Australia’s energy transition needs leaders with deep expertise. But it also needs people whose varied experiences have built the judgement, adaptability and range to solve problems the sector has not faced before. Yet when energy organisations hire senior leaders, the search often begins with the ideal career history: someone from the same part of the market, who has delivered the same type of asset, worked in the same regulatory environment, led a similarly sized team and preferably held an almost identical role elsewhere. There are positions where that depth of direct experience is essential. But after more than 20 years in executive recruitment and over 25 conversations with leaders on the Powering Your Career podcast, I have become increasingly convinced of something else: some of the most effective leaders in energy have not followed a conventional path. Their careers have moved across industries, functions, organisations and countries. They have taken risks, changed direction, experienced setbacks and stepped into roles before they felt completely ready. Their careers may not have been linear, but the capability they built along the way continued to compound. That is an important part of The Human Grid . The energy transition does not simply need more people. It needs leaders with the curiosity, courage and adaptability to navigate unfamiliar problems. Recruitment naturally begins with experience. What has this person done? Which organisations have they worked for? What projects have they delivered? How large were their teams and budgets? What outcomes did they achieve? These questions matter. Past performance provides evidence and, in technical, regulated or safety-critical roles, specific experience can materially reduce appointment risk. But experience should not be confused with capability. Experience tells us what someone has done before. Capability helps us understand what they may be able to do next. That distinction matters because the energy transition is not simply a repeat of the past. The system is becoming more decentralised, digitised and interconnected. Consumer behaviour is changing. New technologies, commercial models and sources of capital are emerging. Major infrastructure must be delivered at scale while navigating regulatory, political and community scrutiny. The leaders capable of operating in that environment may not always have the most obvious résumé. They may be a lawyer who developed strong operational and commercial judgement, an engineer who learned to lead capital, stakeholders and complex organisations, a banker who moved into project development and delivery, a military leader who learned to build teams and make decisions under pressure, or an executive from another regulated industry who brings a different perspective to energy. One of the clearest themes across Powering Your Career has been the variety of pathways into energy leadership. Daphne Yao began her career as a corporate lawyer before moving through energy retail, networks, transmission, green hydrogen and battery storage. David Griffin spent 13 years in the Army before building a career across renewable energy development and energy technology. Megan Fisher developed experience in product development and innovation across industries including telecommunications before moving into the energy start-up ecosystem. Mark Branson began as an ecologist before moving into consulting and renewable energy development. Kane Thornton studied and worked in information technology before spending more than two decades helping shape Australia’s clean energy sector. Gordon Taylor ’s career moved from electrical engineering and investment banking into construction and the leadership of major infrastructure delivery. Guy Chalkley took a different path again. He chose not to attend university because he wanted to enter London’s financial sector and start building practical experience immediately. By the time many of his peers graduated, he already had three years in the workforce - experience that became an early foundation for a career that ultimately took him from accounting and to leading major Australian energy networks. These careers look different on paper, but they share important qualities: curiosity, learning agility, commercial judgement, the ability to work across disciplines and the courage to enter unfamiliar territory. There is, however, a difference between a non-linear career and one that lacks direction. Changing roles or sectors regularly does not automatically build capability. The strongest non-linear careers usually have a connecting thread. Each move adds something meaningful: technical depth, commercial exposure, operational accountability, stakeholder management, capital allocation, governance, transformation or team leadership. The career may not follow a straight line, but the person becomes increasingly well equipped to solve more complex problems. That is what employers should be assessing—not whether every move appears conventional, but whether the journey has prepared the person for the challenge ahead. In a constrained talent market, many organisations respond by making selection criteria more specific. They look for someone from an exact competitor, with the same technology, asset class, market exposure and project phase. That can feel safer. It can also dramatically narrow the talent pool, encourage businesses to compete for the same small group of executives and reinforce conventional thinking at precisely the time the sector needs new ideas. We cannot build a larger Human Grid simply by moving the same experienced people between competing organisations. We need to broaden the pathways into the sector. That does not mean ignoring experience. It means becoming more precise about which experience is genuinely essential. One of the most useful questions at the beginning of an executive search is: What must this person already know, and what could the right person learn? Some roles require deep technical credibility, regulatory knowledge, market relationships or a track record delivering a particular type of project. Those requirements should remain. But many of the capabilities that determine executive success travel well across sectors: leading complex and multidisciplinary teams, managing major capital programs, operating in regulated and safety-critical environments, making decisions with incomplete information, balancing technical, commercial and stakeholder priorities, building organisational capability and influencing boards, investors, governments and communities. A candidate does not always need to have faced the identical problem. They need to demonstrate that they can understand complexity, learn quickly and lead effectively through it. Energy organisations now operate at the intersection of engineering, capital, policy, technology, customers and society. No single professional background provides every perspective required. The objective is not to replace sector expertise. It is to combine it with different experiences and ways of thinking. That is The Human Grid in practice: a connected network of complementary capabilities, rather than a group of people who have all followed the same career path. Employers also need to make cross-sector appointments work. It is easy to say an organisation is open to transferable talent. It is harder to support someone after they arrive. Executives entering energy need to learn its language, market structures, regulation and stakeholder landscape. They need deliberate onboarding, access to technical specialists, strong internal networks and clarity about where they are expected to bring a different perspective. Hiring for potential still requires investment. Candidates also carry responsibility. A non-traditional background is not enough on its own. Executives seeking to move into energy need to translate their experience clearly. What problems have they solved that resemble those facing an energy business? How have they operated in regulated, complex or safety-critical environments? Where have they balanced technical, commercial and stakeholder priorities? What evidence shows they can learn a new market quickly? Why energy, and why now? The strongest candidates do not simply say, “My background is different, so take a chance on me.” They explain how that difference can create value. As an executive recruiter, I regularly see the tension between minimising appointment risk and finding someone capable of creating a different future. The safest-looking candidate is not always the person best equipped for the job ahead. The central question should not only be: Has this person done this exact job before? It should also be: Does their career demonstrate that they can solve what comes next? Australia’s energy transition will require deep experience. It will also require curiosity, adaptability, courage and different perspectives. Many of the leaders who bring those qualities will not have followed a straight line. That is not a weakness in their story. It may be the reason they are ready to lead. Because The Human Grid will not be built from one profession, one industry or one conventional pathway. It will be built by connecting different experiences around a shared purpose. If you'd like to hear more about some of these non linear career journeys - have a listen to the Powering Your Career podcast - Watch - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCltgSF18qcOACdK8Ni30wSw Listen on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1rQW7aX66ShTBiVb9rrFUX Listen Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/powering-your-career/id1791068047 Other platforms - https://lnkd.in/grwHuevj #thehumangrid #poweringyourcareer #enertiatalent
We Cannot Deliver the Transition by Burning Out Its People Australia's energy transition is one of the most ambitious infrastructure programs in our nation's history. It demands more projects, faster decisions, greater collaboration and stronger leadership than ever before. But there is one critical piece of infrastructure we can never talk enough about - The people delivering it. Coal generation is retiring. New transmission, storage and renewable generation must be built. Customers expect reliability and affordability. Communities expect better engagement. Investors expect discipline. Governments expect progress. Inside energy organisations, that urgency becomes something much more personal. More approvals. More stakeholders. More reporting. More travel. More uncertainty. More pressure to deliver, often without the luxury of getting anything wrong. If we're not careful, burnout becomes another hidden project risk. That is why wellbeing belongs at the centre of The Human Grid. Mental health is often treated as a personal issue that sits outside project delivery. In reality, it has a direct impact on delivery itself. Safe Work Australia reports that mental stress claims are among the most costly workplace claims and result in the longest periods away from work. The rate of serious mental stress claims has more than doubled over the decade to 2023–24. For anyone working across major projects, construction, operations or fast-growing energy businesses, this won't come as a surprise. Psychosocial hazards such as excessive workloads, poor support, unclear roles, remote or isolated work, conflict and poorly managed organisational change are becoming increasingly common. The problem is rarely that people aren't resilient enough. More often, work has been designed in a way that repeatedly asks more of people than they can sustainably give. One of the themes that has consistently emerged throughout Powering Your Career is that even highly successful leaders experience pressure, self-doubt and times when they need support. Kane Thornton spoke openly about seeing a therapist when needed and posed a simple but powerful question: "If we're really struggling with our mental health, why wouldn't you talk about it and go and get some professional help?" That level of openness matters. When senior leaders speak honestly about mental health, they give others permission to do the same. They help remove the stigma and demonstrate that asking for support isn't a sign of weakness - it's part of being an effective leader. Mitch Wallis shared another idea that has stayed with me. Rather than asking someone, "How are you?", he suggested asking, "How are you feeling out of ten?" It's a small change, but a meaningful one. "How are you?" often receives an automatic response. Giving someone a number creates space for honesty. It allows a colleague to say they're at a four instead of pretending they're fine. Sometimes that simple conversation can prevent a small issue becoming a much bigger one. But conversations alone are not enough. Employee assistance programs, wellbeing initiatives and resilience workshops all have an important role to play. However, they cannot compensate for permanently unrealistic workloads, poor leadership, unclear accountability or cultures where exhaustion is quietly celebrated as commitment. The strongest leaders don't simply ask how people are coping. They ask why the pressure exists in the first place. Are priorities genuinely clear? Is the team properly resourced? Are people covering vacancies for months? Is travel sustainable? Are project interfaces creating unnecessary rework? Do people feel safe raising concerns? Wellbeing is shaped far more by organisational design than individual resilience. The energy sector also presents challenges that are unique. Many projects are regional or remote. Construction teams spend extended periods away from their families. Leaders move constantly between sites, offices and stakeholder meetings. Operational teams carry responsibility for critical infrastructure, while development teams can spend years progressing projects that may ultimately be delayed, redesigned or even cancelled. That takes an emotional toll. People can be deeply committed to Australia's energy transition and still become exhausted by the process of delivering it. Purpose is incredibly powerful, but purpose alone cannot prevent burnout. Over the past 25 years in executive search, I've spoken with countless leaders about why they've decided to leave a role. On many occasions, they've reached a point where the role they once loved had simply become unsustainable. In many cases, these people step away from work altogether. After years of operating under relentless pressure, they needed three or even six months to reset, spend time with their families, rebuild their health and regain the energy to think clearly before deciding what came next. That should make us stop and think. These are not people who lack resilience or commitment. Quite the opposite. They're often some of the highest-performing leaders in the sector. But even the best people have limits. If we continue designing roles and organisations that expect people to operate at maximum intensity indefinitely, we shouldn't be surprised when talented leaders eventually decide they can't. Many of the executives on the podcast talk about the importance of exercise, quality sleep, maintaining relationships and disconnecting from technology so they could consistently perform at their best. That's an important reminder that leadership isn't simply about looking after everyone else. Looking after yourself is part of looking after your team. Leaders who are constantly depleted are less likely to think clearly, make good decisions, remain patient or create psychologically safe environments where others can thrive. The energy transition won't be won through endless sprints. It will be won through sustained performance over decades. That requires realistic expectations, capable leaders, strong teams, opportunities for recovery and workplaces where asking for help is viewed as strength rather than weakness. It is also a workforce issue. The sector cannot solve capability shortages while simultaneously losing experienced people to burnout. Every time someone walks away because the environment became unsustainable, we don't just lose another employee. We lose technical expertise, leadership capability, trusted relationships and years of project knowledge that are incredibly difficult to replace in an already constrained talent market. A healthy Human Grid is therefore much more than a wellbeing initiative. It is a competitive advantage. Teams with trust and psychological safety raise issues earlier. They challenge assumptions. They collaborate more effectively. They learn faster. They retain talented people for longer. Those behaviours don't just improve culture. They improve project outcomes. Boards and executives should view psychosocial risk with the same discipline they apply to every other critical business risk. That means measuring it, understanding where workloads and engagement are deteriorating, equipping leaders to respond, designing roles realistically and ensuring the language used in leadership meetings matches employees' day-to-day experience. Australia's energy transition will take decades. The physical infrastructure we are building is designed to withstand pressure for generations. The people building it deserve the same consideration. Because we cannot build a resilient energy system by exhausting the Human Grid that powers it. #thehumangrid #enertiatalent #poweringyourcareer
