54. Leadership in the Voluntary Sector

Today I’m talking with David Bacon – an experienced director, chief executive officer, and senior executive in both the private and public sectors. He is an expert communicator, stemming from his career in journalism and radio broadcasting. He shares a bit about the work he did as a spokesperson for British American Tobacco, noting that he was able to remain ethical and truthful throughout his time there – which is why he never felt the need to apologize for doing this job – regardless of the fact that most people had strong opinions about the company and the industry (which meant that he avoided talking about his job most of the time).

David is a highly intelligent, incredibly humble, and interesting individual. Our conversation is a rollercoaster ride of topics – which is pretty much reflective of David’s life and career. David has buckets of life experience and he shares about his enjoyment in being able to give back as a way to show his gratitude towards his career and- business success. To that end, David joined the Gosford Rotary club where he has achieved much as club president since then and while he has recently stepped down as president, he made sure to leave a legacy of strong leadership and good values behind. In today’s episode, we get to know David a bit better and find out what he believes is required to be successful in life.

Discussion Points