One of the greatest lessons I have ever received about leadership took place in 1993. I was a young and ambitious 24 year old looking to make his mark in a large corporate organisation. I had been at 
Optus for 2 months when I first met Bob Mansfield – Bob was the founding CEO of the 2nd Australian telecommunications carrier, and even though the company was less than 12 months old, its impact on the market was immediate, profound, and very quickly it became a large organisation. At the time, the employees were in awe of Bob; he was like a rockstar – always in the media, representing the company at every opportunity, and when he came to town, people would relish the opportunity to be close to him. He would religiously ‘walk the floors’, engage with the employees, attend Team Meetings, and seek opportunities to serve his team. And what impressed me the most was Bob’s incredible ability to remember names. He would only need to meet you once, and on the next visit to town, if your paths happened to cross, he would proactively greet you by name and engage in a genuine conversation. His demeanour and his approach was engulfed in curiosity, and he created an environment where, in his presence, you felt as though you were the most important person on the planet, at that moment. It was years later when working with a mentor that I realised the lesson that Bob taught so well; as a Leader, it is actually not about you! Following this realisation, I then reflected on how Bob created this leadership environment, and how the organisation was able to grow so strong, so quickly, to become a very successful company. Here is what I discovered : Continue reading
