Who inspired you in 2017? My top 10!

I met many fascinating people this year ranging from global CEOs, to billionaires, to heads of state, to key policy and regulatory decision makers, to global thought leaders, and at least one national living treasure. 

With the year coming to a close I thought I would share a few of their pearls of wisdom that particularly resonated with me. I have also provided a range of links to related articles, podcasts and videos worth a watch over the Christmas break.

I will also let you know who the number one influencer was in my life in 2017 and most importantly why.

So here we go, in no particular order except for the first and last.

1. Susan Jennifer Hirst, 21 March 1944 - 25 August 2017

As cliched as it sounds to reference my mum, I can’t omit her from this list or put her anywhere but at the start of it for my beautiful mum, Susie, died this year in her absolute prime, fit as a fiddle, and happier than she had been for years (pictured with me above shortly before she died). 

As you may have read in my previous posts here and here about grief and loss the influence of mum’s life has been profound and is only surpassed by that of her untimely(?) death. So unexpected and irrevocable, reinforcing how important it is that we embrace every day, not as our last, but as a gift to be opened and shared with others. Merry Christmas Susie. You are missed every minute. Thank you for living and loving unconditionally and personifying grace on this earth.

2. Jay Gould, Global President & CEO of Interface

Jay took on the role leading one of the world’s most environmentally progressive organisations this year upping the anti from a zero emissions target by 2020 to actually reversing the impact of climate change. Not bad for a company within an industry that has a reputation for significant negative environmental impacts in both its production process and disposal cycle post life, i.e. carpet.

My favourite story Jay shared with us is an initiative called ‘net-works’, where Interface is paying locals in poor communities to collect discarded fishing nets from the ocean (reference picture below), which Interface then recycles into carpet, saving countless sea creatures every day as well as providing a new income stream to over 1,500 families. Click here to watch a short documentary about Net-Works and Interface.

Jay reinforced to me that corporations who take ownership of their entire product cycle can go beyond Google’s ‘do no harm’ and actually start reversing humanity’s negative impact on the environment. This approach holds true for all the environments we interact with, i.e. our physical, social, emotional, psychological, spiritual relational and others. How amazing would the world be if we each individually took accountability for doing no harm as well as reversing the harm others have caused? What if we could all be a restorative influence in the world?

3. The Hon. Gladys Berijiklian, 44th Premier of New South Wales

If Gladys Berejiklian (pictured above) were a CEO and New South Wales was a company she would be leading one of 20 largest organisations in the world by market cap with a workforce exceeding 300,000 employees. The networth of NSW is projected to be almost a quarter of a trillion dollars by 2020 and NSW is driving almost 90% of Australia’s economic growth. NSW is outgrowing most of the OECD nations and is larger than 16 of them. Despite NSW's incredible growth, both past, present and future, Gladys is one of the most humble dignatories I have had the privilege to meet. Something to do with her start in life no doubt, being sent off to school by her parents, not speaking a word of English and told by her mum to simply ‘put your hand up and have a go’. 

The Premier is the first political leader I have worked with who actually asked to shorten her time speaking so she could spend more time listening to our CEO members, learning about their organisations and understanding their needs. Political persuasions aside she was nothing but inspirational to all who were there. My key take out from the Premier is that we can always learn from others and often the more senior we get the more listening we would benefit from doing.

4. Dr Susan David, Harvard Medical School Professor of Psychology

Susan is the author of Wall Street Journal best-seller Emotional Agility. The book captures Susan’s deep belief that in uncertain times it is not those with deep intelligence or skills that prevail, it is those with the greatest emotional agility, defined as the ability to face into your thoughts and emotions with curiosity and kindness and choose how to respond in alignment with your values. As Susan says,

“emotions are data, not directions”. 

We have a choice about our response to emotions, no matter how small that choice may feel at times, and no matter how dark or destructive the emotion may appear. Susan is one of the most lovely humans you will ever meet and her passion for this topic is unforgettable. Susan reinforced to me the importance of 'having emotions but not being had by our emotions’. What separates us from almost all animals on the planet is not our ability to choose how we feel, but to choose how we respond to those feelings. Click here to read more about this topic.

My favourite quote of Susan’s is that

“life’s beauty is inseparable from its fragility’. 

Emotional agility is key to a beautiful life. Click here to listen to a podcast interview with Susan discussing emotional agility.

5. Tim Sims, Founder and Managing Director of Pacific Equity Partners

Tim (on the left above) is one of the world’s most successful private equity leaders and his firm PEP is the best in this corner of the world having returned on average over 20% annually to its investors since Tim founded the company in 1998. In the last three years alone PEP has returned $7.5b following significant exit activity. Prior to PEP Tim was the founding partner of global management consulting firm L.E.K. and was a key global figure at Bain & Co prior to that. 

Tim’s track record proves his world class ability to release unlocked potential. Not only does he do this with companies, he also does it with people. Despite Tim’s remarkable intellect, he knows that all of us are smarter than any one of us. The best outcomes are almost always achieved collectively. Tim reminded me of the old expression

‘if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together’.

6. Georgie Harman, CEO of beyondblue

Georgie (pictured above) leads the Australian organisation beyondblue that provide invaluable education and services to the Australian community relating mostly to depression and anxiety. In Australia alone around 3 million people live with depression and anxiety every year. The World Health Organisation estimates over 300 million globally people are affected by depression and it is the leading cause of disability in the world. Beyond the alarming stats and facts Georgie shared what most impressed me was Georgie herself. More specifically her openess and honesty about her own mental journey. 

Despite organisations’ best efforts to promote mental health, a significant missing component is often the leaders’ willingness to acknowledge their own story. However, when doing so it gives others permission to do the same. It also not only dilutes the stigma typically associated with mental illness, it can build greater respect and trust between the leader and their people. 

Everyone lives with mental illness, either their own or someone’s they love or work with. Strength comes not from denying this but embracing it. 

Many of the greatest contributors to the history of the world had depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar etc. Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Beethoven, Lincoln, Edison, Churchill, Einstein, Picasso, JFK, MLK Jr, Estee Lauder, Jobs... the list goes on and on and on. I believe their incredible contributions to the planet were achieved not despite their mental illness but because of it.

7. James Altucher, American hedge fund manager, venture capitalist, and podcaster 

I have not met James but he is a big part of my life. Of all the podcasts I listen to regularly (i.e. The Tim Ferris Show, Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman, Genius Network with Joe Polish, HBR Ideacast, The McKinsey Podcast, Revisionist History with Malcolm Gladwell) two of my favourites are Ask Altucher and The James Altucher Show. 

James is a somewhat eccentric hedge fund guy that made and lost millions before making it all back again only to give it all away, living out of two suitcases and staying in AirBnB’s all year round. He interviews remarkable people and his interview style is both manic and probing. 

You can listen to a few of James' interviews that I have listened to multiple times here with Peter Diamandis on living boldly, Tim Ferris on what he learned writing Tools of Titans, and Steve Kotler on how to be superhuman. 

James (pictured above) is a great example of how ‘embracing your weirdness’ can be the key to standing out and making your mark in the world. Our industrial age, factory oriented education system encourages conformity however no one ever changed the planet by being normal. Every person Altucher interviews, and he himself, have found what makes them unusual and have then combined these attributes into something that makes them world class. Click here for more on this topic.

8. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and co-author of Option B

A very thoughtful friend sent me Sheryl's book Option B shortly after my mum died. You all know Sheryl as the COO of Facebook but not everyone knows her husband Dave died while they were on holidays in 2015. Like my mum Dave died from heart related causes, without warning and in his prime. This book is about her response to his death and provides wonderfully heart-felt, real world and evidence based (thanks to Wharton Professor of Psychology Adam Grant’s contribution, pictured with Sheryl above) approaches to dealing with grief. 

Option B is for anyone that has lost anything dear to them. My favourite line from the book and the reason for the title is my key takeout and inspiration from Sheryl and Adam, i.e.

“Option A is not available. So let’s just kick the shit out of Option B.”

We don’t always get what we want sometimes we get what we don’t want, but far from letting adversity define us, it can refine us and make us better versions of ourselves. Click here to watch Sheryl and Adam talk about Option B.

9. Dr Andy Walshe, former High Performance Director at RedBull

I have a man-crush on Andy Walshe. Andy (on the left above) is one of the world’s leading experts on high performance having advised corporations ranging from Amazon to the US Special Forces on how to realise human potential. Until recently Andy was the High Performance Director at Redbull coaching the 1000 or so extreme athletes and almost 4000 artists sponsored by Redbull, including Felix Baumgartner who famously jumped from space to earth in 2012. I spent two days with Andy this year and have not stopped thinking about everything he said ever since. 

Of the many insights he shared, one that resonated particularly powerfully is how Andy coaches the 'whole' individual. Andy does not believe achieving the highest levels of our performance is possible without addressing all aspects of our humanity, i.e. our body, mind, relationships, nutrition, sleep, even life skills such as managing our finances (see Andy's human potential wheel below). 

In this day and age of just in time micro learning Andy reminds us that we are each complex systems existing within an even more complex environment. Our performance is a reflection of how all the parts of us and our environment come together. This wholistic approach to performance is essential if we wish to achieve our best. To hear more from Andy please click here.

10. John Bell AO OBE, founder of the Bell Shakespeare Company

I have not met many National Living Treasures but if they are anything like John Bell then the title is well deserved. John has spent his life bringing Shakespeare to the masses, founding the Bell Shakespeare Company in 1990. John is now in his 70s and continues to perform on stage and direct regularly to this day. John shared with us a range of life and leadership lessons from Shakespeare and from his own life. Beyond the content he shared the thing that stuck with me most about John was his incredible presence. 

I hear hundreds of people ‘speak’ every year, thousands over my career, but none that ‘connect’ like John. This should hardly be a surprise given his deep stage expertise and experience but it goes beyond that. When you hear John speak he is 100% available, 100% in the room, 100% in the moment. This is only possible given his intimate knowledge of the subject matter but again knowledge is necessary but not sufficient for the connection he creates. I believe the secret to John’s remarkable presence is all about alignment. John has lived his life doing, acting, manifesting, playing, directing, being 100% aligned with his deepest passion. 

Many of us live in conflict. We want to get fit but can’t seem to find the time to get to the gym. We want to get a paid more but aren’t willing to invest in our own development to make ourselves more valuable to others. We want a better relationship but aren’t prepared to change our own behaviours and mindframes that are dysfunctional. What John (pictured below) has wanted he has achieved, if not far exceeded, because he has aligned all aspects of his life in a common direction. Presence is a reflection of finding peace in oneself, and peace is a reflection of our alignment.

11. David Timms

Forgive me for adding one more person in but he is hands down the person who has inspired me the most in 2017. David Timms was born in old Rhodesia, was educated in South Africa, emigrated to Canada before the War for Independence in Zimbabwe, became a mineralogist working in the harshest environments of North America, moved to Australia and with his wife Jenny brought up four incredible children, one of them whom I married. 

This year Dave was honoured by the mining industry with a Life Time Achievement award. Applauding his contribution were the CEOs of some of the world’s biggest companies, industry heavy weights, political power brokers at a state and federal level, at least three billionaires that I could count, more than a dozen bodyguards, and hundreds of his peers. And there was 87 year old Dave Timms on the stage, one of the most humble men I know, totally overwhelmed by the recognition he was receiving. 

Not expecting the award Dave (pictured above on the left) had not prepared a speech but luckily he had shared a story with one of his grandkids the day before which he recounted at the podium. He shared how he hides sweets around the garden before his 12 grand children come over to visit and how much delight he gets from seeing them hunting for these sweet treasures, the joy on their faces when a lolly is found, and the way they throw all their treasures in a bowl and evenly distribute them later. He described how he has spent his life in a similar way, hunting for treasure all over the world, and how the joy the kids experience looking for sweets he has also experienced looking for mineral deposits. 

"But" he said the greatest resource he has ever found, the highest grade deposit, the richest seam ended up not being in the ground at all. The ultimate treasure Dave has found is his family. Such a treasure is too often not valued despite being priceless, too often overlooked despite being right in front of us, too often taken for granted until it is gone. 

Losing my mum this year has brought this point home so strongly. I wish for just one more opportunity to tell her how much I love her, for just one more hug, one more of her beautiful smiles. 

This time of year can be hard for families. Christmas and the New Year often brings to a head previous hurts and misunderstandings. I can’t begin to appreciate all the permutations and combinations of pain you may have experienced but I can appreciate the impermanence and fragility of life and the incredible richness of relationships.  

I wish you, your family and your friends the best in hunting for the treasure in all your relationships. Some days may feel fruitless but one thing is for sure, the gold goes to those who do the digging. 

All the best with your relationship prospecting and production in 2018.

?Please find below links to my previous monthly posts.

• The missing link of high performance
• The future belongs to people with this skill
• Lessons from loss
• Good Grief
• 20 reasons why corporate wellness programs get sick
• Australia is still lucky... but for how long?
• Change management has become a joke!
• Are you ready for the third age?
• What matters most in a post-truth world?
• Never waste a good crisis
• Your best bet yet for a year of success
• What will your New Year's Evolution be?
• Are you ready for the 'gig economy'?
• Are you working with an energy vampire?
• From counting people to making people count
• Five novel tactics for better leadership
• Mid year reviews: Ubiquitous but ridiculous
• Talent pipelines are broken
• Australia: The innovation immigration correlation
• Time to reimagine HR
• The secret to successful disruption: The innovation colony
• How to survive and thrive in the supermatrix
• The biggest predictor of career success is...
• The secret to high performance is not what you think...
• Where are you on the digital vortex?
• Diversity does not equal inclusion
• How to catch and hold the rebound expat
• The e-factor is the new x: the ultimate growth multiplier
• Are you working with a waste of space?
• Iron Man needs you!
• Collaboration: the new super skill
• Leading innovation from the Australian subsidiary
• Insurgent or incumbent: the key to a future every company wants is...
• Why the talent war is over
• How 'the other GDP' is causing a talent crunch

Rich Hirst is a Director of Gartner's International Executive Forums, providing a range of services specifically and exclusively for the most senior executives in the Australian operations of foreign-owned multinational corporations.  

International Executive Forums operate four peer groups: the International CEO Forum with over 3o0 CEO members; the International CFO Forum with almost 180 CFO members; the International HRD Forum with some 160 HRD members; and in 2016 we launched the International CSO Forum for heads of sales functions. In addition to our peer group services, we also provide a range of opportunities for our member companies to develop their up-and-coming talent through a series of events with a particular focus on women and emerging executives. For more information please call +612 9955 2848.