Mr Greene honed his leadership skills as chief operating officer for The Warehouse Group’s Torpedo 7 franchise and later with Toll Global Express.
But when friends contacted him to tell him about the opportunity to be part of Stabicraft’s story, the wheels started turning.
"It's been a big step personally, but I've been super excited about it since I was successful in getting the role."
As a three-times Stabicraft owner, he was already a confessed fan of the product.
"I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else... it was an opportunity to lead a business that I back the product 110% and passionate about it..."
He believes his personal experience gave him the added ability to speak with customers with confidence about the product and company he was leading.
A stint with Monash Business College’s supply chain SAFE programme and Babson’s strategic retail programme placed essential tools in his toolkit.
He acknowledged the shift from retail to manufacturing was a shift, but getting the best from his "functional experts" was key for him. His highest priority for the past six weeks had been to learn about the business and the ebbs and flows of the plant.
Understanding what you bring as a leader was equally important, he said.
"The role of a good leader is the ability to be able to get the best out of your team."
Good leaders also had the ability to cut to the core of what was the most important thing for a team to focus on.
He looked for leaders who were prepared to be vulnerable and build trust with each other.
"On the back of that can really start to get into some real healthy debate around the issues, I look for people who, again, are vulnerable, or keen to build trust with each other... then on the back of that you can really start to get into some real healthy debate around the issues...
"You actually want people to have a really good, robust debate because that’s where you really tease out the issues."
He believed this could create a safe environment where everyone could contribute to effective decisions.
The company’s core leadership team members: sales and marketing, design, people and culture, global ops and finance had helped him to settle into his role to lead the growing staff of 176.
Mr Greene said everything started with the customer, irrespective of the industry, and that you would work backwards from there around what was important.
Founder Paul Adams said Mr Greene was one of four candidates who were put through some rigorous interviews with his board and leadership team to find the right fit for the CEO role.
Mr Adams believed Mr Greene’s passion for fishing and boating provides a hands-on experience to speak with dealers and customers.
He had already seen a significant difference from Mr Greene’s leadership contribution, even to producing a new-look, user-friendly, succinct board report.
He also agreed maintaining a customer focus was core to the company’s design team.
"Once you understand your customer better than they understand, themselves, then actually you can really hit the money."
Simon Chisholm had also recently joined the Stabicraft team as global operations manager.
An offshore operation in the United States had been established. It was a growth phase for the company that had been challenging, exciting and encouraging, Mr Adams said.
Boats were shipped in component form in containers for assembly in the US. The first two boats were built in November 2022. A second operation would also be constructing larger, high-end boats from scratch.
It was hoped it was the start of a strong US market for the company.
As Mr Adams stepped back again and Mr Greene and Mr Chisholm stepped in, he hope to make a little more use of his motor home with his partner Barbara.
- By Toni McDonald
