Meet Mike Pola

Where it started

My working life began in marketing and brand management at Procter & Gamble. I loved the work, but I found I loved developing people even more. With Scripture Union NSW I trained more than 150 leaders from over 50 countries, and I worked as a live in Youth Worker with university students in Sydney.

Seven years in Yemen

In 2007 my wife and I moved our young family to Yemen. We spent our first years learning Arabic and learning the culture, often the hard way. My carefully written business plans fell apart. A Yemeni colleague told me, “When he is born, we'll name him.” My years of studying an MBA was challenged with one proverb! Only when I let go of the plan and paid attention to what the community really needed did the real opportunity appear.

I co-founded Creative People Solutions, a leadership development company in Aden. We grew to 30 staff and more than 90 trainers and led the team to train more than 15,000 people in leadership, teamwork and conflict resolution. With funding from USAID and the Australian Government, we built Yemen's first five-level graduate leadership pathway. We also worked with companies such as Hayel Saeed Anam Group and with international agencies including Mercy Corps, Save the Children, GIZ, ADRA, the Danish Refugee Council, the Danish Demining Group and the UN. Then came the Arab Spring, and later war. The real measure of success was not the numbers. It was empowering a Yemeni team that kept going through all of it and today runs the organisation entirely on its own.

Six years in Oman

From 2014 we lived in Oman, where, as Regional Director, I grew Creative People Solutions across the region. I coached senior leaders at BP and ran leadership and team programs for Oman Gas Company, Bank Muscat, BankDhofar, Dhofar Power Company and Salalah Methanol Company. I designed and delivered more than 20 graduate programs with Omani universities as corporate social responsibility initiatives. With Oman Sail, a national government organisation, I led culture change and designed a 12 month graduate program with Sohar Port and Freezone and trained 12 Omani facilitators to carry the work forward.

Back home in Australia

My family and I returned to Sydney in the middle of Covid in early 2021. I coached Senior Leaders through Creative People Solutions and, with Seed Initiatives, offered Purpose Discovery to over 100 churches and coached and consulted leaders in Christian Not for Profits and School. I then joined Anglicare Sydney, first as Head of Talent, Organisational Development and Remuneration, and then as Head of Learning and Leadership for more than 6,000 staff. This led to Anglicare Sydney being named Best Learning & Development Program in Australia at the 2026 HR Director Awards, and was a 2026 AHRI Awards finalist for the Best Learning & Development Strategy.