Simon J. Illingworth
One man standing.
Profile
A Former Detective Sergeant, Simon Illingworth was bashed, threatened and intimidated by bent cops and underworld criminals, all in the line of duty. His life gives dramatic insight into Melbourne’s gangland war and the ugly world of police corruption. Simon appeared on ABC’s Australian Story which won journalism’s Gold Quill, and his book Filthy Rat is an Australian best seller.
Current work
Simon is a Director of Ethical Strength, a professional speaker, a training provider in ethics, decision making and culture, and a specialist in anti-crime, anti-corruption and ethical culture whose opinion is highly sought-after in TV and print media. He is also the creator of an ‘ethical farm’ as a best practice model to co-exist with organic farming.
Previous experience
Awards: Simon has received numerous awards for bravery and leadership from organisations including Victoria Police, the Royal Humane Society and the Sir Vincent Fairfax Fellowship, as well as the Governor of Victoria.
Speakers: Simon uses his natural story-telling ability to get the message through. International studies have found this to be the best method of getting an idea to ‘stick’ and Simon uses this technique to address, challenge and build the right organisational culture.
Feedback
An extremely moving and awe inspiring session. Thanks for the opportunity to listen to Simon's story - he gave the presentation the right level of emotion it deserves. Simon gave the audience the opportunity to reflect on our motives and moral conflicts in society. Excellent session - thanks Simon.
Simon spoke on each element and the role they can play in a modern, effective workplace where the team know and trust each other. These are the foundations for creating and maintaining both staff and customers for the long term. We thank Simon for sharing his journey, pain and enlightened view of the modern workplace. We wish Simon every success in his new life and focus.
Thanks for such a thought provoking day; it was great to have ethics presented in such an accessible, engaging and relevant way. I think most of us are so busy just 'getting on with the job' that we forget to stop and consider the ethical implications of what we're doing. The exercises you ran allowed me the time and space to explore what my position is on ethical dilemmas and how it may differ from others. I particularly valued you highlighting that ethical dilemmas are often in 'grey' areas, that is, that even with the best of intentions we can act unethically as we are influenced by our own personal loyalties etc. All of this reminded me that ethical behaviour can be hard work. It's all too easy to think that someone else will worry about the ethics of our business, where in reality each of us has to be our own ethics committee. If I don't do it, who will? Your own story was inspirational. You knew that by making a stand you were going to be placed in a very difficult, and dangerous, position. To choose to make that stand showed true courage and commitment. I have recommended your course to my co-workers and encourage all those that have the opportunity to attend to do so.
It makes you stop to realise that everyone has a responsibility to stand up for what is right and to challenge our present culture - no matter what you do. This is an incredible true story of personal courage that literally changed his life forever.
Simon Illingworth's presentation is a thought provoking, powerful and challenging experience. It makes the audience examine their own personal values and ethics and the way they conduct their professional dealings. This is a very personal journey explained in a straight forward manner and keeps the audience waiting for what will happen next. Simon is an excellent guest speaker for conferences, management forums and training sessions.
