Posted on

Leadership Lessons and Lost Opportunities

On my son’s 15th birthday today I’m reflecting on leadership lessons and opportunities not taken.

I attended the 57th Annual Ceremonial “Passing Out” Parade of the Ivanhoe Grammar School Cadet Unit.

Heavy rain meant that all the drilling and preparations the Corps and orchestra put in were not needed today. The parade was canceled and the ceremony was held in Buckley Hall, brimming with ceremonial swords, pikes, flags, uniformed students, honoured guests and parents. Although they didn’t get to perform their drills, I’m sure the experience of relentless practicing as a group will have taught the cadets something about discipline and teamwork that they won’t forget.

In my school days, I extended my mandatory (now voluntary) 1st year as a cadet, to become a corporal.Leading and disciplining my cadets was a challenge. I was a late bloomer in year 10, shorter than most a year below me, and my platoon of year 9 cadets contained some of the most unruly students in the whole year. Maintaining discipline and control was difficult. I managed a detente with the worst of the ratbags, but this was at the expense of maintaining integrity and respect for other leaders in the unit. Yes, I turned a blind eye to some shenanigans and was also a bit of a b*stard… doling out too many push-ups to others that probably didn’t deserve it as much as these other guys.

On reflection, these mistakes have stayed with me and I’ve been able to learn and improve my leadership.

Seeing the two Year 12 students, one boy and one girl, take out the best platoon and best drilling awards made me realise what opportunities I threw away by discontinuing in Year 11 to slack off with my mates in study hall.

I was heartened to hear that my son, who turned 15 today, wants to continue next year. With some guidance from me, which I sorely needed and didn’t get, I’m expecting he will be a better leader than I was and it makes me proud.

Happy Birthday Mitchell, big things to come from you!

Pictured:
1. Mitchell and Me.

2. Australian Army Colonel Hugh Wilkinson, Retiring Honorary Colonel, IGSACU 1999-2018, myself, Incoming Honorary Lt Colonel David Waugh

Posted on

Free Coaching and Mentoring Offer

ATTENTION SME’s in MELBOURNE

Would your company be interested in free implementation of a coaching and mentoring program for the staff in your business?  Please tag your contacts in comments if they would be interested.

According to research from Cornell University, mentorship programs are an “essential component of effective knowledge transfer, well-planned career development and professional networking.”* Deloitte found retention is 25% HIGHER for employees who have engaged in company-sponsored mentoring.**

As part of my assessment of FIREUP Coaching’s Diploma of Leadership, Coaching & Mentoring course with Kathy McKenzie, I will apply a coaching approach to promote a culture of learning and increased employee engagement within an organisation.

I will be utilising my 25 years’ experience in staff development in a global corporation, individual client experiences in my coaching business and knowledge from completing earlier modules in the course.

The coaching and mentoring program will be customised to your organisation through a series of consultations with you and your staff, implementation of diagnostic tools, design and implementation of the program.

Please message me with details of your organisation and how you think a coaching and mentoring program would be useful in your business. I will be contacting each respondent to determine best fit for both of us, and selecting one or more organisations to help.

* “What are Mentoring and Sponsoring and How do they Impact Organizations?” – Jing Cao &Yu-Chung Yang, Cornell University, 2013

** Deloitte Research Brief, 2012