CEO Guest blog – Jason Allen – Seven things I’ve learnt

It’s ok to talk to yourself now and then – well, that’s what I say to myself anyway - and the following was a conversation in my head a few months ago….

“Did you know in 10 years’ time you would be working in a Technology Recruitment Business and you would spend the majority of your time communicating via a PC….virtually?…..No way!”

Incredibly it’s been nearly 12 months with approximately 9 months of employment working from home at Harvey Nash. Luckily I had a chance to visit all of the Offices in the Technology Recruitment team, except sadly the Newcastle and USA offices, so I could put a face to many names.

I’ve often thought of the above and how much of our work life has changed in a very short period of time. So I thought I would share some stories from my working life and hopefully it resonates with you.

As one of my close mates said to me… “you have been kissed on the head by a fairy.”

Now this person who said this is a close friend whom I worked with many years ago and we were flat mates for some time as well. Unfortunately she knows me very well and thankfully I haven’t copied her on this as she would enjoy sharing some other stories. So what does this “kissed on the head by a fairy mean” – well in her thinking I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have worked around the world for some incredible people and brands – brands like Penfolds, Hardys Wines, Fosters Brewing Group, Vodafone, NSW Waratahs Rugby, Car Racing, Capita and now Harvey Nash.  Yes, I feel incredibly fortunate, and more importantly worked for some of the greatest leaders of their time.

What have I learnt from these experiences and working across different cultures like South East Asia, Europe, USA, India, Japan, Australia (of course) NZ etc? An incredible amount and the following are some themes that personally align to my learnings:

• Respect and celebrate that we are all different.
• Being present, accountable and honest are some key core values for building high performance.
• Individuals can do well, teams can conquer what seems impossible.
• We can do anything you put your mind to.
• We live in an incredible, diverse world of amazing cultures – we can learn so much from each other.
• We get far more from being constructive.
• Be humble and support others.

Of course, we all learn regularly and the above list is virtually tattooed on me and hoping by sharing some of these thoughts you can also add what inspires and motivates you…

Have an awesome day!

Best, Jason

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