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Diana Taylor AM
Print“Leadership does not hold the hand of the status quo”
Diana Taylor AM is a distinguished lawyer, business owner, and community leader from Geelong, Victoria, renowned for her pioneering roles in Australian sports and civic leadership. A trail blazer in the Australian Rules Football industry, Diana was the first ever female president of a men’s metropolitan football league and the first woman appointed to the VFL Tribunal. More recently, she was appointed as the first female Vice President of the Geelong Football Club. Contact speakers agent Platinum for Diana's speaking enquiries.
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Testimonials for Diana Taylor AM
Diana is an exceptional speaker who is able to draw on a vast array of experiences backed up by intimate knowledge of elite sport, legal decision making and significant community programs contributions - the rich tapestry of life is delivered with a balance of emotion, care, intellect and above all real lived experience that living a full life only ever provides.
Geelong Football Club
Diana was engaged by FRV to deliver a series of workplace behaviour training sessions for senior operational and corporate leaders including FRV’s Executive. Diana has a confident, assertive and inclusive speaking style when presenting to senior operational and corporate leaders and has the ability to read the room and make adjustment in the moment to engage with participants and to enable input and full participation. Diana’s deep subject matter expertise, delivery and approach has fulfilled the FRV brief and the relevant strategic objectives and outcomes for the workshops.
Fire Rescue Victoria
Diana speaks from the heart and is an inspiring and engaging speaker. Her very personal style makes it feel like she is having a direct conversation with you. Diana’s core beliefs, experience and values cross over into business, not-for-profits, and the sporting community. She leaves you with a sense of empowerment.
The Geelong College
Over many years I’ve had the honour of hearing Diana Taylor speak on diverse topics at significant events. As a speaker, Diana is engaging, thought-provoking and extremely-well researched. In 2020, Diana was the Committee for Geelong’s keynote speaker at our International Women’s Day event. The audience was in awe of her deep experience, authenticity and passion for equity in our community. Diana’s opinions are in high demand as a well-respected, award-winning executive and not for profit Board Director.
Committee for Geelong
Diana understands what her audience wants from the presentation: an understanding of their key drivers, clear guidance to inform their ideas and new ways of looking at their opportunities.
Property Council of Australia
Fee Range: POA
Diana understands what her audience wants from the presentation: an understanding of their key drivers, clear guidance to inform their ideas and new ways of looking at their opportunities.
Property Council of Australia
KEY TOPICS
- ‘Why Heart and Grit are the True Superpowers of Exceptional Leadership.’
BEST SUITED FOR
- Corporate conferences and leadership events
- Executive and senior leadership teams
- Team-building and culture programs
- Organisations navigating change or uncertainty
- High-performance and resilience-focused environments
WHY PLATINUM RECOMMENDS DIANA
- Diana is also a Telstra Business Women’s Award Winner in the corporate & private category
- Practical insight into leadership decision-making and workplace dynamics
- Exposure to a structured ‘playbook’ approach to leadership, planning, execution and winning
- Insight into the critical aspects for leading and managing people conflict
- How to develop a personal grit scale
- Reflection on leadership purpose, responsibility, and long-term impact
Diana Taylor AM's Biography
“Leadership does not hold the hand of the status quo” Diana Taylor AM
Diana Taylor AM is a distinguished lawyer, business owner, and community leader from Geelong, Victoria, renowned for her pioneering roles in Australian sports and civic leadership.
Over a career spanning more than 25 years, she has broken new ground for women in Australian Rules Football administration – becoming the first female president of a men’s AFL metropolitan football league, the Western Region Football League, the first woman appointed to the VFL Tribunal, appointed director of the Geelong Football Club in 2010, and in 2019, Diana became the Geelong Football Club’s first female Vice President in its 165-year history.
Diana is also an experienced board chair and director and has served on a number of boards including the Victorian Convention and Event Trust, the Geelong Authority and established Australia’s first community led and fully accredited private hospital to care for people at end-of-life, Anam Cara House Geelong.
Diana is also one of Australia’s leading experts in workplace matters through her experience in undertaking over 1,000 workplace investigations, child safeguarding and reportable conduct matters and cultural health checks for organisations across the corporate, government, not-for-profit and sport sectors and operates her own business, Diana Taylor Legal Consulting.
Diana’s multifaceted contributions to law, sports, and philanthropy earned her the prestigious Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2024 for significant service to Australian rules football and to the community of Geelong.
Diana is also a Telstra Business Women’s Award Winner in the corporate & private category.
In recent years, Diana has added ‘author’ to her portfolio, writing her first book, ‘The Playbook – crossing the white line to succeed in life, business and the AFL’, to support people to think strategically, plan smart and execute for success.
Contact Helene Greenham directly to enquire about Diana Taylor for your event – helene@platinumspeakers.com.au
Speaking Topics Include
‘Why Heart and Grit are the True Superpowers of Exceptional Leadership.’
Diana Taylor AM has lived and breathed leadership roles in business and community for over 25 years. It is this experience that has shaped Diana’s leadership philosophy that she now shares with audiences today. Her philosophy is values-driven, tested under pressure, and grounded in accountability and service.
Through the power of her storytelling, Diana makes the case for why the most enduring and effective leaders are defined not by title or authority, but by Heart and Grit.
Heart represents values‑based leadership: empathy, integrity, courage, and the ability to genuinely connect with people. It is the foundation of trust, culture, and influence.
Grit is the capacity to endure, adapt, and lead through adversity — to stay the course when pressure is high, outcomes are uncertain, and the path forward is uncomfortable.
Together, Heart and Grit form an unstoppable leadership and competitive advantage. Decades of experience accompanied by organisational and people insight (found in the hardest of places) provide the foundation for Diana’s keynote.
It explains why the greatest transformational change, and winning, only comes when leaders lead with their heart and have the necessary amount of grit to go the distance.
Core leadership themes explore:
- Integrity-based leadership and decision-making under pressure
- Navigating conflict and complexity within workplaces and organisations
- Building trust, clarity, and accountability in leadership roles
- Explores the factors for winning in any environment including elite
- Why fear must be faced in leadership
- Using disruption, challenge, and failure as opportunities for reflection and reset
What will your audience learn:
- Practical insight into leadership decision-making and workplace dynamics
- Exposure to a structured ‘playbook’ approach to leadership, planning, execution and winning
- Insight into the critical aspects for leading and managing people conflict
- How to develop a personal grit scale
- Reflection on leadership purpose, responsibility, and long-term impact