Welcome to VogelPercy e-news , a quarterly report featuring extraordinary leadership of VogelPercy clients who are producing world class business achievements.

Today’s chief executives are constantly under pressure to perform – particularly for shareholders – and this short-term approach is not always ideal for the company or for the executives themselves.

Michael Roux has a simple but overwhelmingly sensible message for today’s managers: remember to stop and think about what it is you want as a person. “Most people get too busy to do this,” Michael says. “It takes an effort to think about yourself as a human being, but it’s so important.”

Michael was one of Victoria’s most senior public servants before he stepped down in 1995 to join the private sector. He was the head of the government’s Office of State-Owned Enterprises, and oversaw the restructuring of the electricity industry, the sale of part of the Gas and Fuel Corporation, the float of Tabcorp, and major reforms in areas such as the water industry and Victoria’s ports.

This experience has led the way into his now many domestic and international roles which include senior adviser for the World Economic Forum and adviser to the President of Rwanda on economic development.

Michael attributes his deep understanding of the challenges today’s leaders face, to his early appointment, at the age of 30, to the head of a government department.

The challenge for any leader, he says, is knowing what you can achieve. “Leadership involves trust,” he says. “It’s about having a mission and aiming for it, and being genuine so that people believe in you and then share your goals, so they work with you and not against you.”

Michael says some people will use the weight of their office to lead their team but this only works in the short term. “Being genuine is the safest approach to take if you want to achieve success,” he says. “You can put on a mask but it doesn’t win you support in the end, certainly not from the team you are trying to lead.”

Michael has worked with VogelPercy who he says share similar philosophies about what makes effective leaders.

“VogelPercy specialise in working with CEOs and their executive teams to help them overcome the challenges they face every day in business,” he says. “They've been in the business a long time and their results come from being able to help people identify the blocks to their potential and effectiveness.

Michael says often people don’t take the time to sit down and think about what’s important to them, and they need someone to step in and show them that they do have options. VogelPercy maximise opportunities rather than dwell on problems.

“Often, for example, people get trapped in their jobs because of their financial commitments and feel they have to stay,” he says. They receive good pay but they don’t get any sustenance. But there may be many options available to them that will help them find the motivation again to enjoy what they’re doing, or to move on, if that’s the best solution.”

He adds that in Australia people are encouraged to live too much in the future. “You can see it with the emphasis we put on things like ensuring our super is sorted out,” he says. “That’s important but we also need to be aware of the present. It takes an effort to stop and think about what you want personally from life but it will give you more satisfaction if you can.”

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Interview by Gayle Bryant | Illustration by Irene Salmont © 2006
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