Victor Perton

Victor Perton is the Founder and Chief Optimism Officer of The Centre for Optimism, and the author of Optimism: The How and Why. He helps leaders, teams, and organisations unlock optimism, strengthen culture, and build better futures.

Described by The Australian Financial Review as our optimist in chief and an optimism guru, Victor is a keynote speaker, facilitator, coach, and strategic adviser on optimism, leadership, culture, strategy, and innovation. He is known for workshops that unlock the optimism in a team, and for coaching leaders who want to become infectiously optimistic, magnetic, and inspiring.

How does he spend his days? He asks people what makes them optimistic and what has been the best thing in their day. His passion is fostering infectious optimism for wellbeing, leadership, innovation, and civic life.

Something of the Past

Victor's joyful life experiences include stints as Commissioner to the Americas, 18 years as a parliamentarian, practice as a barrister, mediator, arbitrator, businessman and board service. Victor was a Senior Engagement Adviser to the Australian G20 presidency focused on the G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors Meetings & the Brisbane G20 Leaders Summit described by the Prime Minister as “the most important gathering Australia has ever hosted.”

The Centre for Optimism

The Centre for Optimism is a Think-Tank dedicated to asking people "What makes you Optimistic?" and fostering the realistic and infectious optimism the world needs in the 2020s.

In a passionate address entitled, “Creating Bases for Optimism in an Era of Insecurities”, Singapore’s senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam noted, "We have entered an era without precedent, certainly not in living memory, and it has led to a loss of optimism almost across the world."  

Fear and intolerance are undermining our democracies:  The  World Economic Forum included the loss of global optimism in its global risk register for 2022. The World Happiness Report 2022  picked up a shortage of global optimism.   McKinsey & Company and Rabobank Australia picked up the same trends for Australia - falling optimism in a country with a stereotype of relentless optimism.

The Centre for Optimism was born out of the research of The Australian Leadership Project which studied Australian leadership and its qualities and the inexplicable negativity of contemporary Australian attitudes to leadership.

Yarra Valley Water

Victor Perton is a Board Member of Yarra Valley Water - one of Australia's largest water retailers.  He is the Chair of its Leadership Culture and Wellbeing Committee.  The corporation's 2030 strategy looks to "An optimistic future" with its values including "Knowing we need to Be Brave So that we make A Positive Impact."

Andy Reid, Success Coach

"Victor Perton is so bloody engaging... must be that optimism of his."

Read more in "Optimism: The How and Why" by Victor Perton, CEO of The Centre for Optimism.

Together with Victor, Project Optimism has produced "The Optimist's Gratitude Journal: 100 days to share and develop your gratitude" which is very helpful.

See https://www.amazon.com/Optimists-Gratitude-Journal-develop-gratitude/dp/B09MC5ZNPX

Victor's LinkedIn Profile

Keynote Speaker. Facilitator. Coach. Strategic Adviser on Optimism, Leadership and Culture.

Described by The Australian Financial Review as our optimist in chief and an optimism guru, and by Rita Wirtz as the Optimist of Optimists, I help leaders, teams and organisations unlock optimism, strengthen culture, and build better futures.

Engage me for workshops that unlock the optimism in your team, and coaching for leaders who want to become infectiously optimistic, magnetic, and inspiring.

As Chief Optimism Officer at The Centre for Optimism and founder of The Australian Leadership Project, I have devoted my life to cultivating optimistic, joyful, forward looking leadership. From schools and universities to prisons and parliaments, and from boardrooms to bush communities, my work lifts people, teams, and cultures.

My mantra is simple. Optimism is a state of mind, not a state of the world.

My question is simple. What makes you optimistic?

My leadership lesson is simple. The leader looks like the person in your mirror.

And the habits I suggest are simple. Smile more. Greet people positively. Ask better positive questions. Speak more optimistically. Surround yourself with optimists.

From Commissioner to the Americas to barrister, parliamentarian, and adviser around the G20, my journey has taught me this. Optimism is the foundation of outstanding leadership.