HIGH IMPACT

Neale Fong might have disappeared from the front page of the newspapers, but he still remains busier than the average executive, embracing a new field of endeavour: the world of publicly listed minerals explorers.

Dr Fong is executive chairman of Chrysalis Resources and a non-executive board member of Realm Resources. He is also heading up Curtin University’s health innovation research institute and chairing the board at private hospital Bethesda.

Despite the so-called public nature of being boss at a listed company, the former Western Australian health czar finds the experience low key compared to a few years ago when he seemed to have a large target painted on his back after becoming Australia’s highest paid public servant.

“One of the unfortunate things about public life is you are seen to be vulnerable or exposed,” Dr Fong told WA Business News.

“If you are publicly listed there are rules but there are more subjective rules that the population has because they think they have more ownership of you if you are a public servant or politician.

“It is unfortunate because I think it stops people from doing those roles.

“I am enjoying being more anonymous, but I am still doing exciting things.”

Apart from his brief period as the human headline guiding then WA Health Minister Jim McGinty’s attempts to reform health in WA, Dr Fong has a long list of quiet achievements which reflect his desire to have an impact on the community – a resolution he came to after studying theology in Canada as part of a voyage of self-discovery that led to him becoming a minister in the Churches of Christ.

Outside health he is best known for his involvement in football, initially as a player, which included a couple of seasons with West Perth Football Club in the mid-1980s.

He later became a board member of the Falcons, chaplain to the West Coast Eagles and recently stepped aside from the chairmanship of the WA Football Commission, a position he held for nine years during which participation levels doubled to 120,000 at all levels of the game in this state.

Dr Fong is especially proud of the resurgence of WAFL football, which he believes is an important mechanism to offer to the hundreds of aspiring footballers who won’t make the AFL grade.

A recurring theme in his wide-ranging career is a focus on leadership. It is one of the areas he tried to develop at the WA Health Department but its part in the Fong grand design of management goes back at least to 1991 when Dr Fong was involved in the establishment of Youth Vision, the youth department of the Churches of Christ in WA.

The concept has since gone national, but Dr Fong remains as chair of the local chapter and his work earned him a nomination in the 2010 WA Citizen of the Year Awards.

“That is about developing young leaders,” he said.

“I have had some great mentors myself through my journey and I have always wanted to give back in that area.”

Dr Fong said he put a lot of resources into leadership training at all levels of the health system.

“We had 600 people involved in intentional leadership development.

“It is about people seeing problems and being empowered to try to seek improvements and solutions and be accountable for their actions and the members of their team.”

What is your career highlight?

My most enjoyable role was CEO of St John of God Hospital (Subiaco); I really turned that around. It came together with my Christian beliefs; working with the sisters (of St John of God) was an enormous privilege, that taught me a lot.

Who were your mentors?

Former St John of God Health Care group chief executive Ivor Davies.

Another mentor was Dr Walter Wright who headed the graduate school in Vancouver. (Dr Wright now heads Max De Pree Center for Leadership in Pasadena, California.)

More recently, investment banker John Poynton. He offered me the opportunity with Prime Health Group (after the WA Health Department).

What drives you?

I enjoy making a contribution. For me it is not about the money, I want to do things that have an impact.