Let's make it happen

For the first time in 12 months I have rested, truly rested in New Zealand, COVID free and with my extended family and friends, do I feel guilty? A little, the world is doing it hard , do I feel lucky? A little, but the luck of New Zealand as a whole was from great leadership through a crisis, constant pressure by the team of 5 million to be better and do better and 5 million watching and holding that leadership to account, those actions made this break possible.

At Serko this is the same, leadership is about being accountable to your customers, but also to your team. Our Customers hold us accountable for our actions. They make sure we push constantly to be better, and drive to build new and exciting technology.

My team, through leadership learn to grow to be better leaders and a better team. It is constant change, not being afraid of change but facing change in a way that makes you drive for each other to be better.

Through 2020 some magic happened, the Executives collectively came together globally when the crisis first hit, they stepped into the crisis and led. Then they stepped up again to rebuild the strategy from the ground up and challenge everything we were doing and could do. They formed 30-60-90 day plans, built objective and key results that measured and held themselves accountable and also allow their teams to understand how they can impact the overall strategy of Serko. In my view they became a collective, a true heart of a business, and the heart is one powerful organ.

In 2020 my Executive’s stood up in front of the team and collectively spoke about the strategy and how it matters to them, in their words, the vision, the mission, but most importantly the WHY. Truly understanding your WHY during a crisis I think is the single most important impact you can have on your team.

Over Christmas I received emails from the team and executives asking if they could write about it; to help others understand the power of what Serko has built and share the knowledge of what is possible. These moments in our journey make me proud.

What happens when a team truly comes together? Well in 2020 we did some amazing things, we listened, we pushed and worked even harder than we had ever done before, and who’d have thought a company effected by COVID raises money above their market price and then almost 5 times oversubscribed and goes on to hire 54 staff and is looking for almost 100 more, this isn’t easy and it isn’t just luck…why?? Because we as a team, never ever stopped executing to our strategy and because we kept true to these values and mission and delivered key milestones along the way, but a BIG reason is because of who we are and most importantly it is because of our suppliers/customers, who guided and helped us to achieve these outcomes.

We are a team, as one and focused, but diverse, and we are truly diverse, gender, culture, and nationalities - one big melting pot. A team that continually represents the world we live in and the people that will use our technology...this is Serko.

When you start at Serko, you are asked to paint a tile to place on the wall to show that you are individual, different views, culture and wishes, dreams that you want from working here. That tile is then placed with all other tiles to make up the BIG picture of Serko and a reminder every day when you walk into our offices that we are all unique but make an amazing team.

Success of any business is not the CEO it is really a reflection of the team, 'my dream makers',

But also to all those amazing customers around the world who place their faith in us to build and manage technology for their own customers, employees for which we are forever grateful.

We’re not perfect, we make mistakes, and we learn, but we are not afraid of change, and are excited about the global journey ahead.

My 2021 commitment is to not let you down and help support you through this crisis, like you have done for Serko and especially for myself and Bob since we started in this industry in the 80’s.

We call you our friends, because relationships are the most important thing during a crisis and well our friends make our industry one of the greatest.

Today I woke up, in this new year and smiled, because I’m surrounded by great people, friends, and yes, the tile I painted on my first day founding SERKO was in fact those words, ‘FRIENDS’. My philosophy is to do business with people I like, employ people I want to be friends with, diverse and wonderful but so damn clever also.

Let’s make corporate travel the best it can be; 2021 is about collaboration, together we can and will bring about a new industry change and recovery.

And if you want to do business with a company that wants to genuinely help, that is great to do business with and will constantly improve to become your greatest asset then drop us a line, because we love making new friends.