John Brogden on How Trust – in Himself and Others – is Fundamental
The former leader of the NSW Opposition left politics for the corporate world and realised that trust – in himself and those around him – is fundamental.
Relationships are vital
2021-present President, Lifeline International
2012-2021 Chairman, Lifeline Australia
“Ahead of the 2003 NSW state election, one of my election promises was to provide a million dollars in new funding to Lifeline. We didn’t win the election and it didn’t get the money but it opened the door to me to the incredible work Lifeline does. By 2005, I was out of politics, having had a very high-profile suicide attempt [Brogden resigned as leader after inappropriate behaviour at a drinks function was reported]. I wanted to take the opportunities I’d had, to use the profile I’d established and put it towards suicide prevention. In 2009, I joined the board of Lifeline and at my first board meeting ran for chairman. I got one vote – mine. They weren’t ready for my firebrand approach. I felt we needed to move quickly on issues like funding and the call-answer rate. Three years later, I was elected chairman unopposed. During COVID, the [crisis] calls were going through the roof and I thought, ‘Shit, we need more money and quickly.’ So I texted my friend [then NSW Premier] Gladys Berejiklian. She replied, ‘Don’t worry, John, we’ve just put $6 million aside for Lifeline.’ When you need government support, you want to have established relationships and be sure they understand what you do.”
Look beyond formal qualifications
2017-2022 CEO, Landcom
2012–2017 Chairman, UrbanGrowth NSW/Landcom
“One of the things I learnt as a CEO in my late 40s, early 50s, is when you’re employing somebody at a level of seniority, at a high salary, it’s not whether they can do the job – it’s all about culture and fit. All of a sudden you read a CV completely differently. The most telling questions I ask candidates are: ‘What mistakes have you made in your career, what have you learnt and how have you changed? And what would you do differently?’ How a candidate answers provides a very telling self-assessment of their culture and character. If they said they’d never made a mistake in their career, they didn’t get the job. Part of our direction from government at Landcom was providing affordable housing in Sydney. It’s my greatest career disappointment that I wasn’t able to do more. It’s a challenge that needs radical policy change.”
Avoid micromanaging
2015-2017 Managing director and CEO, Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD)
“When I arrived, the chair told me the organisation needed urgent internal transformation. My mistake was to become a micromanager to achieve this. When I realised that the staff didn’t share the assessment, I didn’t communicate the ‘why’ well enough. I broke all my rules. I moved too quickly and I didn’t bring people with me. I micromanaged as a way of trying to reform and it ended with me having a breakdown. I overdid it. When you’re a CEO or a leader, you need to tell people what the destination is, rather than, ‘I’d like you to do this, followed by that, followed by that.’ We ended up with the wrong outcomes and that was stressful. In roles that followed, I’ve tried to have better judgement to know when to trust, when to leave things alone and when to intervene.”
Not all advice is good advice
2006-2008 CEO, Manchester Unity Australia
“Manchester Unity was my first business CEO role and my first job after politics. I was aware that the last time many people had seen me was as a politician who’d tried to kill himself after a scandal. I was worried they might make a judgement that I couldn’t handle a high-pressure job. However, in the course of endless cups of coffee and lunches and dinners with people who I really respected and trusted, whose advice I sought after my suicide attempt, only one person said, ‘You won’t get a job.’ In one sense, I was happy for his frankness but it was devastating to my mental health. When I was approached [by Manchester Unity], I said, ‘I don’t know anything about health insurance.’ But they said, ‘We want a leader, not an expert.’ Getting that job was a transformative experience.”
Employ for your weaknesses
2002-2005 Leader of the Opposition, Parliament of NSW
“I challenged for the Opposition leadership in late March 2002, a year out from the NSW election, and I won by one vote on my 33rd birthday. I was the youngest person in my party room. I felt like I was walking on top of a sharp mountain on the edge of enormous self-confidence, self-belief and breathtaking arrogance. I look back now and think part of the reason I ran is that I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Would I have been a good premier? The enthusiasm would have been there. Did I have enough experience for some of the complexities of the job? Probably not. Would I have had the brains to surround myself with very competent people with skills? I think so. You employ to your own weaknesses. Nobody is perfect at everything. If you think you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”
To err is human
1989-1994 Ministerial adviser, NSW Government
“At 21, I was a staffer for the then minister for police, Ted Pickering, and part of my job was to decide which replies to letters from the public Ted needed to read before signing and which just needed his signature. A bloke who lived in Penrith [in Sydney’s outer west] wrote and asked, ‘Why is crime higher out here and why aren’t there more police?’ The department’s response basically read, ‘You live in a low-income area so you should expect to have high crime.’ I put it in the file to be signed and not read. It ended up on the front page of the Penrith newspaper. When Ted called me in, he calmly said, ‘John, I haven’t slept all week. I’ve been distraught. Please don’t do that again.’ That was it. No yelling, no sacking. What a lesson in leadership. I would die for that man.”
Trust is usually rewarded
1984-1989 Pizza boy, Marilynas Pizza and Pasta
“I had a job at Marilynas from the age of 15, when I was in Year 10 at high school. I had to take two buses from school to get there by 5pm on Fridays and I worked on Saturdays from midday until 2am. On the first night, the boss said to me, ‘Take a pizza home, eat as much as you want, drink as many drinks as you’d like.’ It was an extraordinary act of trust on the first shift that was instantly returned tenfold. Instead of rules about how much I could eat, just trust. I worked hard and was so proud of the money I earned – this was in the days of paper money and at a food joint it’s all scrunched up and a bit dirty – that I would come home at 2.30 in the morning, pen up the ironing board, iron the money flat and arrange all the notes in order of their denomination.”
If you or anyone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 (all 24/7).
Image credit: Jeremy Simons
