DIO WELCOMES NEW
DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS AND PLANNING
D
iocesan’s motivational call to action – to help girls to be ‘more than they ever imagined’ – was the icing on the cake for new Director of Business and Planning, Ian Walker. Already impressed by the quality of the Dio brand, Heather’s leadership within the independent schools’ sector, and by the vision of the Board for the facilities at Dio, the new role is a dream job for Ian.
Ian Walker
With more than a decade at Air New Zealand in senior roles, most recently as GM Business Transformation, Ian is a versatile leader in a number of different disciplines with the proven agility to move easily between them. He is also a chartered accountant with a strong background in delivering technology projects and automation. His diverse background will be of value in his new role that encompasses property planning and development, health and safety risk management, finance and the delivery of technology and business information. With a passion for building highly effective teams and for coaching and developing future leaders, Ian says his career outside the education sector is an advantage, allowing him to bring an outside-in view to how Dio approaches challenges and opportunities. He says providing people with a sense of purpose is key to great work, a philosophy he learnt when working in the aviation industry in 2001 when the events of 9/11 threatened the viability of airlines worldwide and created an uncertain future for workers. “As a leader at the time, I learnt the importance of visible leadership and communicating often, trying to bring some clarity to the ambiguity that surrounds those types of events. I also came to see the power of giving people a sense of purpose during crisis events, making them feel that they are part of the solution and then watching them rise 12
DIO TODAY
to the challenge and go on to do some great work.” His best work story, however, has little to do with aviation. While attending a course at renowned Stanford University’s d.school, Ian took part in a visit to the Circus Centre in San Francisco where everyone in the cohort was to attempt to master the flying trapeze. He still remembers the fear and anxiety of climbing the ladder to the impossibly small (and very high) platform and waiting to step out into nothingness. While the video shows him swinging at a somewhat pedestrian pace and manoeuvring clumsily to hang upside down before
eventually somersaulting to the safety of the net, his own recollection is of something much more graceful and elegant – but an exhilarating achievement, nonetheless. Ian lives with his family on a lifestyle property in Puhoi, along with a small menagerie of animals including a mad cat called Riley, Archie the Smithfield dog, and a number of horses. He started his role at Dio in November and is looking forward to playing his part in helping girls to be ‘more than they ever imagined’. As he says, why wouldn’t you want to come to work every day and be a part of that?
