About: Rich Atkinson

Adventurer. Impostor. Learner. Misfit.

Rich is a quirky C-suite leader with broad industry experience in Operations and Human Resources and a passion for helping others to develop their careers. He was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 40 - no one was surprised.

Rich held senior executive positions with well known global brands including Emirates Group, PayPal, eBay, Reuters, GE, Westpac, and Barclays. He worked in Australia, UK, Dubai and Singapore and led teams across the US, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

Rich’s consulting clients include Fairfax, EMI Music as well as start-up and not-for profit organisations.

Rich holds a Masters degree from Oxford University. He achieved Fellow status in HR industry bodies - both AHRI (Australia) and CIPD (UK). Rich's innovative change and talent management approaches have been recognised at HR & Leadership Awards in Asia and Australia.

In real life, Rich is a father, failed professional comedian (with TV credits in UK and Australia), lousy amateur sportsperson (he is a Pom after all) and hobby-starter.

In Rich’s words:

I’ve adventured through the corporate and small business worlds over 20 years. I’ve chased the dreams, skipped up and slipped down the career-ladder. I’ve been an institutional misfit and a shining example of the ‘company man’. I’ve been told I’ve achieved success, but have been well and truly humbled by my own failings…

I’ve been lucky enough to have fun along the way. Much of the time I’ve been professionally fulfilled, at others I’ve been resentful and tired from the slog. Through this I’ve generally enjoyed myself, met a bunch of fascinating people and still smile most of the day!

By 38 I had my dream job on the leadership team of a global multinational business with all the expatriate perks and trimmings! But I chose to move back home for my daughter. Some things are more important.  

I’ve jumped at the tough assignments and I’ve had some truly fascinating gigs but I’ve never met an awesome job that couldn’t also become mundane. Over time I’ve found that the more energy and humour I bring to work the more fun I get out of it.

With a smile on my face, and an apology for my rambling vernacular, I’d like to share what I learnt along the way....

 

Rich’s areas of expertise include:

  • Business Acquisition and Integration

  • Talent, Leadership & Organisation Development

  • Group / Team Facilitation

  • Human Performance & Change Management

  • Mentoring & Career Coaching

  • MC & Keynotes

Contact Rich: