A fighter pilot and the CEO of the online division of the largest university in the southern hemisphere will headline the inaugural SMB Digital, inspiring business leaders to unlock their potential over two days at this one-of-a-kind event.
Christian ‘Boo’ Boucousis was recruited into the Royal Australian Air Force as a pilot and completed over 11 years as an elite fighter pilot, one of only 400 trained over a 38-year period. Since then, Boo has made the transition to entrepreneurship, turning over $200 million in his first business venture in the humanitarian sector.
Now, he’s on a mission to help businesses be the best of the best by thinking like a fighter pilot.
Keynote speaker, Christian Boucousis
“The most successful businesspeople think like fighter pilots. I realise now that I wasn’t taught to fly. I was taught how to think. I was taught how to think quickly. I was taught to think in a way that means you win, and you win all the time,” he says.
“The most successful companies and people master three key competencies: purpose, time and trust. In tennis for example, within such a high-performance world, how are the top players so consistently better than everyone else? Beyond talent, they get more done in less time. They’re very disciplined, very focused and very purposeful. They love to win and everything they do each and every day lines up to achieving that lifelong purpose.
“For individuals and companies, being able to connect to that sense of purpose is not just about a nice, big, heart-pumping destination, but in doing purposeful things. We have to stop doing things every day that don’t add value. If you look at the most successful businesspeople in the world – like Warren Buffet and Oprah Winfrey – they don’t necessarily have remarkable backgrounds, but they demonstrate mastery of time, trust and purpose.”
At SMB Digital, Boo will explain the concept of deep performance.
In his keynote address on Wednesday 30 March, he will discuss how fighter pilots and multibillion dollar corporates build adaptable digital strategies to enhance their “situational awareness”. He will reveal the biggest opportunity and biggest challenge the digital tsunami presents small and medium enterprises.
The right digital strategy will enhance and accelerate your business, potentially delivering explosive growth. An ill-thought-out or ad-hoc digital strategy could potentially cause years of headaches or at worst, cost you your business. The reality post COVID is, without a digital game plan, there is no game plan.
On Day 2, Helen Souness will reveal how SMBs can win against the big guys.
As CEO of RMIT Online, Helen Souness heads up the gargantuan effort to address the unprecedented demand for tech talent driven by the even greater demand for technology by businesses to work smarter.
In her keynote address on Thursday 31 March, Helen will share inspiring stories of small businesses that have achieved big things by starting simply and getting creative with digital tools.
“It’s important for small to medium businesses to be inspired and get confident that they can can use tech just as well as big businesses,” she says.
“These small, simple tools and services aren’t as intimidating as they may seem but can really supercharge your results and your customer service if you use them. We hear all of these tech terms like AI and they sound scary, but it’s not difficult to get that little bit more digital savvy, and you can really transform your business.”
Keynote speaker, Helen Souness
Helen will discuss how, although COVD shutdowns and the rapid need to move small businesses online was painful, moving online also represents an incredible opportunity. No one is more nimble or creative than a small business owner, so you can use these skills online.
Helen will share examples of how small businesses in Australia have leveraged digital tools and partners to compete and grow in a digital world, from the baby bottle manufacturer exporting to the world using a smart logistics partner to the PR agency who made upskilling in digital marketing a fun team building exercise that prepared them to come out of lockdowns stronger.
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