Partner Story: Nick Randall
Personal History and Background:
Born in Worcester England four years after the war.
Migrated to Australia when I was just becoming 18. Threatened by call up for Vietnam. Couldn’t understand the point of the war even at that stage so went to university to become a teacher. Best choice of my life taught at Condobolin SHS in NSW. Carnarvon SHS WA, and Balga SHS.
Teaching is a never-ending series of coaching and facilitation of sometimes-reluctant students. To me successful teaching is based on relationships, and it is the relationships that make teaching such a satisfying career as you watch and help students develop into great people. This means for me, doing activities with the students after school. In both the rural towns of Condobolin and Carnarvon I felt empathy for the indigenous students because of the way they were treated. In those days if I closed my eyes I felt I was in the apartheid regime of South Africa.
So in Carnarvon while being a full time teacher I was fortunate (along with some indigenous colleagues) to be given the opportunity to be a peer group leader for adolescents at risk. Every second weekend we would go out into the bush where I often had to rely on the student participants to tell me the way home! Over a two-year period we reduced the crime rate by 75 per cent. All in all I have had such a marvelous life in Australia, which I personally believe to be a fantastic country.
What are a couple of unforgettable moments in your career?
A Couple of unforgettable moments as an educator have been the results of those early days of teaching. For instance 20 years later after the Carnarvon stint I was walking through Perth and a an aboriginal man came rushing out of this coffee shop and rushed at me. I thought I was going to be attacked, but it was one of those boys at risk who was now a man in his mid thirties. He took me inside insisted on buying me a coffee and told me that he was married, had been working in Kalgoolie, had two kids and now had a better job in Perth. I felt inspired that I had contributed in some way. Another time a boy originally from war torn Iraq sent me a face book message. I had coached him in volleyball and he was now a doctor with a family and in his words living the dream. He just wanted me to know how much being in the volleyball team had helped him cope with the past.
How do you adapt your [coaching/facilitation] techniques to resonate with diverse personalities or groups in the workplace?
Personal approach to Leadership development coaching and facilitation is to be as practical as I can be. Obviously some theory but with lots of skill work to link the theory to the behavior so there is no action gap but also lots of fun. Its important to read the room and the engagement of participants.
Learning & Growth: How do you stay inspired and continuously improve your own knowledge
I always rewrite my programs no matter if I have done them before. In this way I get to mull over new concepts and different ways of getting across the message. I believe that facilitating leadership courses helps me develop ongoing wisdom, (though my wife may disagree at times!)
Dream Leadership Program: If you were to design a leadership program from scratch, what’s one non-negotiable activity or exercise you’d include?
Collaborative negotiations and the efficiency and effectiveness of meetings. No one gets taught how to collaborate and very few of us get taught how to run meetings. In both cases they are major drivers of any organisation. It is just assumed that we automatically know how. Just sitting through badly run meetings convinces me that we don’t!
What are some organisational Bad Habits?
Allowing ego and politics to creep into the team agenda. It only takes one person to initiate it and the culture starts to become toxic. The leader has to set the example and ensure that honesty and transparency are foremost. Towards the end of my lecturing, I saw a great culture change to become what I thought was toxic. In cases like this everyone suffers especially the instigators.