Takeaways from an outgoing CEO

Recently I was privileged enough to observe an outgoing speech by Tim Reed from MYOB. I love hearing these types of things as there is always a short MBA available on how to run businesses of any kind if you manage to listen carefully enough to both what is being said and what is notable by it's absence.

Tim started by saying that his business had reached a natural inflection point following the acquisition of shares by a new owner. Whilst very complimentary in all language, he pointed out that new owners will want to go in a new direction and that he had to decide if he was the right man to walk that path or whether the new direction required a new leader.

Whenever a business works through a strategic process there exists the distinct possibility of some senior members crystallizing in their own mind that the journey has now either passed them by or is going in a different direction to where their energy is best spent for the coming months and years.

Tim then went on to say that he was incredibly proud of the team and the business and that the company was in good shape. The engagement of staff as measured internally is at a historic high and that the revenue is bigger and growing faster than ever before. An old maxim is that you should always seek to leave whatever you are involved with in a better position than how you found it. Having outsider's wonder "why" rather than than "about time" is a great piece of advice to anybody in just about anything.

Tim also talked about his personal level, about his life span in business having time for maybe one or two more big strategic moves and that if he didn't do something new soon, he probably never would. We often hear in employment discussions the number of different jobs people do in their working life. Even at the ownership level, there are usually three or four significant role changes in a working life approximating one every 7-10 years or so.

Tim was expansive talking about his true north. I loved his vision of helping business succeed and that finding a true north relatively early in his working life enabled him to see working with the business he was working with as a privilege rather than a burden. Of course the responsibility to staff and their families, to clients and their families and investors and stakeholders weighed heavily. Of course he had some sleepless nights and early mornings when the pressures of finding solutions proved difficult, but the greater purpose was always clear in his mind and directed him in everything he did. I feel the same personally with my workplace. I wonder more broadly however whether everyone feels this way, or whether it is indeed a privilege to have such clarity around direction of travel.

Tim had a great final piece where he talked about buzz topics with succinct answers which I faithfully reproduce as much of it is pure gold. If he was starting out again, he would implore his younger self to again take a long term perspective. Petty short term issues will wash away over time. His reflection was that pressure was never as great as he perceived it to be at the time. As a result, he would encourage himself to be courageous, to keep striving to meet his purpose. On purpose, he is adamant that if you create a purpose that your people can aspire to, they are far more likely to provide discretionary effort and that discretionary effort ultimately makes all the difference in the world. On accountability, he had three simple points - firstly, to be clear in your expectations. Secondly, measure against those expectations. If you don't measure it, you can't manage it and lastly, use a simple dashboard. Green means the objective has been achieved. Red means it hasn't. There is no amber. If you can be decisive with this, then clarity will be achieved.

It was no more than a 20 minute talk, but I'm sure you'll agree there is a lot there to be used in your own workplace and your own life generally. Thanks Tim, it was indeed a privilege to hear it and congratulations on a quality stint. As Dumbledore said in the final Harry Potter movie when asked where to next - the answer would appear simply to be "ON".