Unstoppable teams have values at their core and focus on excellence in customer engagement
Episode 2 of the Better World Leaders podcast
In the second episode of Better World Leaders our conversation is with a former Global Executive and entrepreneur who reflects on the twists and turns of his career with one very consistent theme – that as a leader he is there to serve his team and his customers through his principles.
Simon’s professional aspirations began in athletics, but after an unusual injury stopped that dream in it’s tracks, his next step was his first of service, first qualifying in and then running a business as a Myotherapist.
After selling this venture he was was offered a role in corporate and found that taking a consistent approach of serving his team and his customers based on his core values held him in good stead, and led to rapid success.
Quickly he found himself leading Australia for Travelex, and after a merger with Western Union he progressed to lead both the Europe, Africa and Middle Eastern region and then AsiaPacific, seeing huge personal and commercial growth and success along the way.
It was during this corporate tenure that he gained invaluable experience in Africa working with local not-for-profits in Rwanda, and found that he benefited not only from the sense of contributing, both also from learning as a leader – especially around purpose, resilience and the power of consistent communication.
After moving on from corporate life, Simon applied all of his experience and insights to found an online fitness company, Welcome Fit, which he recently successfully sold.
He now focuses on a new endeavour, Raised Hand, applying his energies to help out-of-work professionals contribute their skills and time to start-up businesses needing help to navigate the turbulent market conditions imposed by Co-Vid19 restrictions. Even though this venture is fresh out of the starting-blocks, it’s already been applauded by Start-ups Victoria!
Those that are out of work and willing to donate their time, and start-up businesses seeking help on a voluntary basis can find each other at Raisedhand.me
The key messages I received from this conversation were;
– A team that operates from a core set of principles and values, and focus first on providing a great service and take pride in doing so, are unstoppable and there’s no end to what you can do.- That culture and attitude are what drive sustainable growth.
– That it’s best not to attach happiness to achieving specific goals, better to be empowered by the overall purpose you are reaching for.
– That as leaders it’s important to allow a bit of ourselves into conversations with our teams and customers.
This humanises the environment and makes communication easier
.- That it’s important for leaders to pause and reflect on how they are communicating with their teams, that their people need to feel valued and safe.
You can find out more about Raised Hand at raisedhand.me, and connect with Simon via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonglendenning/
