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Leadership and Values - Conversations that Matter - Melbourne, Australia

Friday, July 4, 2008

Nigel Heywood, Team Leader, of the international Action for Life programme reports on Conversations that Matter on ‘Leadership and Values’, held on 24th June in Melbourne, Australia.

Speakers Andrew Horsfield, Director, Thrive Group ‘Principled values-based decison making’ Saurabh Mishra Download Saurabh’s Slides here CEO, eClinic ‘The Spiritual Dimension in Business’ Chair Persons Bek Brown Judith Pimentel Facilitator for Q & A Nigel Heywood Vote of Thanks Chris James Camera Rahul Kapadia Han Tin Pan Media & Digital Recording William Nguyen Caux Initiatives for Business (CIB) and the Initiatives of Change Centre in Melbourne, Australia hosted a Conversation that Matters with 40 people on the theme of Leadership and Values. The two speakers were Andrew Horsfield and Saurabh Mishra.

Andrew Horsfield

Andrew Horsfield, director and founder of Thrive Group, facilitator, speaker and coach, talked about principled decision making. His extensive experience includes working on the streets with at risk youth to consulting in the Boardrooms of Australia’s Top 500 companies. His passion to help people take control of their life led him to walk away from a lucrative job offer and start up his own company. In making important decisions he raised three main themes; that each of us need to align our values with our actions, the connection of the head and the heart, and the sharing of our values in the way that we live.

Saurabh Mishra

Working in an earlier job Andrew had resigned from a position as team manager when he was forced to follow a management decision he did not agree with. His concern had been the impact it would have on the lives of those working under him in his team. He pointed out that each of us have two sets of values that are played out in our decision making, the values that we hold in our head and the actions we take to get our needs fulfilled. It is easy to put off the hard decisions for our own benefit but in the end we know if we have compromised ourselves and those around us.

Bek Brown

Saurabh Mishra spoke on the Spiritual Dimension of Business. Leaving a successful career with a top salary Saurabh also took the leap to start up his own company eClinic Pty Ltd. From a great opportunity and business plan he soon saw his business struggling and continuing to run at a loss year after year. He had to sack workers, lose his own money and somehow still kept missing good opportunities. He began to look inward and ask himself some hard questions: what is the difference between "doing what it takes" to make a business work and "doing what is right"? How should I use my money and time?

Judith Pimantel

He began to bring new practices into his life; learning through reading; basing all his decisions on a moral foundation; doing daily meditation; and volunteering his time to help care for terminally ill patients. Through meditation he began to see how powerful his thoughts were on what he spoke and the actions he took. He began to change his outlook, dealing with difficult clients in a more respectful and non-reactive way to the point where they are now some of his best business customers. He contributes finances from his own pocket and his company to causes he believes in. eClinic’s services are now used by tens of thousands of General Practitioners, Medical Specialists, Pharmacists, Veterinary Practitioners, and Allied Healthcare Practitioners in Australia and New Zealand. He now applies three key principles in his life

  • To “reap” a future of getting wealth, I have to “sow” in the present by giving wealth
  • To “reap” a future of living in an ethical, just world, I have to “sow” in the present by practicing ethics (i.e. speak no lies, keep my commitments)
  • To “reap” a future of being respected and trusted by staff, customers, shareholders, suppliers and partners, I have to “sow” in the present by giving respect and trust to them
Nigel Heywood

Applying these principles has not only resulted in Saurabh becoming a better human being, his business is expanding, At least 5 further significant growth opportunities for the business are in the making for 2009, with impact of each opportunity on increasing current revenue ranging from 30%-100% His core message: take time out to look within and you will see that ,"you reap what you sow".

Han Tin Pan

One member of the audience queried, "why is it that business people always compromise and lie?" Saurabh replied that in the ong term you cannot lie and get away with it. Many companies that collapse due to fraud were built on greed and were unsustainable and that companies working with integrity and honesty tend to have more longevity and success. The conversation turned to the false image spin that is the face of many corporates today and Andrew brought the issue down to the practical and challenging level for all the audience, "how are we going to stop the false spin that we present in our own lives? Try and spend one day without creating any spin." It was a conversation that gave hope and a challenge to rethink the way we align our values and what we believe, with our actions.