Community, trust and the hill of hysteria

My guest for this episode is Alison McCormack, CEO of Bicycle Network, advocate, accountant, volunteer. The youngest of five, six years behind the others. The shy one who listened while everyone else told stories. She grew up making light fittings in her dad's garage for 25 cents a bundle until her brother taught her to negotiate. She learned early that community isn't optional, it's everything.

Then at 30, her mum died suddenly. Fit as a fiddle one day, gone the next. A friend reached out. "Do you have a bike?" "Yes, somewhere in storage." "Right, I'll see you Wednesday 6 o'clock." That was the start. The bike became the vehicle for grief, for connection, for purpose. Ten years of volunteering. A life membership. Then a CEO role at an organisation that was, in Charlie Farren's words, showing just the tip above the water like the Titanic.

The ride along the Yarra

Before Alison started as CEO, the board chair James Garriock said, "We're going for a ride." A gravel ride along the Yarra. Alison had just got her gravel bike and felt intimidated. But James took her to scar trees of the First Nations people. Then to an Aboriginal meeting place on the banks. They sat on a circle of rocks and he said, "This is about trust. I trust you and I've got your back, but we need to be communicating and telling each other everything."

That conversation set the groundwork for three years of transformation. They came from a first board meeting that was awkward because of history. They built trust that takes time but is easy to lose. The difference between that and most CEO-board relationships? At a recent roundtable, Alison heard stories from other bike organisation CEOs and realised how rare what she has is. It's 100% trust. When something goes wrong, they can have the frank conversation. That ride wasn't just orientation. It was the foundation.

Standing on the shoulders

Alison went back into the history. She found Charlie Farren, Bicycle Network's first female president. Charismatic beyond belief. Charlie had a picture ready: the Titanic, just the tip showing. "You've got it? You're listing." Then she said, "Let me know how I can help. I wasn't walking back in the door, but I'm back." Charlie's wisdom: "There's two reasons to get on a bike, it's fun and it's good for your health. Don't lose sight. It's fun and it's freedom. Embed that into everything you do."

Then there was Jane Nathan, OAM. Mayor of Hawthorn in the 90s. She saved the land for the Federation Trail when they were going to sell it off. When the then Premier wanted to put stairs at Gardner's Creek instead of a ramp, Jane said, "If you put stairs there, I'm personally paying for a bronze statue of you at the bottom so everyone knows who's responsible." That's charisma. That's also mentoring a shy accountant through the political landscape. Nothing is original. But how you apply it, that's everything.

The hill of hysteria

"How could you remove my car park? I need that car park in my life." That's the hill of hysteria. The moment everyone goes through when change arrives. Alison's job is to push through it, knowing what's on the other side. She's seen it across the world. Three years after a modal filter goes in, you go back to the person who had the hysteria. "It's okay, we're going to pull that out now." There is no way on earth they'll want that.

Anne Hidalgo, a Mayor of Paris, was told she'd never be re-elected. Parisians couldn't imagine what Paris is like today. But she pushed through. She was re-elected convincingly. Later, her successor, did his victory lap on a bicycle.

The vocal minority completely out-yells the silent majority. Alison's role is storytelling, get that majority to tell their story. Who doesn't want a child to ride to school safely? Who doesn't want their parents to be mobile when they can't drive anymore? No one. But if you talk about removing a car park for a bike lane, it's complete backlash. So you tell the story differently. You frame it through what people actually want, not what they think they're losing.

This is a conversation about what happens when a shy girl who listened becomes a CEO who has to speak. When someone who found healing in community now builds community for 45,000 members. When the work is never about the bike, it's about the lives the bike unlocks, the health crisis it addresses, the mental health it supports, the freedom it restores. It's about standing on shoulders, building trust, and pushing through the hill of hysteria because you know what's on the other side.

Notebook ready.

Play on!