End of year celebration for Kochie's Business Builders team

Last week at RedBalloon we were full of the joys of Christmas. The IT team hosted our final company meeting of the year and were massively creative with their festive theme ; including beaming in their colleague Dave from Perth to have him appear in a cut out Santa via Facetime – (I guess you had to be there).

As part of the planning process and moving my role to be Founding Director I needed to update my job description in line with our new format. This is the job description I came up with:

• Vision, values, alignment
• Strategy development and direction
• Spokesperson & Brand ambassador
• Mentor & coach, role model and sounding board (for RedBallooners throughout the business) – accessible daily
• Accountable for the brand experience – customer, employee and stakeholders  – accessible daily

I was sad to miss the launch of the book True Leadership by Lisa Rubenstein... the week got a way from me.

Though I did attend the Dell Women’s Entrepreneurship evening on Tuesday as well as attend the wonderful drinks function at the home of the founder of Anywhere Travel in Vaucluse (very special to be in someone’s home for a business event).

Thursday I delighted in sharing lunch at Fratelli Fresh in Bridge Street with many of the regulars of Kochies Business Builders TV program. I really enjoyed the vivid debate on many topics from retailers to interest rates.

And in between all that I was with customers both in email and on phones supporting our customer experience effort at this busy time. (So excited that we added close to 25,000 to our BHAG last week alone… YAY!)

This week

Monday: Lunch with Matha Stewart and Dinner with George Clooney… not quite – but we will see how the day pans out at the Growth Faculty Leadership conference.
Tuesday: Briefings for upcoming speaking engagements
Wednesday: Premier for the Mission Impossible in Melbourne
Thursday: Business Round Table in Melbourned
Friday: Writing, (or Customer experience emails)

Volunteering at Our Big Kitchen - with Best Buddies

Kahlil Gibran: “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”

You would expect that I would write a blog at this time of year about the importance of giving – Christmas is everywhere, especially at RedBalloon. However here’s a thought: One of the greatest gifts you can give is your time – and when you do – you will experience a euphoria, which is very good for your own well-being.

Basically when you give – you get… This has long been document as part of the five elements of well-being outlined by the New Economic Forum; but here are some statistics that I just discovered: A 2006 report found that adult Australians who volunteer has increased from 24 percent in 1995 to 58 percent. Being a volunteer is incredibly good for your health (as well as the recipient). It has been referred to as ‘the helpers high’ – which is the sense of satisfaction and comfort that is created from knowing that you have done something to assist another human being.

Professor Stephen G Post tells us “focusing on others causes a shift from our unhealthy preoccupation with ourselves and reduces the stress-related wear and tear on our body and soul.”

Giving doesn’t need to be extravagant or formal – but it does need to be regular to have ongoing benefits to your well-being. A simple visit to the local retirement home for a game of scrabble, or reading in a class room at the local pre-school all work all would do the trick.

Here’s some facts:

• Regular volunteers will live longer
• Volunteers are less likely to experience depression, and they are more satisfied with life
• People who spend on others are happier – than when they spend it on themselves.

So perhaps this year you could put on your Christmas wish list – “half a day every month to volunteer in my community” – and you will be the better for it.

As Winston Churchill famously said “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Getting into the Melbourne Cup spirit

I usually write this post on a Sunday evening as I prepare for the week. Last weeks post on my weekly activity – was about the uncertainty of travel, but by Monday afternoon that had changed. (In the short term anyway). I like many others fear it will be a long drawn out battle. Last week therefore was productive – with the excitement of the company lunch – falling on the same day as Melbourne Cup – the festive season is now officially upon us. I finished the week in Perth with a speaking engagement to the local council association of Western Australia – eager to know how they could make a difference in their work places.

Coming up:
Monday: Client Meetings
Tuesday: Dream Employers Webinar
Wednesday: Brisbane Speaking Engagement for the Australian Superannuation Fund Association
Thursday & Friday: write, write, write…

It made me wonder “what do I miss out on because I am often not ‘present’ as I focus on what my iPhone presents to me. Perhaps it is pretty lonely being a cab driver now – if customers no longer ‘havachat’.

When a plane touches down – many simultaneous ‘ding dings’ chime out demanding the attention of their owner. Most business people seem completely addicted to their phones.

I friend of mine recently lamented that he had been unreachable because he was in an all day meeting – and the response when he did come ‘back to the grid’ was – is something wrong with your phone. People seem to have a high expectation that if they send a message the response will be instantaneous.

I note that I was off air for two days this week – no email, phone, sms or internet. And whilst I had quite a back log of emails and messages on my return– I was highly efficient at getting back to people because I was completely focused on that task in that hour.

Is all this ‘immediate’ communication really giving us the opportunity to do good work? How many emails or text messages are dashed off in haste only to be misunderstood or incomplete?

As the taxi went passed the bus stop I notice that most of the people waiting were all inspecting their mobile phones – not even noticing the existence of the other human beings around them.

In all this urgency to connect – are we not ‘seeing’ those around us?. People who provide us services or who are part of our community.

Last week I was asked by one of the judges in the EY awards – how do you juggle all the different responsibilities that you have – my answer to this question (and it is question that I get often) is be truly ‘present’ – turn off your mobile phone and be with whoever you are with… does this same courtesy extend to those beyond business colleagues, family and friends.

Okay I am taking a personal challenge for the next 21 days to not use a mobile device in the presence of others. And I wonder who I will get to meet and what conversations I will get to experience – and also the added upside of not sending off a one line response to someone with out a considered response…

Let me slow things down – and not rush to everything, and I’m sure I will do better work as a result.

Want to play.

One red dress looks like another.

I was fascinated to learn that there is a Buy Nothing New Month in Australia. I love this idea… though of course retailers will not… (I’m sure the liquor retailers don’t like Dry July either.)  I was in the US last summer on holiday with my family and I was completely overwhelmed by the consumerism. (And quite frankly everything began to look the same). I heard that 10% of all women’s clothes sold in Australia are never worn. It is shear waste. I wondered if I could go a year without purchasing anything new for myself. No shoes, clothes or accessories. I have not managed it completely… but I did go for 8 months without anything new for myself personally.

Clearly this aligns to what we believe at RedBalloon– which is all about buying less “stuff” and instead living in the moment and enjoying shared experiences. Our photo albums and our memories are what we treasure.

With self storage one of the fastest growing industries in Australia – do we really need any more stuff? And just think what all this waste is doing to the environment… recycling starts with reusing.

In our little bit for the planet, RedBalloon has a green program, as you would expect… it is the least we can do.

My personal “lose pledge”, earlier in the year to stop buying unnecessary items for my wardrobe – really changed how I viewed shopping. I have learned to really appreciate the things I do have… More more more does not mean better… and where on earth would I store anything else?. I just didn’t need any more new clothes or shoes – they wouldn’t make life any more fabulous, they wouldn’t make me smarter or more efficient, buying new clothes wouldn’t do something worthwhile for the planet. Instead they were just accumulating in the back, front and sides of my wardrobe. So much so that my daughter recently took up her own recycling task of selling my shoes on eBay… I may have a young entrepreneur on my hands. I can gladly report that I have stuck to my guns and found an invigorated sense of enthusiasm in combining my old favourites to create “new” outfits. Red is red after all.

I also believe strongly in giving to others who need it more – RedBalloon is a gifting company, and the team is generous with its time and spirit, and this spirit of generosity is shown in all that we do. For instance, we have a program called ‘We Care,’ where each RedBallooner gets one day  to go and work for the charity or cause of their choice.  I send my pre-loved outfits to a charity called Dress for Success, which dresses women ready for job interviews and employment… (I can only imagine how many women are turning up for job interviews wearing red.) We also run office clothes swaps a couple of times a year, which are organised by one of our corporate account managers (and chief story-teller) Arielle.

So, here’s the challenge… what do you ‘not need’ ask yourself the question ‘Do I really need this?’… I have a friend who has argued that his wife is ‘saving him into the poor house’ she just cannot resist a deal.  You don’t save money if you buy stuff you don’t need (or even like.)

Have fun – it’s a game. Clothes swaps are the new black.

I had a wonderful weekend and was so proud of the team when they really, truly, deeply thanked our 4wd driver in a completely RedBalloon way. Cheering, then chanting, whistling for a good five minutes. Bryan, the driver shared with me – he had never had a more enthusiastic and happy group – and he had never ever been acknowledged in that way… there was a little tear in his eye. I know we made his day… not hard and we all felt wonderful. If you have a thank you story please do add it to the collection.

Coming up this week

Monday: Lunch at Westpac with Gail Kelly

Tuesday: Gold Coast Speaking engagement for IBM

Wednesday: An education event at the Ceremonial Court Sydney

Thursday: Speaking engagement for ACP

Friday: Melbourne Client meetings

Reading: Hector and the Search for Happiness

James shares his insights into RedBalloon

We are fast approaching RedBalloon’s tenth birthday, with that it mind I wanted to check in with the team ‘What does it mean to you to be a part of the RedBalloon story?’ The answers were delightful and insightful… but this particular answer from one of the newer RedBallooners is very worth reproducing in whole.

If you were to ask the similar question in your organisation, you too could get a great insight into the ‘mood’ – think of it as a ‘culture check’.

R Recognised. Continual recognition day to day has been very important in my short time here. Knowing that all my efforts are acknowledged, appreciated and are of value to the business in achieving the goals we collectively aspire to, gives myself and everybody a huge sense of unity in where we are heading.

E Experiences! Such a unique trait to my role and being a part of my story is fulfilling so many dreams for so many people. Not many people I know can say the consequences of their daily tasks will live in the memories of others forever!

D Dynamic. I am buoyed by how I can personally contribute to our visions and challenges for the future. If I want to make a suggestion of change or improvement, the big red door is always wide open. All that is required of me, is imagination.

B Belief. Having the people around me who are not afraid to get out there and make things happen because they believe in the cause. No objectives are too big, because where there’s a will, there’s a way. We are all role models.

A Aspiration. Reaching the One million milestone and the ‘RedBalloon Story’ I believe is directly attributed to the investment in the people along the journey. Being a part of an ever improving, expanding organisation who actively encourage personal development and achievement will, in my mind, only motivate the story into achieving even bigger ‘hairy audacious goals’ in the future, and it feels good to be a part of that.

L Love. For what we do and how we work.  To me the story is based up a culture of passionate, driven people, which can only have a ripple effect on each other and associates alike.

L Learning. The story of the RedBalloon journey is anything but one dimensional, and the opportunities for learning to benefit myself and company co-inside with the RedBalloon ride. Only limited by the wind in my sails.

O One-on-one. Anyone involved in the RedBalloon story can approach anyone at anytime. Two heads are better than one! Be it personal or otherwise, it is well practiced and there is always someone I can to turn to.

O Opportunity. Seizing the opportunity! The story for me has told me to not be afraid in grasping an opportunity. Flexibility in my role is great and I can go about that how I like, which permits outside of the box thinking. Which reminds; “Most people think inside the box, great visionaries think outside the box, geniuses don’t see a box!”.

N Next steps.. the future

James R…. Corporate Team

Celebrating Jemma's promotion to CEO and her 8th anniversary with RedBalloon

This week is exciting at RedBalloon – we are celebrating many things, including 17 RedBallooners being promoted to new roles… which is wonderful to be able to provide career growth in such a relatively small organization. Last week I had lunch with the ‘newbies’ and I always delight at their enthusiasm – funny now though for me, as many of them were in primary school when I started the business, so when I ask “how did you hear about RedBalloon?” – they kind of look at me as if to say “hasn’t it always been around?”

We are recruiting many roles – and at the end of this recruitment we will be 56 people. All these new people and new roles is because we are resourcing to fulfill on the plan.

Also this weeks sees the company wide trip to Fraser Island – we were playing a ‘growth game’ and we more than doubled the game – so I am delighted to celebrate with the team at Fraser Island – and you will be assured it is set to be an experience.

I have a speaking engagement on Tuesday for Sussan – and I am delighted that I have finished a new presentation for it – ‘The Gift of Thanks’ much inspiration coming from the stories that people are sharing with me online. – and the power of the simple Thank-you to make someones day.

Monday: Planning presentations from each team leader, and reviewing of business cases at the board meeting.
Tuesday: Finalising budgets and start the performance review process
Wednesday: Presentation for Aspire Women in Business Network Lunch, then have to dash to Melbourne for a business round table (Then large family dinner to celebrate my nephews 21st)
Thursday: Presentation for NAB women’s program – straight back to Sydney for the Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year dinner
Friday: Client review meetings and finalise plan, theme and budgets for the strategy.

(Saturday: the Collingwood vs Swans game at the stadium… )

Instead of writing a blog – requesting that you complete the 2011 Dream Employer Survey (please do though as it will take only 3 minutes); I am reflecting on the past week of fabulous experiences. To take a moment to breath and relive the extraordinary experiences we have available to us in this great country.

I have wanted to swim with Whale Sharks for more than a decade… and finally I got to tick that one off the list. The experience was everything that I imagined it might be. It was truly sublime to be drifting next to the largest fish on earth.  It puts life into perspective as you float in the warm current next to a seven-meter creature. Little is known about where they come from or migrate to. It is a moment to feel how small we really are – and that we are part of a massive eco system that is all inter reliant.

The sun has shone for the whole week – and the wind has blown. But with the wind behind us the three day – 30km kayak / camping trip along the Ningaloo reef was majestic.

All types of marine life came to greet us – turtles, manta-rays, sting rays, sharks, scores of fish, birds and dolphins. The reef was a seething mass of life – literally the ocean would be boiling with fish – the food chain in all its reality.

Camping on the beach, cooking what we caught, sleeping as soon as the sun went down. No contact with the world – I was amazed how quickly the days passed, how calm I felt, how I loved the silence of the bush and ocean (which are actually very noisy). How peaceful it was.

What wonderful RedBalloon experience partners we have.. and great to meet them in person.

I’m truly rested, grateful for being able to go on such a break, and will spend the next few days feeling appreciative of the beauty of an untouched piece of the planet.