eKourier July 2015

FEATURES

Children’s Ambassador Fairy Sparkle, for the last 25 years has been bringing happiness to sick kids all over Australia. Visiting their bedside in hospital and giving of her time to make their lives a little brighter. Along her journey Fairy also established ‘Fairy Gardens’ in several hospitals. Creating a sanctuary outside the ward, where patients and their families can go to relax, seek inspiration and interact as a ‘’normal’’ family. In 2014 Fairy received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for bringing sparkle to the lives of so many sick children. Recently Fairy visited KSSTeam Headquarters to thank Sam and the Team for their continued support with donated storage space at Camperdown. Fairy continues to build more ‘Fairy Gardens’ throughout Australia with no retirement in sight, as Fairy says this is a life long commitment and there is still much more to do... “I am a very real Fairy, waving my wand over everyone I meet, improving the Hospital experience for patients. Everything I do stems from simply wanting to visit the sickest patients, especially children. I bring smiles to sad faces, lift spirits that are sagging, inspire those that need it and sit with those in the depths of despair. If just my very presence brings a smile and warms a heart then I am indeed the very happiest Fairy.” Fairy Sparkle. Everybody Needs a Little Sparkle!

the ones I took away from the session:

1. Leadership – Leaders need to take the company forward and lead by example. 2. Right People – he uses the example of having the right people on the bus and in the right seats, without this the bus will not drive efficiently. 3. Hedgehog Concept – focusing on what you do best, cannot be the best at everything so focus on your core skills. 4. 20 Mile March – each day come to work and put in a full days effort. Don’t have easy days and hard days, a solid effort every day WILL deliver results. 5. Fire Bullets then Cannonballs – blend creativity and discipline. Don’t go in and try ideas without them being tested at some level. 6. Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) – have a large ambitious goal that everyone is working towards achieving, some vision for the future. 7. Return on Luck – make the most of good luck and in some cases bad luck. 8. Stop Doing List – what should we have on our stop doing list, stop doing the things that don’t generate value or achieve much. Looking at this list, they apply to work and ones everyday life. If we lead and have the right people around us, followed by focussing on what we do best, work hard every day, take some calculated risks all in line with a large vision and then stop doing what is not adding value – we will be GREAT!!! Anthony Rous Chief Financial Officer

I recently had the good fortune of attending a presentation by Jim Collins, Author of Good to Great and other best seller business books. The presentation was simple yet incredibly inspiring. I have noticed that in so many of these sessions, to achieve greatness is often quite “simple.” Jim has done years of research on many companies and his findings support his theories. Jim Collins – “Greatness is not a function of circumstances. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline”. Charles Darwin – “One does not survive by being the strongest or most intelligent, it is the one that is most responsive to change”. I HAVE NOTICED THAT IN SO MANY OF THESE SESSIONS, TO ACHIEVE GREATNESS IS OFTEN QUITE SIMPLE. • Superior Results – great return on capital and results as well as efficiency at delivering great results. • Distinctive Impact – if your business were not to exist, would it leave a hole in the community. • Lasting Endurance – a business should last a long period of time. Longer than an idea or a fad. Jim then has 12 Questions or ideals to make a company great. I am going to list ‘ ‘ Two great quotes I took away: Jim defines “great” with the following tests:

Above: One of Fairys many ‘Fairy Gardens’ Left: Sam Kennard with Fairy Sparkle at Kennards Self Storage Team Headquarters

7 Kennards Kourier July 2015