Pushing Fellow Managers Beyond Limits

Pushing Fellow Managers Beyond Limits

Audience: 10 department managers of XYZ Corp. A special meeting has

been called by the CEO. He has asked each manager to present a 5

minute talk about a personal hero. [I am the Human Resources Manager].

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Purpose: To motivate fellow managers to into purposeful and decisive

action, which pushes them beyond their current limits.

MY WAY

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The Fred Hollows story

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Quote: "When I've seen an opportunity I haven't sat down and called a

committee meeting about it… we've gone and done it."

We sit here today, talking about how we can take decisive action. I

can't help feeling some irony in this, and while researching for this

meeting I paused a few times to wonder what my hero would have thought

about this. No doubt he would have thought we were bloody idiots, and

I don't doubt he would have used those words - if not something

stronger.

My hero is Fred Hollows, the "eye doctor".

The legend of Fred Hollows the man almost overshadows his work, which

is no mean feat considering his amazing body of work, and the enduring

legacy of the foundation he left behind. There is little doubt there

have been better scientists, or more skilled surgeons produced in

Australasia: Howard Florey, Victor Chang come to mind, but none

captured the imagination, or personified the great Australian

qualities of egalitarianism and larrikinism as much as Fred.

Born in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1929 of Christian socialist parents,

Fred Hollows originally wanted to be a missionary. But as a youth he

w...

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... time, "Nothing in the equation is insuperable. If we

can do this, the world will sit up and take notice." The money was

raised, and the program was a success. Now, the work of the Fred

Hollows Foundation has spread throughout Africa, Asia and South

America. The number of people who have had sight returned is over a

million.

Being diagnosed with cancer in 1988 did not stop Fred. He continued to

work - as well as drinking, smoking and keeping up with the cricket

scores - tirelessly. Fred died in 1993, surrounded by his family, and

took active interest in the progress of the programs he had initiated

right up to his last day.

I believe that if, like Fred Hollows, we take on a "can do" attitude,

have the strength of our convictions, we can not only turn this

company around, we can have a bloody good time doing it.