CHAPTER 1
SELF DEVELOPMENT
The First Full-Time Employment
I had not resolved the direction I would head forward in my future career, but the engineering teacher was impressed with my adaptability and skill in the fitting and turning engineering classes. The three closest friends of my school days had decided to enlist as apprentice fitters and turners, so I decided to follow suit.
Three of us, at age sixteen, enlisted with the Department of Defence at the ordinance factory in Maribyrnong, which provided the most sophisticated training program known at the time. The training unit was only used by apprentices, and all completed the two-year program before being released to the big, wide world of ordinance equipment.
After twelve months, we were introduced to a personal assessment program, testing intelligence, personality, and leadership skills. I was greatly impressed with this system, because youths don't always make a suitable choice of career, because of a lack of guidance or consultation at school.
After the personal assessment program, which did not have a quantitative assessment, I was advised that the results confirmed I had greater horizons than my career choice. It was suggested that my indentures be terminated, to undertake a career in the administration area, i.e., public service. It was also agreed that I would be rotated throughout the various departments, to gain as much experience as possible as quickly as possible.
Self-discipline number 2 applies: aspire to roles that suit your strengths and personalities.
Early in your business life, you should explore options to identify strengths and personality.
Self-Development
Unfortunately, I did not have access to accurate personal assessments early in my working life, but thankfully, good opportunities came along because of my drive and enthusiasm. Thankfully, as my career developed into the more advanced form of management, I expanded in understanding myself.
My employers pressed for increased management sophistication, and I was enrolled with the Executive Training College, Sydney University, and London Business School. During the training, I was educated in the theories of Myers-Briggs and Carl Jung, and I was assessed as introverted, but not excessively so; thinking; judging.
Thinking, as per the Myers-Briggs formula, means objective, rational, making judgements based on facts, not emotions.
Self-discipline number 1 applies: clearly define your strengths, weaknesses, and personality as soon as possible.
The most dominant trait in my personality has always been thinking, which was extremely helpful when given the task of correcting a nonperforming company or assessing a company as a potential acquisition target. At times, it is inevitable that various paths will cross; in other words, handling exercises that are not akin to our strongest suits.
For example, during my business life, l had to design strategic plans, looking to the future and plotting the future development of the company. Although creative thinking was not my personality strength, I coped reasonably well in these exercises by trying to anticipate what the company should look like in five to ten years and then working back from that point. After completing several of these exercises,
I became more comfortable with the process.
Experience showed me that any activity becomes easier after completing it a number of times.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The next exercise was an analysis of my strengths and weaknesses, which will also assist in deciding a career path.
Are you adept with numbers? Do you present well? Are you good with your hands, a good problem-solver, a good team player, or an individualist? Are you a good manager of money, keen on learning other languages, an achiever, a good planner, aware of any leadership skills? The list goes on.
Complete an initial exercise to identity both strengths and weaknesses and constantly review the results. I concluded that expressing myself clearly with clear English terminology was a weakness.
Many students enter part-time work in various industries, which could assist in these exercises.
If you are not numerate, you are not a candidate for accountancy; an introvert would likely fail as a salesman. At one stage in my career, I was selling insurance, and the results were reasonable, because of my hard work, but not top grade because I was fighting against my introverted personality.
Self-disciplines 2, 10, and 11 apply: after identifying the strengths, aim for roles that suit those strengths.
Stabilising My Finances
In 1956, at eighteen years of age, I was playing VFL football with Footscray Reserves and being paid a princely sum of thirty shillings a game — three dollars in today's currency. It was an insult, but the club used most of its funds to attract country recruits.
One Sunday morning, I received a visit from Keith Drinan, a previous great from St. Kilda Football Club, who at the time was coach of the Yarraville Football Club, playing in the Victorian Football Association. Keith stated he needed a centre half forward for his club, and he had received numerous recommendations about my ability.
I agreed to train with the club that week and played in a practice match the following Saturday. The next day, I had another meeting with Keith, who offered me a contract paying ten pounds a game. The offer was attractive, because I had a goal to build my first house before my twenty-first birthday. This particular goal was important to me because my parents, since marriage, had always been renters and had not purchased a house.
However, the plan failed when Footscray Football Club refused to grant a clearance to Yarraville based on the recommendation of the reserves coach. I then concluded that the possible gains from football were inadequate to meet my immediate financial goals, and I could supplement my income through other sources. First I took a job cleaning an office block five nights a week; second, I commenced working in a cafe all day on Sundays.
I also accepted that sporting careers have a short lifespan, and I was more interested in achieving my long-term goals: developing myself to play a significant role in industry management or the financial sector.
The next move was to purchase an allotment of land for the construction of my house. As I did not want to overstretch my financial capacity, I limited the cost to six hundred pounds, meaning unmade roads and no sewerage.
I hired a builder after inspecting many of his completed projects and was impressed with the quality of the workmanship. During this period, I was assisted by an uncle who had completed the same process some years before.
Numerous self-disciplines apply: always move forward in areas you are suited for, and never overextend yourself financially.
Change of Direction in Employment
After almost two years in the public service as a clerical trainee, I came to a number of conclusions:
• I learnt...
