Why does that matter to you? Why is your vision
what it is? And what are some of the stories
that pertain to your why? Well, psychologically,
I was set up for this because I went through
some very hard times when I was a child. And
I witnessed the abuse of power. by really the
headmaster of the school I was at. And I think
that kind of really set me up to say, I want
to help leaders to find other motivations rather
than just feeding their egos and their sort of
shallow demands. so that they don't harm the
people for whom they're responsible. So it's
all about an abuse of power, really, and how
to get leaders sufficiently skilled that when
they have these raw impulses, they can resist
them because they have a sense of responsibility
for the people who work for them. One of the
lines, and I think there is a very bold statement,
one of my very close friends, he mentioned it.
He really believes in it too. The absolute power
corrupts absolutely. Absolutely, yes. So keeping
yourself in check and putting checks and balances
for your own self to govern your own body, I
think it's very, very, very important, specifically
if you feel like you're rising to the occasion
of leading more people than yourself. So I would
love to hear some of those stories that added
to your why, Tom. Well, I mentioned my early
experience. But I think, you know, I mean, I've
been in business, I've been in the military,
I've been in... the airline business before that.
I was in engineering before that. And, you know,
you go through life and you see good leaders
and you see bad leaders. You see people who are
either good or less good at this. It's fascinating
how in so many organizations, people are promoted
because they were good at doing whatever it was
that they were doing. people don't look at well
never mind what he was doing what are we going
to ask him him or her to do and is that person
resourced to do that you know we put people into
managerial situations positions and we don't
prepare them for it and then we're surprised
when they mess it all up um so Yeah, so I've
seen the good and the bad, you know, along the
way. I mean, even in the military, I've served
with some absolutely unbelievably good leaders,
just extraordinary examples of humility with
skill and just fantastic. And I've been... under
one or two people who are frankly awful at that
um and and so you know you see the mistakes they
make you see the decisions they make and you
know there's there's one level which is people
just not being skilled and there's another level
which is there They have dysfunctional characters
which they live out around the people or on the
people that are around them. And that's not good.
That's really not good. But we see it being lived
out in the world right now. particularly in the
politics of the world. What is the best leadership
experience that you have had in your experience
with the military or other people? What would
you like to share with us? Gosh. Gosh, gosh,
gosh. What a big question. I've got all sorts
of incidents coming into my mind. Well, I mean,
if I can use myself as an example here, I don't
know if that's a good thing or not, but I remember
when I was in the Marines. um and i had a i had
a marine who was a he was a real a real troublemaker
he was in trouble all the time and uh he's in
fights and kept on getting into you know being
put into into prison for short periods of time
and um i went to my um Good morning, officer.
And I said to him, I want to take a chance with
this guy. I'd like to make him a last corporal.
And my boss said to me, you're out of your mind.
But I said, no, I think there's a really good
side to this guy, and it's just not coming out
for various reasons, which I explained. So he
said, all right, be it on your own head, you
take responsibility. So we had the guy in and
we said, right, we're going to give you some
responsibility. And I remember the next day,
he'd been to the clothing store and he had bought
himself a complete new kit. And his trousers
were pressed immaculately. His shirt was pressed
immaculately. And he was a transformed young
man. And, you know, I was so pleased because
we'd taken a risk. I mean, my boss had as well
because it could well have come back onto him.
But this young man... was given some responsibility
and he responded to it. And it was a turning
point in his life. So, and really what it was
is that I saw something in him that there was
a kind of frustration that needed to have a way
of expressing itself and being given responsibility
for others was the magic bullet, really. So that
was a great success, and I was really chuffed
with that. I suppose that, you know, During the
Falklands, there was a moment when 4 -5 Commando
were going to do an attack. And of course, for
those that remember the Falklands or that know
about it, it's a very inclement place to walk
on. There's all sorts of obstacles. The CEO had
made all the plans. He'd briefed everybody on
what he wanted to happen. They were on radio
silence. The companies had found out to start.
the attack but they had to go past the start
line it's you know they use that kind of nomenclature
and um the guy in charge of one of the companies
i had to send a runner back because they were
on radio silence saying i haven't got to the
the start line yet and and everything all the
timings were were out because of this and um
the ceo And he demonstrated this to me on a number
of occasions, getting really frustrating, really
bad news, stayed as calm as a cucumber, just
steady, and sent the message back to his company
commander saying, let me know when you're ready.
That was it. And, you know, I see people who
can lead in really... tough, difficult circumstances
and keep their cool and their state of mind sharp
like that. That's good stuff. Tom, thank you
for sharing that. What was the lesson that you
learned in that experience? I would love to see
what was something that you carried with yourself
through those experiences of leadership. I think
the older I've got, the more I've had access
to pragmatism. That sense of being steady when
things are going really badly. I was talking
to an old client the other day and he's holding
down a mammoth job at the moment. Mammoth. With
challenges and... shortfalls and you know millions
and millions of dollars uh that they're trying
to recoup through frankly very bad management
and he went on holiday and he spent sufficiently
long away that he got this sense of um balance
which he might have lost a little bit prior to
going away and when he got back you know the
phone was going crazy and everybody said oh rush
rush this and terrible terrible that and and
he said no there's nothing that terrible going
on right now it's all pretty pretty awful but
it's not that terrible we'll deal with it in
the morning you know he's getting these calls
all at night and it's like having this steadiness
and a willingness to see that not everything
needs to be dealt with like that sometimes you
need to take some time to breathe see the overall
situation have a sense of proportion and balance
and not be panicked into doing something because
somebody around you is feeling like that Thank
you for sharing that. We have talked a lot about
the why and the what. I want to dive deeper into
what are your insights about leadership. To you,
what would you say, Tom, defines a great leader?
What do you see as a scale for future there?
Well, I think great leaders have humility definitely
they understand their position in the world and
they don't over inflate it and they have great
self -awareness that's the fundamental skill
of a great leader is great self -awareness and
it's It's very much undermined today. But I think
it's, as I say, it's fundamental. And they care.
They care about their people. They care about
their organization. They care about their impact
in the wider... environment and system. So, yeah.
That's a bunch of qualities. It is. I can definitely
dive deeper into every one of them, but I'd love
to dive deeper into the self -awareness one.
Tell me more about that. What made you choose
self -awareness as one of the qualities, or what
did you experience in your life that was like,
hey, self -awareness is something that great
leaders need to have? I think that self -awareness
gives you the ability to challenge yourself.
So when something happens, you don't get knee
-jerk reactions. You can have a conversation
going on in your mind that says, I noticed that.
I now feel very angry. I notice that it feels
like the situation is completely hopeless. I
notice that this is unbelievably exciting what's
going on. Whatever it is, it's a case of noticing,
being aware, seeing it, and having that sense
of proportion so that you can respond as opposed
to react appropriately. Thank you for being here
today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to
Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing
your reactions as these episodes continue to
move forward. This is going to get more and more
fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well.
We'll invite people to participate in the show.
And thank you for giving us your time and attention.
Have an excellent time building out your vision
and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.