RSS FeedTEAM BOSS
AFR BOSS was a stripling newbie in March 2000. Readers asked then – as they do now – why name it BOSS? It’s so hierarchical, it smacks of the things we want to see change about the rigidities of corporate life. Yes, we talk to the boss – and our conversations with leaders at all levels of the organisation help us learn from each other.
But there’s another meaning. At a time when the onus is on each of us to step up in the world of work and take responsibility for our own careers, the message holds true: you’re the boss – of your own career, your world of work. It’s about you taking charge and using your own power to effect change.
Founding editor, Helen Trinca noted at the time that BOSS was to be an independently minded magazine – cutting through the mass of management coverage and providing readers with rigorous material to help them manage and lead. That reasoning still grounds our award winning journalism and photography. The BOSS team looks forward to all the changes the next 10 hold, as we reflect on the past 10.
Ollie Towning, art director
No suit needed. It’s all about the look. Although the suit is often seen as the mark of power visually, the trend in BOSS lately has been to strip back the suit to create a relaxed, humanised and more approachable person. Louie Douvis, photographer Rely on your instincts and keep experimenting – it’s a good philosophy for coming up with new ideas in photography and life in general.Haki Crisden, subeditor
Coming from the United States, I note that the Australian workplace only appears to be more casual than the one I knew.Catherine Fox, deputy editor
I wish we had another word for management because it doesn’t cover the fascinating stuff about behaviour, emotion, philosophy, power and neuroscience that I have discovered working here. At BOSS, we say this isn’t just about the way we do our jobs – it’s about life.Narelle Hooper, editor
I marvel at how many leaders achieve all they do and stay sane and grounded. Words and symbols are important signposts in the development of our thinking. I now have a personal ban on the phrase "soft skills". The numbers – they’re the easy things. The people behind the numbers, that’s the really hard part.Fiona Smith, AFR Workspace
The evolution of a more humane, people-centric workplace was merely set back by the GFC. The talent shortage means we will continue to progress away from those industrial-age organisational structures, which no longer fit.NARELLE HOOPER, editor
Narelle is the editor of AFR BOSS. She is a former senior writer with The Australian Financial Review and has been a contributor to AFR BOSS since 2002. Narelle has reported on Australian business and financial markets for more than 15 years. She previously worked as finance correspondent with ABC Radio’s national current affairs programs AM and PM, and was a presenter of SBS TV’s The Business Show. She was BRW’s political correspondent based in the press gallery at Parliament House and is a former editor of BRW’s prestigious Rich 200 list. Narelle grew up in country NSW and studied journalism at Canberra University. She recently completed a Masters of Management (Financial Management) at Macquarie Graduate School of Management and is slowly making her way through an MBA.
CATHERINE FOX, deputy editor
An award-winning journalist, Catherine is deputy editor of AFR BOSS magazine. She has held several positions at the AFR, including editor of marketing and Smart Money, and court reporter. Before she joined the newspaper in 1989, Catherine worked in financial marketing and consulting in Sydney and London. She has worked for a range of large and small organisations, including two of Australia's largest banks, a university and an advertising agency. She has written two books: Better than Sex: How a whole generation got hooked on work, co-authored with former AFR BOSS editor Helen Trinca; and The F-word: How we learned to swear by feminism, co-authored with social commentator Jane Caro. Catherine often speaks on the topic at seminars and conferences. She writes a weekly column for the AFR newspaper on Tuesdays called Corporate Woman, and has a BA Communications (University of Technology, Sydney) and an MA Hons (University of New South Wales). She lives in Sydney with her husband and three daughters.
Email cfox@afr.com.au
FIONA SMITH, contributing writer
Fiona is a regular contributor to AFR BOSS and editor of the Work Space section of The Australian Financial Review. She has been with the AFR for more than 10 years, as editor of Special Reports and also a writer covering the hotel, tourism and property industries. Previously, she worked at The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The Manly Daily. She has a BA (Communications) and her first job was as editor of an ill-fated brass, pipe and concert band magazine. Email fiona.smith@afr.com.au
OLLIE TOWNING, art director
Ollie Towning is the art director of AFR BOSS. He has been at the Financial Review Group since 2006 working on various publications, before designing his first issue of BOSS in October 2008. Prior to joining the Financial Review Group he was the senior designer on Virgin Blue’s in-flight magazine. Ollie studied design at Sydney Graphics College. He has been making magazine pages look great ever since.
HAKI CRISDEN, subeditor
Haki Crisden is a subeditor for AFR BOSS. Prior to joining the Financial Review Group, Haki Crisden was assistant news editor for The Plain Dealer, a Cleveland, Ohio newspaper. He spent six years as part of its award-winning, page-one design team. He has a bachelor of arts in English from Virginia State University. Haki grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, home of the world’s largest naval base, and migrated to Australia to be with his wife, whom he married in 2007.
CORPORATE
WOMAN