Why this CEO packs five days’ worth of work into four days

Do you have more than one cup a day?

Inevitably there will be lots of meetings. There’ll be potentially breakfast meetings, lunch meetings, afternoon tea meetings and inevitably coffee comes with the territory at external meetings. I could get to the end of the day and have had three or four, maybe sometimes five coffees.

What do you have for breakfast?

I will have a muffin. I lived and worked in America for about eight years and I got used to pastries in the morning. A blueberry muffin is the go-to.

So you’re a routine guy?

Absolutely. Having a routine allows me to be thinking about work, or other issues, because I’m not thinking about what I am going to do this morning, what coffee I’m going to have, what I am going to eat.

Do you do a lot of business breakfasts?

I do a few. I find sometimes they are good for internal conversations. I say to somebody, ‘let’s go and have breakfast and let’s talk about something outside of the office.’

Being in Sydney four days a week, I try to put five days’ worth of Sydney work into four days. So I am very much trying to plan the week and maximise the amount of connection with the team.

Externally, there are engagements most nights, if not every night. I want it to be that way.

You need to have a very understanding family, especially a wife who looks after the house and the dogs and our daughter, not necessarily in that order, while I’m away.

Which flight do you normally get out of Brisbane on a Monday?

If there’s the opportunity to come a little bit later, I will, [like] an opportunity to take my daughter to school on the way to the airport. I relish that sort of opportunity.

But inevitably there might be meetings early [in Sydney]. That means you’re catching that 6am flight. Daylight savings doesn’t help. It means you’re catching the 5.30am flight, or a 5 o’clock flight to get here.

As part of the routine, it’s one suit for the week and three shirts. You’re wearing one on a Monday, so it’s three shirts. That’s all you need. A change of underwear and away you go.

So on a Thursday night do you fly at a reasonable hour?

Sometimes you can get home at a reasonable hour. Most of the time it’s later. I leave here after a full day. Daylight saving the other way helps, but you’re still getting home at about 9 o’clock, sometimes 10 o’clock.

But living in Brisbane and working in Sydney is a choice you have made.

We have lived all around the world. We came back [to Australia] and lived in Sydney, but as our daughter was about to start school, we decided that we wanted her to go to school in Queensland and for us to be around family and friends.

It was a conscious choice. I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but you look to maximise the time away and then maximise the time at home. You try to be as present as you can when you’re at home. You’re sneaking in a few emails here and there, and a few calls, but trying to be as present as you can.

How do remain calm during stressful periods?

I think having been in this industry, and this company for over 34 years, you see lots of things and you deal with lots of issues. It’s amazing how a lot of issues resurface in a different way. You’re used to dealing with time pressures, dealing with things that don’t go the way you plan.

Winning jobs, losing jobs, dealing with what comes out in the press. I feel like I’ve got the experience, and I’ve been through many situations. Your role is to remain calm and provide a clear direction and make decisions as things occur and give confidence to the team.