Almost seven months since the last entry. My apologies to anyone who follows this blog and expected regular entries! The title of this post gives some explanation for my absence. The past few months have been challenging for many reasons including time allocation, and unfortunately, keeping up the blog has been one of the things to lapse, along with time for social coffees!

My role as chairman of the board has continued apace, with plenty of change management issues arising both around the board table and within the business. It really has been a lesson in the effectiveness of a collaborative approach. While each new issue arose through a phone call or email to me, it has been satisfying that the resolution has always been arrived at through working with others around the table, sharing ideas and having the opportunity to offer alternative ideas. Influence and persuasion are key skills, but one can’t use persuasion without reason, listening to and acknowledging others’ concerns and, where possible, finding ways to accommodate other points of view.

The not-for-profit board role that I continue to have a passion for, have also continued with their usual ebbs and flows – nothing for a period and then a surge. Similarly, my corporate consulting practice has had its moments of intensity. At the same time, I have started to seek to establish networks for my Asian sojourn. The Asialink Leaders Program has provided insights, knowledge and perspectives that have challenged my own perceptions. This was why I undertook the course, so the learnings are welcome as are the opportunities to meet other people engaged in building working relationships with people and organisations throughout Asia.

I have also visited Singapore a few times and begun the “coffee networking” process there. People have been welcoming and positive and I am grateful to those who have willingly introduced me to others. The ‘six degrees of separation’ adage has proved to be even closer at times, and there will many connections to be made. How many will eventually lead to the growth in my non-executive director portfolio is yet to be seen, but I will persist.

While all this continues, the realities of domestic life have had to be dealt with. Three children (one living away from home at university, one in her final year at school with a load of extra-curricular activities as well, and one dealing with the prospect of moving schools and countries at the end of the year) require time and focus. At the other end of the age spectrum are parents with significant health issues: hospitals, specialists, care at home – all to be dealt with. Not to mention the process of planning an international move, selling the family home and so on.

It has been a juggling process and I am grateful to not have had a full-time role but rather the flexibility to be able to manage – provided I don’t count on much sleep! However, I have found an appreciation for the sentiments expressed in Anne-Marie Slaughter’s new book “Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family”. You may recall that she was a director in the US State Department who left her job to spend more time with her two teenage sons. In her new book, she notes “we often cannot control the fate or our career and family”. She goes on to say that the one of the reasons women struggle in the workplace is a systematic imbalance in the esteem granted to “two complementary human drives: competition, the impulse to purse our self-interest in a world in which others are pursuing theirs, and care, the impulse to put other first.” There will always be times that the drive to care will override the drive to compete – but companies must be able to develop policies that accommodate this. There does seem to be a start in Australian business, particularly encouraged by the Male Champions of Change process, but there’s a long way to go.

Nevertheless, the 1000 coffees process has continued and I am back on track – focusing on the changes that lie ahead as well as reflecting on the lessons learned from the roles that now approach their conclusion. Hopefully I will be able to share some of the outputs.

Coffee count: 385