Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork

I’m not crying, you’re crying

The thing I love most about being a senior leader is the money, status, and power (that’s a joke).

The thing I love next is the people. And it’s important to celebrate the awesome things that our teammates do.

My teammate Rachael finishes up today for her career break, and these are my thoughts about that.

Image: Rach and Dan on Rach’s last day (for now)

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If Rach was a car, she’d be some kind of Ferrari, Bentley, Honda Civic, hybrid. This is because she’s got heaps of horsepower, uses it elegantly, is always sensible, and she cares.

There are certain things in life that create success, and it’s usually the way we go about doing things.

I could turn this note into a 60-minute lecture on the things that Rach does well - but here are the Top 3 things that I’ve observed and appreciated:

1. Initiative

If there’s something to do, you can bet that every time Rach will stick her hand up.

Rach uses her smarts as intuition and that reliably leads her to spot opportunities, avoid disaster, and come up with new ways of doing things or thinking.

2. Decision Making

I love when Rach scrunches up her face when I’m speaking, because it means that we’re about to make a better decision.

Being a good leader is not about being smart and clever and good at heaps of things. It’s about putting the right group of people together that are smart and clever and good at heaps of things.

Rach takes accountability to ensure we don’t sleepwalk into a problem or sleepwalk past an opportunity. And she does this because she can say no. Sometimes the best thing you can do is not doing a thing at all.

3. Getting Things Done

I cannot understate the importance of finding a way to get things done.

If Leonardo Da Vinci stopped painting 1/2 way through, we’d just have something called the Mona; and I’m not sure it’d be a great painting.

Rach is constantly closing, I don’t know if she realises it or does it deliberately, it seems innate to her. Everything she does is a push towards closing something out or moving it forward.

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I couldn’t be more stoked that Rach is choosing herself and her family; because that’s exactly what she should do, and those are 2 things I am happy to come 3rd to.

To Rach,

Stun them with your talent.

Dazzle them with your genius.

Never be half-hearted, never be luke-warm.

Swing your bat hard,

And aim to knock every ball out of the park.

All the best,

DAN.