Last week Cara Waters headed her column “Massive influx of Bullying Claims expected” Now I know her job is to get people reading with sensational headlines – however I think a more apt headline is “Be Alert Not Alarmed”. Megan [RedBalloon Employee Experience Manager] – arranged for a presentation from our workplace lawyers prior to the last RedBalloon board meeting. This is very much a part of our responsibilities as directors – and we don’t need to wait for legislation…
I’m always open to constructive criticism. I have had many people take it upon themselves to ‘fix me’. I have been accused of being loud, bossy, self centered, egotistical as well as many other things. The people who say these things either to me or others are most welcome to their opinions…. but really life is not perfect – and I never claimed to be perfect either. However, I know who I am, what I do and what I stand…
I started a business more than a decade ago based on ‘giving people good-times.’ Since then I have researched and read many books about happiness, well-being and what it is to be human. In essence I have been seeking the answer to the question ‘What is it that drives us?’ And I first wrote about this on LinkedIn I have learned the definitions of pleasure, contentment and joy and in so doing I have discovered that the word pleasure…
I was invited a few weeks ago to attend the V8 Supercars in Launceston… in the 12 years I have now worked at RedBalloon I have seen many a car (and been in side many a V8) as they raced around the circuit…. and given that the event was in Tasmania – and my close colleague Lauren is from there…. I thought she would have an interest. I was unaware the degree to which she is a rev-head. As a…
Geoffrey Robertson with panelists at the Telstra CIO forum in Melbourne I find myself on a board with David Thodey, Anna Bligh and Graeme Samuel and . And we are the new board of Clever Corp – and fictitious corporation invented by hypothetical luminary Geoffrey Robertson. For more than an hour Geoffrey weaves his questions around corporate governance, ethics and growths in a new world of business. I listen intently never sure when he will turn to me –…
A colleague called me from a bus this morning to tell me she’d be unable to make an 8.30am meeting because the “traffic was at a standstill”. The fact she had left her home – a mere 19 kilometers from the office – at 6.30am that morning still did not guarantee she’d get to work on time. After sitting on a bus for almost two hours, she decided to get off and walk the remaining distance; eventually arriving at the…
The last few weeks have been a hive of activity – with International Women’s Day events, RedBalloon developments and speaking engagements. In the last few weeks I have attended many great events: I spoke for AICD NSW and attended the Heads Over Heels event on the same evening I spoke for final year business students at Notre Dame university in Sydney Attended a presentation by Neil Ross on the ‘Art of Rhetorical Speech Making’ Attended the Verve Clicquot Inspiring women…
The only thing that is constant in my life is being on the move. I was asked by LinkedIn to share ‘where and how’ I work… Maybe this request was inspired by Marissa Mayers demand for the Yahoo employees to stop telecommuting and come to the office. [I think she may well have been taken a little out of context. I know the importance of feeling a part of the team – and if I am out and about the…
In celebration of International Women’s Day (8 March) LinkedIn has released the ‘What Women Want @ Work’ global study. According to the study, the majority of Australian women (65 per cent) define professional success as having the right balance between work and personal life, and 68 per cent believe they can ‘have it all’. And while everyone’s version of ‘having it all’ is different – in the same way we all have our own definition of ‘success’ – overall, I…
Imagine running a business based on fun - that's what I decided to try when I left a very serious corporate career in marketing to set up RedBalloon...
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Pride & Purpose
Planning for the new financial year is upon us again. The leadership team at RedBalloon is in the midst of brainstorms and planning sessions with their teams, exploring how they each can help deliver our purpose: creating happiness by giving people more good times. Its times like this I’m so grateful for the wonderful contribution we make to peoples’ everyday lives. Be that ticking an item off their bucket list, celebrating a 30th, 40th, 50th or 60th, or simply providing…