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The rise and fall of Barry Biswell

For a long time, Barry B. ('Bazza') Biswell was one of the best-known CEOs in Australia, if not the whole world. Brought in as Human-Design's (HD) CEO in 2009, Bazza was instantly recognisable for his charisma, visibility and aggressiveness. Bazza was featured on front pages across the country and was a frequent guest on morning media panels across Australia and New Zealand. He was even

mentioned as a possible cabinet member for both Federal and State Government.

Widely praised as a change agent and a visionary leader at Anatomical Technologies (an innovative and agile medical research company) which he led before joining HD Biswell had a way of generating enthusiasm and excitement in his staff. Some called him a 'rock star' CEO.

However, under Biswells leadership, HD struggled as the world's second-largest medical Instrument company. Although revenue climbed steadily under his leadership, profits did not. Nor did the stock price an investor who bought HD stock the day Bazza was hired would have paid around $25_AUD for each share. Only 10 years later in mid-2019, that same share certificate was worth only $11.55_AUD.

In 2015, he pushed for and won a bid to acquire Anterior Designs (a body mapping company specialising in deep cell imaging). However, this went against the express wishes of the board and the two founding directors. The resulting outcome, just two years later, was a major disaster for him and the firm. The acquisition cost HD $3.5 billion, but in 2017, HD was forced to sell off Anterior Designs, and while they did gain some crucial 3-D mapping technology which boosted their own sales, they eventually sold the company for just less than $1 billion. This loss placed a big strain on the company, and they were forced to fire 25% of their workforce.

As a result of these struggles, the HD board tried to find a way to limit Biswell's powers and give more authority to other executives. A month before his final dismissal, Bazza was told point-blank by three board members that he had to change his leadership style and be more receptive to the companys internal operations, its staff and to be more aligned to long-term goals and financial sustainability of the company. He adamantly refused. A month later, when informed of the board's

decision to fire him. Biswell was 'stunned'.

After his firing, there was no shortage of experts to point out his failings. Some felt that Biswell spent too much time on the road talking to groups, motivating staff and engaging with customers and suppliers, and not enough time inside the company, consolidating operations, refining the strategy and focussing on bottom-line issues. Others felt he overpromised results and was overly-positive and lacking realism. One HD executive stated, there were people inside HD who loved Bazza because of his ability to envision a strategic dream that inspired people to move forward and work harder. However, then there were the people who thought that he was drawn to all the pomp and circumstance', that he was stuck in big picture mode and failed to see the finer details, and the cracks that were beginning to undermine his over-arching enthusiasm.

Another HD observer claimed after Bazza was ousted, The talk on the grapevine is that nobody really liked Bazza's leadership all that much.' Others argued that HD employees never accepted Biswell's attempts to change HD culture, or his high-profile ways. (He placed his portrait in HD headquarters next to the HD founders, and he frequently rubbed elbows with rock stars from bands such as U2, Cold Chisel and Savage Garden.)

For someone who was praised for his energy and leadership, how could the tides have turned so

dramatically against him? For now, the rock star CEO is without a band.