The Inner Chief

In this episode we talk with Ausenco CEO Zimi Meka on resilience, honesty and the importance of good people.  

Full details at www.chiefmaker.com.au/66

Zimi Meka is one of the founding directors of Ausenco Limited and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer / Managing Director in 1999. Zimi’s background includes senior roles in engineering and operations companies prior to the formation of Ausenco in 1991.

In this episode, I answer a question from a subscriber. How do I overcome imposter syndrome? Over the next three minisodes we'll explore some powerful ways to beat imposter syndrome so you feel comfortable in your own skin and clear in your mind. Assuming you do have most of the skills necessary for the job the three main causes of imposter syndrome are:

• Unrealistic or incongruent vision of the role • No set process of recentering • Lack of clarity

In Part 1 today we cover:

• Develop a congruent vision of you in the role • Dealing with hidden assumptions

In Episode 67 I'll cover processes for recentering and in episode 69 we'll talk about creating clarity. The single biggest assumption that people make is that the day their role changes is the day their whole mindset and outlook will change. The two aren't related. To feel like a boss, like a chief, you have to cultivate that feeling. This means you need to be rock solid in your belief in the path you're on. I remember the first time I entered a board room for a big meeting with an executive team back when I was a project manager. I was pretty nervous and had put all these people on a pedestal. Over the next few months of reporting to them I realised it was often a facade. Every single person in that room was just trying their best and were far from perfect.

Imposter Syndrome strikes when you're trying on something that doesn't fit yet. It doesn't fit for a few reasons: 1. What you're trying to be isn't you. You're trying to be like a CEO you've seen or met. But that is there style. Not yours. It'll never feel right. You'll always feel like you're being someone else. 2. You've got unrealistic expectations or beliefs about what it's like for others in the role For full summary go to www.chiefmaker.com.au/65

In this episode, I answer a question from a subscriber. How do I overcome imposter syndrome?

Over the next three minisodes we’ll explore some powerful ways to beat imposter syndrome so you feel comfortable in your own skin and clear in your mind. 

Assuming you do have most of the skills necessary for the job the three main causes of imposter syndrome are: 

• Unrealistic or incongruent vision of the role

• No set process of recentering

• Lack of clarity

Today we joined by founder and CEO of the McLellan Marketing Group, Drew McLellan.

He also owns and runs the Agency Management Institute (AMI), which is a consultancy for small to medium sized agencies that has been helping agency owners grow their agencies since the early 90s.

We talk about:

1. What he learnt about understanding people by creating ads
2. To grow and get promoted you need to let of the reins
3. Being curious
4. Joining masterminds

Drew launched his agency's blog in 2006 and it has been on the AdAge Top 150 from the list's inception. His first book, 99.3 Random Acts of Marketing, was published in 2003 and Drew and Australian marketer Gavin Heaton created the Age of Conversation series of crowdsourced books in 2007. To date, the AOC series has raised over $50,000 for charity. Drew launched the AMI blog in 2012 and hopes it will be a great resource to agency leaders.

Drew's often interviewed/quoted in Entrepreneur Magazine, New York Times, CNN, BusinessWeek, and many others. The Wall Street Journal calls him "one of 10 bloggers every entrepreneur should read."

When he's not hanging out with agency owners/staff or MMG clients, Drew spends time with his family and pondering why the Dodgers can't seem to get back to the World Series.

Drew has a Master's Degree from the University of Minnesota but alas, he cannot remember their fight song.

See more at www.chiefmaker.com.au/64

Today we joined by founder and CEO of the McLellan Marketing Group, Drew McLellan.

He also owns and runs the Agency Management Institute (AMI), which is a consultancy for small to medium sized agencies that has been helping agency owners grow their agencies since the early 90s.

We talk about:

What he learnt about understanding people by creating ads

To grow and get promoted you need to let of the reins

Being curious

Joining masterminds

In this episode I outline a method of turning risk completely on its head that I developed which gets killer outcomes for everyone involved.

When most of us here the word Risk Management Plan we start thinking red tape, no more freedom and a group of expensive auditors at your door to analyse your business inside out.

If you've ever had the risk auditors turn up and trawl through your business telling you all the things you need to write a report on about you'll stop major events happening you'll know the meaning of paperwork.

Richard Branson. Never made a deal he could lose on.

"As an adventurer...I try to protect against the downside. I make sure I have covered as many eventualities as I can. In the end, you have to take calculated risks; otherwise you're going to sit in mothballs all day and do nothing."

Throughout my business life I have always tried to keep on top of costs and protect the downside risk as much possible. The Virgin Group has survived only because we have always kept tight control of our cash. But, likewise, I also know that sometimes it is essential to break these rules and spend lavishly.

Richard Branson

Don't get me wrong, there is always a time and place for risk management plans. But they have a serious problem. Ask yourself a questions, when was the last time you got out your Risk Management Plan and assessed every aspect in detail?

The major problem with risk management plans is that they don't get big buy-in.

In a business sense risk has a bad wrap. It defensive and often negative. And here is the MAJOR reason why.

It is all about stopping things happening. Stopping sucks the energy out of a room. It's not motivating. It doesn't draw people up to their best performance.

What I do with clients is flip it on it's head.

How does risk assessment traditionally work:

Risk is generally assessed against the impact and likelihood of bad event happening. It is at this point that it gets put into a matrix, given a code and then managed through a risk management plan.

This is where the psychology of high performance disagrees with this approach. The process loses focus on the outcome. Instead it sends people into the minute details of defence rather than that key steps to a positive and bigger outcome.

To spin it on it's head what we do is put a new event up. E.g.

• Zero Safety Incidents
• Successful $100M Business Deal Announced to Market
• Perfect Implementation of new business system

At this point we plot, the outcome on the traditional risk matrix. I.e. What is the current likelihood of the outcome happening and what is the size of the impact?

Now we optimise the hell out of it. Drive it up by increasing the likelihood and increasing the impact. What you'll find is that people now are shoring up their plans with positive actions that are energising. What's more you'll note that the likelihood of failure also plummets.

What this means is you start to take calculated risks and have done everything you can to increase the likelihood of success.

YOUR PROCESS OF OPTIMISING RISK

1. Define the outcome
2. Plot it on a matrix with the likelihood of success and positive impact on the business
3. Record all your assumptions
   1. Partnerships
   2. Resourcing
   3. Budget
   4. Relationships with key stakeholders
4. Plan how you can increase likelihood and impact through:

Chief, what I recommend you do then is flip it back on its head and do the traditional method to give it a different lens. And then return this method.

Stay epic

I've put all the show notes on the website at www.chiefmaker.com.au/63

In this episode I outline a method of turning risk completely on its head that I developed which gets killer outcomes for everyone involved.

In this episode we hear from Super Rugby Club, the Melbourne Rebels CEO, Baden Stephenson.

Baden's path to CEO has been different to most as he transitions from coaching and operations and finally getting his first CEO role in 2017. He was heavily involved as a GM of rugby in the drama of 2017 when the Melbourne Rebels battled to keep their super rugby licence. At the conclusion of, he was selected to lead the club into the future.

Questions I ask Baden:

1. What did you learn from the elite sport side of rugby that has translated to the business and administration side?
2. What was the most brutal feedback you ever received that you knew to be true?
3. What do people misunderstand about professional sporting clubs?
4. What are the major setbacks you've had?
5. How do you lead high performers?

Key Points from Baden:

On what he learnt from his wife's battle with cancer:

I think now when I'm dealing with people, I think it has certainly improved my emotional empathy for players and stuff, when they've got family issues, having gone through that experience myself.

On the Rebels almost being cut and what it was like being in the inner sanctum:

It was really tough. There's no way to sugarcoat it. It was highly emotional and highly stressful, and when you also throw in uncertainty ... It's just a character or a feeling that no one likes, and I found that you had from players, the staff to management ... that everyone deals with uncertainty in different ways, but it's not a nice thing to go through. And sometimes uncertainty might last a day or week, but this was odd going for months. I had players in tears in my office. I had wives and kids of players and staff that they're unstable relationships, and you know, do I enrol in school, do I take out a lease, what are we doing? What's the future hold?

On what he learned from elite sport:

I think what I have learned as a player, as a coach, administrator or management, is that it's not always gonna be a straight line, and you've gotta be flexible, and you're just gonna have to deal with the challenges and get back on the horse, and sometimes you get bucked off real hard, and ... in a position that I'm in, if I don't show resilience, I can't expect everyone else to show resilience

That was something that I really learned and liked about Sydney University ... that it didn't matter what year it was or who was in the team or how the club was going ... but the expectations were very clear and high.

What he learnt from mentors:

when there was issues, he addressed them really quickly. He didn't let them manifest ... He dealt with them, and he did it in a personal way.

On mindsets:

Your emotions are contagious, and it's important that ... if people are up, often people will follow, and likewise if they're down, and I think that we had just gone through such a long period of sort of dark clouds hanging over the club that you almost forget ... And I would've been as guilty as anyone ... you almost forget that you're in a privileged position. You're working in sport. You've got a huge opportunity, and you're around like-minded people, so ...

I think that understanding your mindset and what sort of attitude you bring into the workplace every day is something that, I think we're all working on.

On the importance of making people feel valued:

make sure that people feel valued in your organisation, and I think that, as we talked about before, sporting organisations can be quite brutal, but I think if you're going to get the best of them ... if people feel valued, they'll go over and above for you, and be passionate and be really driven ... if they're feeling valued

See more at www.chiefmaker.com.au/62

In this episode we hear from Super Rugby Club, the Melbourne Rebels CEO, Baden Stephenson.

Baden's path to CEO has been different to most as he transitions from coaching and operations and finally getting his first CEO role in 2017. He was heavily involved as a GM of rugby in the drama of 2017 when the Melbourne Rebels battled to keep their super rugby licence. At the conclusion of, he was selected to lead the club into the future.

See more at www.chiefmaker.com.au/62

In this episode we explore the incredible power of ritual and tradition in building your tribe and I share 3 magic traditions that will boost any team spirit and most importantly the role of the chief in leading them. Traditions and rituals in a business sense are the stories, language, gatherings, symbols that give a team deeper meaning and a sense of belonging. They reinforce what you stand for, what you believe in, what you have in common and that you share something. Tradition comes from an inner space that is seeking meaning, deep human connection and understanding. All of us long for traditions, they nourish our spirits and when at their best, they ennoble us and those around us. When work feels soulless, like it crushing your spirit, people are sacrificing, people aren't committed to the team or their work. Won't go the extra mile for each. Bicker and fight. Good people are leaving and average people are staying. Then there is a good chance you haven't got the right rituals and traditions. In a classic sense think anthems before a big sporting fixture, the All Blacks haka and traditional Australian response of uniting arm and arm and accepting the challenge, think huddles, think catchphrases, stories being told and annual trips, awards and celebrations. These all have an inordinate effect on culture and spirit of a group whatever the size. Team spirit flourishes with positive rituals and traditions and is toxic when they're lacking or negative. In the words of The Inner Chief's spiritual mentor, Damien Price: "They express - beyond words, our common bonds, our core values, our reason for wanting to belong and our shared purpose. So often the best traditions are small and simple but speak straight to the heart of the matter." See more at Chiefmaker.com.au/61