Welcome to VCCI’s first edition of Fast Five for 2021 - our fortnightly series where we ask Victoria’s most successful business leaders to answer five simple questions to gain an insight into the inner-workings of some of Australia’s biggest and most effective businesses.

This week, we spoke to Gavin Bunshaw, the co-founder and co-Chief Executive Officer at DB Results – one of Victoria’s premiere digital consulting service businesses.

While 2020 issued immense challenges for Gavin personally and for DB Results, perseverance, innovation and determination have set the course for DB Results in 2021.

#1: What personal advice has served you best as a leader?

I’ve been lucky enough to have worked (and played competitive sport) with some great leaders and mentors who have not only inspired me, but also taught me the skills and attitude required to provide effective leadership. From these experiences, I have a few principles I use when providing leadership and management.

One of them is to “never ask someone to do what you’re not willing to do yourself”.

I think a critical part of leadership is leading by example and this principle is a good reminder to put ourselves in the shoes of those we are leading so we provide the right level of appreciation, empathy and support where required.

It’s easy in business to focus on the numbers and forget that we are managing real people and not unnamed resources. People with their own lives, challenges, unique background, personal issues and motivations. As leaders, we are the “mums and dads” of the organisation.

#2: What was DB Results’ greatest accomplishment of 2020?

To say 2020 has been a challenging year would be an understatement for most people. For us, the year started with the bushfires, and then the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

I consider our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the way we managed it with our people and the company as our greatest accomplishment during 2020. I am proud at how quickly all our staff adapted to the restrictions and the speed with which we were able to act – whilst providing communication, empathy, support and strong governance.

Thanks to numerous initiatives including voluntary salary reductions, we can proudly say that no one lost their job at DB Results due to the downturn in business caused by COVID.

Personally, being able to participate in achieving this whilst undergoing 6 months of treatment due to serious illness will easily be my greatest achievement in 2020.

#3: What is your major goal for 2021?

I look forward to 2021 with excitement and anticipation of the possibilities. Our proven capability to drive digital transformation in industry, business and the community has positioned us well for tackling a personal passion of mine.

The recent hardships encountered locally and globally and the “new COVID-norm” has created an environment where innovation and technology advancement is being welcomed into the Health Industry.

My goal is to maximise this opportunity to fast-track the adoption of technology by the community and businesses towards driving better health and wellness outcomes. We will target government policy, business success and community-based programs to create examples of excellence in the effective use and benefits of digital technology. Our MiOK and Wellness+ products are already driving major benefits for philanthropic companies and the wider community.

#4: What excites you about the future?

I’m excited to see us teaming up globally to solve world problems.

The COVID-19 pandemic and global warming are issues which cannot be solved by one country alone. Our willingness to collaborate, share, innovate and problem-solve across cultural and country borders is exciting.

Most of all, I love innovation because I believe it’s an outcome of the brilliance of people working together. The future will provide us with the challenges and the opportunities to innovate and solve significant issues in health, industry, climate and humanity.

Our ability to work together more effectively than ever before, regardless of location, combined with the rate of technology advancement means we can perform miracles.

Advancement in AI, robotics, facial recognition, machine learning as well as our growing capability in collecting and analysing large amounts of globally collected data, provides us with means to solve previously unsolvable problems in health and wellbeing as well as the environment.

This is so exciting because we can make the world a much better place for all of us.

#5: What do you think is needed to boost opportunity for Victorian business?

Victorian businesses have been hit significantly by the COVID pandemic. As a result, it has forced us to be more resilient, more focused on appropriate balance between corporate governance and innovation and redefined our risk appetite and self-belief.

The speed at which Victorian businesses adapted to a crisis and the flexibility in business models and business operations adopted has created a mindset of optimism and growth. We are ready to drive and boost Victorian needs.

The 2020-21 State Budget will provide significant incentives for Victorian businesses to grow. What we need in addition is mechanisms and forums which foster a collaboration and joint problem-solving approach where Victorian businesses actively participate in solving challenges thrown at us together, rather than being told the solution based on theoretical opinions.

I think that together, we can boost the economy and create greater opportunities for Victorian businesses.