I have had a couple of weeks out of the office – I had a week in Perth – with three speaking engagements before heading to Amsterdam (via a weekend in Paris with a long time girlfriend.) for the Entrepreneurs Organization conference. I found the event completely inspiring, insightful and educational – I will share in future blogs. This week: Arrive back to Sydney and have breakfast with Verne Harnish (he is in town delivering the Rockafeller Habits Program…
Tag Archives: Business Vision
Where did our values come from?
As we approach our 10 years anniversary I realize that not everyone knows the origins of the way we do things. Megan, the RedBalloon employee experience manager, asked me to document where our values came from. Our values are such an integral part of life at RedBalloon – and they have been a part of us for nine of the ten years. (I dedicated a whole chapter to them in ‘I want she’s having’) Kirsten Munachen, business development manager at…
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…
Five great lessons in greatness
I wonder what it is like to work for a business that has been around for 100 years? IBM turned 100 and Fortune wrote up a great article on ‘Lessons from IBMs 100th anniversary’ The five lessons are: At the start, convince the troops you’re a company of destiny, even if that seems crazy. Build a cult-like culture that people either buy into, or run away from. Bet the company once in a while. Make people talk about you. Hand…
Ideas worth talking about
Having arrived from an overnight plane from Beijing. I was a little worse for wear on Saturday morning. I was concerned that I would not keep up with the day. How wrong I was. The TedX Sydney event was first class – true to the vision of Ted and a mix of local and international ideas. There was a strong music theme to the day. Four Play String Quartet were mesmerizing as they electrified the sounds from their stringed instruments…..
Coming up this week 30 May 2011
Last week was full of surprises and discovery. I felt very privileged to attend a business event in Beijing – which included doing a goal setting program at the Great Wall. One appreciates a sense of purpose when sitting on the largest man made structure in the world. The Chinese clearly had a shared sense of purpose (the fear and loathing of the Mongols) to build such a structure – thousands of years ago – with only manual labor. After…
Lessons in mega growth from China
To achieve mega growth – you best have a plan… I am in Beijing this week for an educational event. It is great to see first hand what we hear so much about in the media in Australia. The last time I visited Beijing was in 1986, only a decade after the Cultural Revolution, when tourists used a different currency – and there was no hot showers. Where I am now almost unrecognizable as the Beijing I visited 25 years…
Coming up this week 23 May 2011
RedBallooners got moving this week in many ways – one of which is taking part in the Global Corporate Challenge – we are walking, running, swimming and riding around the world (metaphorically) as part of our RedBalloon Wellness program. I found myself being very active even at speaking engagements (sorry audiences – if it made you dizzy – but I have 10,000 steps to complete each day). It was exciting, challenging and insightful to contribute with the leadership team at…
Coming up this week 16 May 2011
Last week was frantic – but fun. I do think I thrive on being chaotically busy. Three speaking engagements in less than 24 hours… Lucky each was on a different topic and well prepared in advance otherwise I might forget where I am. I was reminded this week that more than 50% of women over the age of 45 have less than $8000 superannuation – which means no matter what, they will be dependent in their old age, either to…
Being Stingy is so last century.
Why do some people think it is okay to be stingy in saying ‘thank you’. I have been in three situations recently that have given me an insight I had been oblivious too. When we happily operate in our own world we are often blind to other peoples view of the world. I thought people knew how important it is to be grateful for another person’s generosity and that to authentically thank them was the gift they give in return….
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...
