Nigel Marsh

Nigel Marsh is a top-rated speaker both in Australia and around the world on leadership, business, life and those around you. His TED speech on work/life balance remains the most viewed ever given outside America.

Having worked with an enormous variety of businesses, including a number of the world’s top companies, national governments and local enterprises, Nigel has strong views on what does and doesn’t lead to peak performance in the business world – in particular, effective leadership and team building – and he’s not afraid to share those views.

He has been described as ‘one of those unique individuals who has a brilliant strategic brain, is a highly creative thinker and can make things happen’.

Nigel, who is also a best-selling author, has had more than 25 years of branding and marketing experience. He has held the roles of CEO of D’Arcy Australia, CEO of Leo Burnett Australia, Regional Group CEO of Y&R Brands ANZ and, chairman of The Leading Edge, a world-class strategic research consultancy. During his time as Leo Burnett’s CEO the agency was awarded not one but both of the industry’s coveted Agency of the Year awards and was responsible for a number of the highest profile and most effective communications campaigns in the country for brands such as Bundy Rum, Canon, Virgin, McDonald’s and Earth Hour.

In January 2015, strategy consultancy Growth Mantra appointed Nigel as a partner in their business, consulting to Australia’s leading brands including Woolworths, Qantas, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, NIB and Optus. He later took on the role of CEO of Strategic Consultancy WEST82nd, where he has advised a number of the country’s top business leaders.

In 2008, Nigel’s book Observations of a Very Short Man was published to instant acclaim with author Stephanie Dowrick describing it as ‘seriously funny and disarmingly wise. An irresistible invitation to laugh your way back to a better view of the world’. His best-selling books include Fat, Forty and Fired (turned into a television series), Overworked and Underlaid, and Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up, which achieved top ten alongside Dan Brown and John Grisham in Australia.

His business commentary has appeared in The Financial Times, The Spectator and The Financial Review. He has recorded a number of interviews with prominent public figures for his internationally acclaimed Five of My Life podcast series.

Nigel is the co-founder of Earth Hour, an environmental movement which now engages more than 162 countries, and the founder of the Sydney Skinny, a communal event that guarantees that for at least one day a year, everyone (no matter their gender, size, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, financial status or physical ability) has the opportunity to drop all pretense and focus on the things that unite us and make life worth living.

Prior to moving to Australia in 2001, Nigel held senior positions with top agencies AMV, BBDO and D’Arcy. As a Marketing director at D’Arcy, Nigel helped take the agency to the #1 spot on the highly competitive UK New Business Ladder.

Nigel Marsh is a brilliant communicator, thought provoking and inspiring, engaging and entertaining.

Nigel Marsh talks about:

• The characteristics of effective leadership
• Getting the most out of yourself and the people around you
• Finding meaning in the workforce and life overall