Behind the Scenes at Global-Roam

A sad sense of déjà vu greets us today as we hear the news that the Brisbane river will break its banks again (only 2 years after the events of 2011 which affected us slightly).

At this stage the current talk is that the level will be about 2m lower than was the case in 2011 – though I don’t think anyone can be sure what will actually happen.

For our 100+ clients scattered around the NEM, and around the world, the important thing to note is that all of our products incorporate multiple levels of redundancy (deSide and ez2update particularly so) with servers scattered around the world.

What this should mean, as was the case in 2011 (even when our Brisbane office was closed and inaccessible for a week or more), is that services will continue with no interruptions.  However if you do experience any issues, don’t hesitate to:
1)  Call us on +61 7 3368 4064
2)  Email through to the dedicated support line.

Quite a deal of focus “in the trenches” over the course of the past couple of months – with initiatives such as:
1)  the recruitment of our new GM Sales and  Downstream Marketing;
2)  initiation of our new GasWatch product, and release to a group of early-adopters
3)  ongoing development of our ez2viewAustralia tool for traders in the Australian energy market (which is really developing quite a following); and
4)  an upgrade to ez2viewOntario as well.
5)  plus some initial thoughts on how the carbon tax is impacting on electricity market prices, amongst other things…

With this has come some realisations addressed (coincidentally) in one of the books I’ve been sporadically working through over the same period:

The Book	What we thought
“The Power of Full Engagement” by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz	Coincidental lessons - at least for me

In reading this book, I found myself challenged at my approach to life, and hence to work.

The subtitle of the book “managing energy, not time” provides the subtext for the main thrust of the book – though there’s obviously more to it that’s revealed within.

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…  a lot more than one might credit, it seems.

I was grateful for an opportunity take a quick walk through this book.

The Book	What we thought
“The Luck Factor” by Dr Richard Wiseman	The message is not a complete surprise, but it does include a useful development framework

Towards the end of the book (p165 in my copy) the author provides this summary of his paradigm:

“Luck is not a magical ability or a gift from the gods.  Instead, it is a state of mind – a way of thinking and behaving.  People are not born lucky or unlucky, but they create much of their own good and bad luck through their thoughts, feelings, and actions.  The revelation is that a lucky life can be explained via four simple psychological principles”

I found this paradigm similar to my own – and also aligned with several other models we’ve read about (and posted about) in recent years, including:
1.  The need for a growth mindset (as distinct from a fixed mindset);
2.  The need for a high Adversity Quotient (important enough we give a copy of the book to each employee – here’s a review here by someone who worked with us for a couple years).
3.  Maintaining an “Optimistic Model Seeking” viewpoint
4.  A perspective that talent is overrated (being only one of several elements that tie together in really being strong).
etc…

In the book, the author both describes how he has (through experiment, interview and observation) arrived at his perspective – and he provides details of the four principles which, he says, underpin “luck”:

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As noted a few weeks ago, we’re running a 3-stage recruitment process through which we’re seeking to find our new General Manager for Initiating, Opening and Sustaining Client Relationships (a.k.a. GM Sales and Downstream Marketing).

Through Stage 1 of the process, we’ve sifted through every application as they have arrived via various routes, and performed a multi-faceted initial screening to identify people who seem to have all three attributes:
1)  capability and
2)  keenness to deliver results for us
3)  plus the probability of a cultural fit.

We’ve seen many candidates with one (sometimes two) of these attributes, and on some occasions the possibility of all three.

Last week we kicked off Stage 2…

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As a welcome break from the more “here and now” requirements of our latest recruitment effort, I picked this book up and was suitably energised.

The Book	What we thought
“The Medici Effect - what elephants and epidemics can teach us about innovation” by Frans Johansen	Useful concepts, at a deeper level than others I’ve read

.

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It was a great coincidence to be able to hear from David Redhill (CMO @ Deloitte Australia) on Tuesday morning at a breakfast event organised by the AMI.

After taking a few minutes to get into his groove, David proceeded to give an interesting summary of Deloitte’s journey from being described as the ‘Sick Puppy’ of the big 4 accounting firms to being a ‘Crouching Tiger’, within only a few short years.

Having been through our own transformation of sorts over the past 2 years or so, and now focused on recruiting a Master Salesperson in to build on the new foundations created by our Products Team, it was particularly interesting (and timely) for me to hear how Deloitte worked through their process – and how they have, in parallel, used marketing to effect the change.

The following is just some random thoughts triggered by the presentation this week: read more »

We’re now seeking applications from people with the capability and keenness to be our new General Manager for Initiating, Opening & Sustaining Client Relationships (a.k.a. GM Sales and downstream Marketing).

The following additional information has been previously provided:

1)  How we will be collectively measuring your success in this role.

2)  The 3-stage recruitment process we’ll be using, starting today.

We’re excited by the opportunities we’re facing over the next few years, and are keen to find someone who can, and will, help us grasp these opportunities.

If this is something that is of interest to you, we will look forward to hearing from you shortly – please email us your details to the following address:

gmsales@global-roam.com

Alternatively, if you know of someone ideally suited to assist us in this way, please do point them in our direction!

It’s now almost exactly 2 years ago since we recruited Derrick to join our team as GM for Discerning, Developing and Delivering what the Customer Wants (3D WCW).

Since that time we have invested a huge percentage of our annual revenues in the upgrading of the capability of our Products Team – with a particular focus on our tool for energy traders, ez2viewAustralia – and our customer are happy, because of our efforts.  We’re also starting to win some new ones, as well (and back some old friends).

Now it is time for us to expand our attention to achieving a similar outcome with our Sales and downstream Marketing Team, starting with the recruitment of an equivalent General Manager.

I have recently posted about how we’ll be judging the success of our new GM for Initiating, Opening & Sustaining Client Relationships.

1)  Retrospective

The intervening 24 months have given us a good opportunity to  reflect on what we did right in the previous recruitment process, and what we could have done better – the following are some of the highlights: read more »

We first began thinking about having this person join our team about two years ago, back when we recruited Derrick to be our GM Products.

In the intervening period (whilst we were focused on upgrading the capability of our development team, and regaining some momentum in product development) we had plenty of time to think through what a Sales and Marketing team should do, when we start to hire for that team – starting (soon) with the General Manager.

Whilst we have ideas about what these activities will be, we also expect that anyone who is capable of filling the role of GM for Sales and downstream Marketing will have plenty of ideas of their own (indeed, it’s partly for this reason that we’re looking to hire them).

Hence we believe that it’s far more important to specify what success will look like for this person – and for their team, as they are hired:

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You might recall that I picked this book up recently and was reminded of the Gallup Organisation’s prognosis of what my underlying “strengths” are.

As noted already, I could not remember much about what this book actually said – so (because we’re about to begin the recruitment of our GM for Sales and downstream Marketing) I took some time to peruse the book again.

Unfortunately I was disappointed.

The Book	What we thought
“Develop your Sales Strengths – How the world’s greatest salespeople develop winning careers” by Benson Smith & Tony Rutigliano	Maybe I missed something, but it seemed a bit shallow and repetitive?

In general terms, my disappointment with this book boils down to two factors – one which might not apply to other readers (depending on what they have read beforehand):

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