I got tagged by Laugh in the Sun to answer a few questions that (may?) shed a little different light on who I am and, in the spirit of having a little fun, here goes:
1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was working as the leader and manager of a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency team of approximately 50 people. I was in my late 20s and I found it quite challenging to deal with the volume and variety of ‘people’ issues that were thrown my way. I had been used to focusing almost exclusively on operations to that point. No two issues were the same and I often felt like I was on the back foot in trying to make the right decisions. For example, I had to deal with a chronic under performing staff member from overseas that everyone previously had put up with or overlooked (the individual was sent home). I had to help people cope with the aftermath of a head-on collision involving my people that resulted in two lost lives and three critically injured others. I chose to push for certain people’s promotion in spite of their outdated personnel systems that said it couldn’t be done. I learned a lot.
My 61 year old dad was also going downhill rapidly. The mesothelioma crippling his body was very aggressive. In less than 18 months from diagnosis he had become a shadow of his former self. About this time of year I flew to where he lived again with my eldest boy who was almost 3 years old, leaving my wife and 6 month old son at home. We got to spend some time together without others around which was very special. We weren’t great communicators but we were close – I am his only child. We had some special moments reminiscing about things we had done together. I said goodbye. Only a few short weeks later he passed away. We talk about Poppy so much still today that even my 7 year old daughter thinks she has met him 
.
2. What are 5 things on your to-do list today?
- Complete Quick Reference Guide content on how we will use Salesforce.com in my account space (am over the garbage in, garbage out situation)
- Call my mechanic to book car in for repair (head gasket leaking a little oil – am sick of smell!)
- Complete client ‘supervisor’s report’ for one of my people (needed to maintain security clearance)
- Speak with kids about Parent-Teacher interviews next week (one child has brought home the note, two haven’t!)
- Book ticket to Robin Sharma seminar in Sydney next month
3. What snacks do you enjoy?
Nothing riveting here:
- chocolate
- nuts
- bananas
4. Things you would do if you were a billionaire.
- Keep working
- Help family
- Invest the majority
- Travel to slightly unusual destinations
- Test drive many different cars
5. Three of your bad habits.
My wife assures me I’ll have trouble narrowing down a long list whereas right now I’m actually struggling to come up with any! Okay…how about:
- Sometimes giving advice when an ear was all that was sought
- Driving a little too fast at times
- Losing track of the time on the computer
6. Five places you have lived.
- Melbourne, Australia
- Southport, Australia
- Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Sydney, Australia
- Alice Springs, Australia
7. Five jobs you’ve had.
- Paperboy (5am on a rainy morning – not fun!)
- Barman (at an airport – fascinating way to study people and I got to serve some really cool people – Eric Clapton was the best with former New Zealand Prime Minister David Lange the worst)
- Research Officer (first job after university – there was so much I didn’t know)
- Business Consultant (problem solving for grown ups)
- Account Director (all about talking with people at the end of the day. I’m constantly learning something about myself and others as a consequence)
8. How did you name your blog
My aim is to make my life as free flowing as possible by seeking happiness, simplicity and productivity in all that I do. I also like the concept of flow as described by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi and think it is worthwhile pusuit. And, more than anything, it seemed a tad better than ‘Simon Hill’s Blog’ ………
