The Inner Chief

In this episode you'll hear from Vivek Bhatia. At age 26, Vivek was a Indian migrant watching the big businessmen in their expensive suits walk around Sydney. This inspiring story is how he rose above the pack to become a CEO in just 10 years. Vivek is now CEO and MD of iCare which delivers insurance and care services to the people of New South Wales. Whether a person is severely injured in the workplace or on the road, iCare supports their long-term care needs to improve quality of life outcomes, including helping people return to work.

In 2008, Vivek was appointed CEO of Wesfarmers Insurance in Australia, where he was responsible for leading the multi-brand, multi-channel insurer through a significant transformation journey. He was also co-lead of McKinsey & Company's Asia Pacific Restructuring & Transformation practice and has been the Chair of the former NSW Dust Diseases Board and been the NSW representative on the Board of SafeWork Australia.

Key Points:

Vivek outlines that "the day you stop learning is the day you stop living" and how important it is to have a commercial mind and social heart.

Vivek's top quotes throughout the podcast are:

1. "Your boss is your customer. Work with them to determine the right priorities across the business."

2. "Get the right people reporting to you and delegate more so you have more time to work on the business. If you find yourself doing things that you would expect your team to do then that is an alarm bell."

3. "If people haven't had set backs, my personal belief is that they haven't challenged themselves or challenged the status quo which is even worse."

4. "If you haven't clearly articuled what you expect and then confirmed that the other person hasn't understood it in the same way then you aren't doing your job as a leader."

5. "What I'm not looking for is someone who has been successful but there is collateral damage"

6. "People talk about networking as a means to an end, instead of an end unto itself. I believe in networking because I get to learn." 7. "The biggest challenge that good leaders overcome is effective use of time."

8. "Always look for what more you can do for your company (above your role description)."

9. "One thing I make sure I never do is to go into victim mentality mode"

10. "I strongly believe that individuals need to take ownership of their situation"

11. "Good leaders are very aware, they always have their antenna on. They always look for signals that are being passed overtly or covertly."

12. "Networks don't happen by themselves"

13. "If I am not investing in myself, why would anyone else invest in me."

Nominated Charity: Vivek's nominated charity is The Starlight Foundation and I've made a donation of $250 in Vivek's name for coming on the show. https://starlight.org.au

Recommended Books, Influencers and Learning: • Anything by Peter Drucker and Malcolm Gladwell • The Road to Character, David Brooks

In this episode we talk about executing your Life Vision as part 2. If you haven't listened to Episode 57 of building your Life Vision I'd recommend doing that first. There is an old saying, "Vision without execution is just a dream". And, chief, I've got a confession so make this was me. I was a dreamer with all sorts of grand ideas about who or what I'd become. I always had new ideas and goals that all seemed to flow from my creative mind. I was the line from poem "George Gray" by Edgar Lee Masters that I read in Ep 57 on building your life vision..."a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid." I was stuck in my own sheltered harbour. Not willing to do the hard work break the boundaries, to look inside myself at the things I liked about myself the least or the limiting beliefs I held and grow beyond them. It was only when I realised that all greatness requires challenge. It will requires a thousand steps one after the other to change my game. One must have a vision and one must execute. I've seen too many people with only one part of the pie. In Life Vision Part 1 we did some dreaming and created your life vision. Now we focus on execution. We take specific planned action towards our goals.

In this episode you'll hear from Jennifer Holland, Founder and CEO of Throat Scope.

Jennifer's passion lies in inventing, designing and developing medical products that will revolutionise the healthcare industry. Her first invention was Throat Scope, which has had outstanding success across the globe and began as the foundation of Holland Healthcare.

Throat Scope was the recipient of 'What's Your Big Idea Queensland?' in 2011, which included a $50,000 prize money from the Queensland government. This allowed Jennifer to develop and patent Throat Scope and have several working prototypes made.

In 2015, Jennifer and Throat Scope were featured on Shark Tank Australia. Jennifer secured investment from Steve Baxter and this exposure propelled the business. In October 2015, Throat Scope was launched into the Australian retail and healthcare markets. Throat Scope broke a retail record with a company, which saw the product signed in seven days. Jennifer has since negotiated several lucrative distribution deals with both domestic and international companies.

Jennifer has been awarded several awards for her hard work and determination which include, gold product innovation winner at the Ausmumprenuer Awards 2017, Best Presenter Award at the New York Venture Summit 2017, Edison Award Winner 2017, Lake Macquarie Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2016, Sydney Design Award Winner 2015 and QLD 'What's the big idea' Winner of $50,000. Jennifer also actively participates in speaking and networking events internationally.

Key Points:

Jennifer outlines her incredible story of the invention of Throat Scope and the struggle to get it funded and into the market. Her mantra – Believe, Act, Persist has been at the core of her undying enthusiasm to make a difference. And her advice for the next generation of leaders is Don't Settle, get out there with enthusiasm and persistence and try a different way if the first way doesn't work.

Jennifer's top messages include:

1. Prepare meticulously for big opportunities - I watched 108 episodes of Shark Tank US to prepare for it.
2. When going for a big role you have to show your passion, purpose, excitement for wanting to be apart of their business
3. Enthusiasm is everything
4. When hiring someone for my team experience isn't all that necessary. It's the passion and seeing someone who is persistent. And that wins every time over education and experience in an industry
5. It took a long time to find the right mentors and advisors
6. My business mantra is believe, act, persist
7. Whatever I do I know there is another way to do it. So if one doesn't work I'll walk through another door.
8. Free yourself of the worries that aren't real - In life you always regret the things you don't do
9. If you're open to finding opportunities they will come
10. Opportunities are everywhere its just a matter of whether you're open to finding them
11. Having mentors or advisors that give you confidence will give you more passion, excitement
12. When people say to me, "no, you can't do that", for me that is the biggest driver.
13. I love the saying 'Today's no is tomorrow's yes….You tell me no, and I'll turn it into a yes
14. Don't settle

Web: www.throatscope.com