Football Hall of Fame and an official Legend of the Brisbane Lions.
His coaching career has spanned both ends of the leadership experience — senior coach of Brisbane, assistant at Port Adelaide, and most recently senior coach of Carlton, where he ended the club’s decade-long finals drought in 2023. Few leaders have known the game’s highest peaks and hardest tests from both the playing field and the coach’s box, and Michael speaks about leadership, resilience and performance with rare authority.
Neil Craig
Neil Craig’s leadership education began in two of the most demanding environments in Australian sport. A brilliant SANFL player, he played 319 games for Norwood and Sturt — including premierships with Norwood in 1975 and 1978, the Sturt captaincy, and 11 State of Origin appearances for South Australia.
A sports scientist by training, who holds an Honorary Doctorate in Sports Science from Flinders University, he worked under legendary cycling coach Charlie Walsh with the Australian Cycling Team — an apprenticeship in elite performance that shaped his coaching philosophy, one he carried into eight seasons as senior coach of the Adelaide Crows and senior performance roles across the AFL.
Neil now mentors coaches at the Australian Institute of Sport, and has mentored world-class coaches including Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham Hotspur), Brian Goorjian (Australian Boomers), Eddie Jones (Japan Rugby), and Luke Beveridge (Western Bulldogs), bringing extraordinary insights from across elite sporting environments to our conversations about leadership at the highest level.
From leaders who have experienced our sessions
I’ve had the privilege of listening to Cameron talk about leadership and life twice now. I was so impressed the first time that I asked him to present to my Leadership Team.
You could have heard a pin drop on each occasion and everyone, sports enthusiast or not, got so much out of the session.
Cameron tells a powerful, entertaining and deeply personal story that resonates with everyone who has experienced change and challenge.
Joe Barr, Chief Executive Officer | John Holland
It was truly incredible to sit in the energy of a room of people completely captivated by your storytelling
Your vulnerability and the art you have mastered in weaving your personal story into some incredible lessons for leadership and life.
Thank you Cameron for a very moving and insightful session, very grateful.
Suzie McInerney | CEO | Six Degrees Executive
You will be learning from the very best I have seen.
Rodrigo Pizarro, Managing Director | L'Oreal Australia & New Zealand
My role as Principal of Caulfield Grammar School affords me the privilege of observing many outstanding leaders and speakers from a number of sectors. Cameron sits right in the top echelon.
I value authenticity and humility above all other leadership attributes and Cameron exudes both. He develops trust in his session quickly and shares raw and vulnerable stories of his own journey.
The human side of Cameron is there for all to see.
The care and attention to detail in all elements of the evening showed me that he genuinely cares for his participants.
Cameron has the academic background and lived experience adding integrity to his presentation. His delivery is in plain speak, he cuts to the chase and he has high expectations of his participants.
When you invest in this way, you want tangible learnings to use in your own context and the session delivers this in spades.”
Ashleigh Martin, Principal | Caulfield Grammar School
Cameron Schwab’s presentation was raw, passionate and insightful.
I was taken aback by his engaging style and willingness to share his own story in a way that was at times raw and vulnerable.
His insights into leadership and the challenges that go with it gave me a lot to think about as I brought his messages back to my own organisation and family.
I would recommend him in a heartbeat. In fact, I already have.
It was the best presentation I’ve listened to in the past 2-3 years.
Jim Mole, Chief Executive Officer | Ameropa Australia
You are an incredibly powerful storyteller and I found myself hanging off every word.
It inspired me to be a better storyteller. That said, there was always a link back to leadership which was very engaging and clever. As a sport lover I resonated with your approach to leadership.
I think the greatest compliment of the day I could provide it that I felt really challenged.
Challenged to think more clearly about who I am, my values and to think about how I lead now and how I want to lead in the future.
Andrew Hewison, Managing Director | Hewison Private Wealth
