KEY POINTS:
"I had rules. I was tough.
"I worked under George Hickton at the Department of Social Welfare. He was a transformational leader, and I was his right-hand person. The systems were poor, with a 60 per cent error rate. George revolutionised us. He was a dream boss. He bought
out the best in me.
"We became recognised around the world. We focused on results. When I took over the Northern region it went from the bottom of the pile in 10 months to leading the other regions. I was being groomed for public service - State Services Commissioner. I thought that was my life.
"Then the Government changed and it all turned to custard. I was demonised by a small number of Labour Government officials and we ended up in court. It was horrendous.
"We weren't scared of failure. George Hickton used to say that you can't really get anything wrong, you just keep changing your strategy until you get it right. The worst case is that you have to do it over again. When the Labour government came in, my fear of failure should have clicked in, but it didn't.
"We need a leadership school, set up as a private company. This country needs more courageous leaders. Except for our own five or six transformational leaders, many come from overseas. We need absolute determination. I fight on social issues - child abuse, the therapeutic bill, the Anti-democracy bill. Why would we give away one tiny slice of our freedom?
"Great leaders? Richard Branson. Tim Shadbolt, who transformed Invercargill. George Hickton. Paul Holmes is doing it in a different way. He loves the underdog, goes out and champions things, affects the attitudes and opinions of the nation. Bruce Plested, the inspirational executive chairman of the Mainfreight group. He calls his long serving staff his family. He nurtures them and they are loyal. Diane Foreman, who was a receptionist and has risen to the top of her game. She never stops working.
"MBAs are useless when it comes to transformational leadership. It's all about EQ. It is the inspiring and motivating of people to achieve outcomes that they did not dream were possible.
"I hate political correctness, and I want issues to be discussed openly. The biggest reaction I get is people telling me I say things that people think, but that they don't have the courage to talk about.
"I don't believe that success and being rich is evil. As a country we don't support achievement, but as people we do all have the right to win. We should be helping and supporting each other in New Zealand. People around the world envy us if we got this right
"I haven't always got my own way. My CEO after George Hickton introduced a commercial board. It was the first of its kind in the public services. At first I hated it, but the board members - people like the chairman of the Stock Exchange - became my greatest assets.
"Just before I was appointed CEO they wrote a book about Income Support, and said that my organisation was as good as, if not better than, any other commercial company that they worked with.
"I used to be terrified, but I have developed courage and my children have learned it too.
"You don't win every time. You need the courage to lose some battles and choose which to win.
"I have that little voice in my head, but I've trained it to be positive. The voice says 'you can't do it', but I say, 'You watch', and I do it. But it must be something I truly want to do.
"All of us lose the plot sometimes, when we just can't be bothered. But I'm self-employed, I don't have a partner and I have a big mortgage, so I'm driven to perform well. It's about attitude and planning. This feeds everything.
"You can have passion and drive, but without planning you are dead. I have a consultancy with my son Matt, and every time we put leadership teams through their paces they usually miss the planning bit, and then ask: what's our strategy? How do we push forward? These are questions people must ask at the start.
"The other day I went into the Team McMillan BMW shop, and pointed out a car. I said, 'This is it. It's on my vision board, and one way or another I will get that car'.
"They were thinking, 'this is it?' The way I was carrying on, they thought I was going to buy one then and there. I had already bought it in my mind.
"I write my goals down. I have vision boards - some people call it twee, but it works for me.
"You need a clear vision in your head. I revise my goals regularly. I keep a little journal next to my bed.
"Measurement is very important. If you set yourself a goal, measure the hell out of it, and it will get done. If you don't do it you won't achieve.
"I have learned the hard way that it's fatal to work from 6am to 7pm. I was quite ill in 2006. I have zillions of things on my plate, and I get off on it, but I am careful to manage my state. At night, I watch my favourite TV programmes and read, and I like to cook. My grandchildren are a huge part of my life, and I try to see them every day. We have little rituals. Every Saturday we go for breakfast at the same place. I play with my grandchildren as I never did with my children - we get down on the floor and play hide-and-seek.
"I look back and regret the times I was working intensively and wasn't there for my boys. Joshua was in hospital once as an eight-year-old, and my father was there in my place when he woke up. Joshua was fine with that, but I'm not. I missed Matt's graduation from the Territorials because I was having a big week at work.
"I worry about New Zealand men. I went through the feminist movement. Today's women in their 20s and early 30s have it easier. They expect too much of their men, and take things for granted.
"If you look at many family breakdowns, it's often because of men's confusion about their role. I believe women become wise at 50. Young women need to be sensible about what they expect. Men are supposed to earn big bucks, be macho and still be in touch with their feminine side. It's too difficult.
"People give up too easily in relationships. I did. I asserted myself: 'I will not do this and that'. It's the one precious thing that you can give a child - a mum and dad that love each other. It's hard but it's achievable.
"Relationships are hard enough to maintain, and you have to put time into them. What are we doing to our people? If people are working from 6am to 7pm then something is wrong.
"Get rid of negative people. Cut them out of your life. I have done it, and sometimes it's painful. Sometimes you miss them, but I always say enthusiasm is contagious, and so is the lack of it. I surround myself with people who can lift me up, and I feed off them. You need support from people around you, whether it's a professional or family or friends. It gives you courage. They can challenge and support you. I need to be passionate about what I'm doing, and I need the high of achievement.
"There are mind coaches, but if you can't use a coach, form a group who can help you, without namby-pamby people who will hold you back! I have a group like this.
"Before I die, I want to have some effect on leadership in this country. If I can come from my background and have achieved what I have, anyone can do it. There is a little flame inside everyone, and sometimes it's been partially lit, but we've have never had the bushfire and we're waiting for someone to light it. We all need to find what we are passionate about. If you find it, you will succeed.
"I had a ghastly childhood. I lacked confidence, and when I started in the public service I used to shout 'I'm OK, you're OK!' as I was driving.
"Life's fantastic! I don't have loads of money, but I have my family and I live in a beautiful country. I'm not happy every day, but I work on capturing that feeling.
"You have to keep looking for the next thing."
In our next blog we interview John Banks who shows us his own brand of goalgetting.
Goalgetting Tips for today
* Surround yourself with people who inspire you and get rid of people with negative energy.
* Start with the end in mind. Visualise having already achieved your goal - then work backwards on what you need to do to get there.
* Don't give up. Be willing to start fresh each and every day, bouncing back from setbacks.
Dwayne Alexander, our goal guru is founder of livemygoals.com the social network for goalgetters.
