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…
Tag Archives: Managers at work
Three things young women in business need to know
[Posted to LinkedIn a few weeks ago - and it came in as #11 the most read posts on LinkedIn in 2012 - some of the 1000 comments are very amusing. Also exciting that I am now close to 50,000 followers of my blog posts] A few months ago I commented on Sheryl Sandberg TED talk in a blog post entitled: Three insights into why we lack women leaders. Which continues to make me ponder. Is there really a glass…
Six warning signs for lagging leadership
[This appeared on LinkedIn Thought Leaders first - on 24 October 2012] In Australia we have a notion called ‘tall poppy syndrome’ which means that culturally people who have merit are derided by their community. Not very productive really in a country which needs strong, decisive leaders more than ever. True leadership does not reside in a title or job description – it comes from how we act. In the business I founded RedBalloon.com.au one of our core values is ‘leadership’….
A story of four people
People do often ask what is the ‘one thing’ that I believe has created the success of RedBalloon. There is not ‘one thing’ – except maybe lot’s of hard work by lot’s of people. But I do know that accountability is a big part of that – and that my personal motto has always been “if it’s meant to be it’s up to me”. My colleague Chau shared the below poem with me (via Megan) – I thought how apt….
Everyone’s contribution is equally as important
Recently I received a ‘letter to the editor’ in response to my article in The Australian: Role models key to end gender imbalance Goals for women IF Naomi Simson‘s goal is to get more women on boards, she should start by not denigrating the role of parenting. ?The women’s movement has failed in what should have been a prime goal — to recognise and elevate the role of caring — whether it is for young children, the disabled, or the…
Two lessons in the past shaping the future
I was asked these two challenging questions as part of the interview process for a publication – After a little pondering – I explored the most painful… and thought I would share. What one event in your past has shaped your present? I have learned just as much from poor managers as I have from great ones. The reality is that there is gold in every experience we just need to have the clarity of mind and commitment to listen…
Entrepreneurs Dream
The ideal scenario is that we start a business that is highly successful, that has a unique place in its market and that continues to innovate to meet changing market needs. Others often regard our success in these terms. But there is very much a personal side to the building of the business. It obviously takes effort, ideas and persistence. Whether a founder of a business or a manager or team member… at a personal level we all want to…
Coming up this week – 13 Dec 2010
These are of course busy times at RedBalloon. It really is how much can I possibly pack in to a week. (and how many packs can we ship out this week) Last week was the Dream Employer Webinar and had some great questions – some of which we answered during the Webinar – the others we should have responded to early this week. I also did a video interview with Robert Gottliebsen for Business Spectator – which I think will…
Three Lessons in tough love
I just heard from a friend of mine who lives in NYC – that he has resigned from his GM role because the owner of the business said, “I don’t want happy people I want factory workers”. My friend was completely disheartened – he thought business owners were enlightened – and understood that happy people = happy profits I guess I question if this entrepreneur is reading or learning anything. One thing that Verne Harnish is noted as saying ‘the…
Role models
This morning I did a Mysore yoga session – these are not classes as such – more a collection of people who all follow the same yoga sequences. As I look around the room I know that I am not very flexible and I admire the shear ability of many of the other participants. Rather than be deterred, or feel like a failure I simply determine – I must come more, I love it, and one day I will be…
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...
