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Wishlist1Top style for less

Hispanitas, on sale for $150,down from $249.

Athena Shoes, Taradale.

2Feel greatDon’t be sheepish about

your underwear.

Icebreaker merino sports braand knickers — non-itchy andodour-resistant.Available from icebreaker,Emerson St, Napier

4Tick tockKeep time with this 60cm

Casablanca clock .

Black clock, Freedom Furniture,$149.

5Be my ValentineElizabeth Arden women’s

mini perfume set is the perfect gift.

$60 from The Warehouse.

3Strike a poseStandard photos can be transformed into

caricatures, pop art and vintage prints.

From $39 at Warehouse Stationery online,view the whole range of options atwsfotoart.co.nz

Copyright Agency certified copy

Hawkes Bay Weekend, Hawke's Bay07 Feb 2015

Indulge, page 3 - 578.00 cm²Provincial - circulation 20,840 (-----S-)

ID 369953297 BRIEF ICEBREAK(W INDEX 1.1 PAGE 1 of 1

When somethingdoesn’t go to plan

W edidn’t plan itlike this, but likethe other threebusiness leaderswe’ve covered inthisCareer15series, RobFyfe

never had a career plan. His advice?Don’t take a job just because it’s there,only take one you knowyou canbe thebest in.

Fyfe’s successwas earned the old-fashionedway, through hardwork and adeterminedly hands-onmanagementstylewhich paid asmuchattention to theworkers on the shopfloor as it did to thosein the boardroom.

Best knownasCEOofAir NewZealand until 2012 andnowCEOat the Icebreakermerino clothing label, hetells writerDianaClement: “People don’t want to hear you espouse amanagement theory you read in a book. Peoplewant to knowwho youreally are as a person andwhat you stand for.”

After some timeout of the public eye, one ofNewZealand’smostrespectedCEOs relishing his newchallengewith Icebreaker, which isgaining a strong following in Europe andNorthAmerica.

WeaskedFyfe to share lightbulbmoments fromhis career—andwhilewemaynot all have the opportunity to run a national airline, Fyfe’sworkethic and refreshingly jargon-free philosophy can turbo-charge any career.

With plenty of roles on offer, and the economic indicators good, 2015 isa great time to take the leap and look for newwork opportunities (in factthatmaybe the onlyway to secure that big salary increase aswediscoveronpage six).

Butwhen you land that new role, look out for yourworkplace’s unwrittenrules (page 10). The list was pennedbyAmericanwriter and entrepreneurBonnieMarcus andwouldn’t be as funny if it wasn’t so often true.■ Career15’s profiles ofClaudiaBatten, Lester LevyandAlastair

Carruthers areavailable onlineat nzherald.co.nz

Greg FlemingNZHerald careers editor


Weekend Herald, Auckland07 Feb 2015

Careers, page 3 - 203.00 cm²Metro - circulation 204,549 (-----S-)


Saturday, 7 Februry Issue No.3

Rob Fyfe'slightbulbmoments

Salary surveyWhy workers areleaving for a pay-rise

nwritten rules inthe workplace



Careers, page 1 - 2,595.00 cm²Metro - circulation 204,549 (-----S-)


Out ofhe dark,

In the final of our series,Rob Fyfe tells Diana Clementwhy it's a good idea not to havea career plan.

ob Fyfe is a man whose-career successes arelegend. He's the chiefexecutive who turnedaround Air New Zealand'sfortunes around; now he'sthe driving force behind

Icebreaker, the Kiwi merino clothing successstory.

Ifyou had asked Fyfe early in his workinglife if he would ever cry on national tele-vision, he would have said, categorically,"No". But the ability and willingness to showhis emotions grew as his career did.

Asked what got him to being New Zea-land's best-respected CEO, Fyfe selectsunderstanding what motivates him and whathe's really good at.

"From a really young age I was always areally inquisitive person. I was that kid whotook the toaster to bits, put it back togetheragain, and had a few parts left over."

At university he studied engineeringbecause he had a real interest in problem-solving.

Fyfe's management style is famouslyhands-on and personal. Some of that stemsfrom the fact that he is "an atrocious reader"and hasn't digested the management booksthat most CEOs in his position have.

"(The lack of reading) forced me to adaptmy style. I do a lot of verbal and face-to-face.People don't want to hear you espouse amanagement theory you read in a book.People actually want to know who you reallyare as a person and what you stand for."

He found early on that people didn't wantthe nicely crafted corporate view. The morehonest he was in his emotions, the moreeffective he was at getting people onside, atgetting them to want to achieve.

On the surface Fyfe's life as a CEO seems

charmed. He has, however, faced adversityand from it has come lightbulb moments.

The most public low point was the AirNew Zealand A32O crash at Perpignan inFrance in 2008, which was played out acrossour TV screens. Another that Kiwis won'tnecessarily remember because it happenedin the UK was ITV Digital going to the wallwhile Fyfe was at the helm.

The brightest lightbulb moment of Fyfe'scareer came two weeks into his role asCEO for Air New Zealand. He

announced the airline's heavy engin-eering facilities were to be shut

down, which put 1000 jobs atrisk. A key pillar of his man-

lightbulb moments





CRREER©

'People don't want tohear a managementtheory you read in abook. People want toknow who you reallyare and what youstand for.'

PICTURE: Ted Baghurst





agement style emerged from theensuing storm.

After an intense couple ofweeks of media attentionand "some very spiritedpositioning" from

unions and employees, Fyfe de-cided to head out to the engineer-ing base at Auckland Airport oneevening to see what the mood waslike.

"Several of my colleagues toldme I was nuts. There was no needto go out on the hangar floor tounderstand what the mood was,which they described as aggressiveand volatile."

Fyfe arrived unannounced atthe main hangar and walked up to agroup of engineers working on anaircraft.

"Within seconds I was sur-rounded by around 30 engineers,who were right in my face harangu-ing me, calling me a 'callous bas-tard' and 'prick' for putting theircareers and livelihood at risk.

"We had a sporty interchange ofviews as I explained that if I failedto address the unprofitable engin-eering business, I would be puttingmany more jobs in jeopardy."

When Fyfe move off to talk tosome of the other engineers, theringleader of the group said: "Rob,I don't respect the decision you'vemade, but I do respect the fact youhave fronted up to us here on thehangar floor tonight."

Fyfe learned that night that nomatter how bad the news, howdifficult the situation, that trans-parency, honesty and courage inbeing straightforward and inclus-ive with employees pays hugedividends.

"In the end we solved that dis-pute, with employees agreeing to arange of changes that allowed us toretain our engineering in Aucklandand win a lot of new business fromairlines like Hawaiian Airlines.

"From that day on, every monthI went and spent a full day working

around the business in variousroles from toilet cleaner to check-inagent, flight attendant to engineer-ing assistant, baggage handler tocall centre agent.

"My goal was to show respect toemployees across the business, tolearn about the various rolesrequired to make the businesswork, to share ideas, uncoverinnovations and improvement

opportunities and share thechallenges and opportunitiesfacing the business."

Air New Zealand's engineersended up being some of Fyfe'sstrongest supporters after the2008 Perpignan crash. Three of theNew Zealanders who died wereengineers. It was, Fyfe believes, thefact that he dealt with the tragedyso honestly and showed that hecared passionately about them thatsuch a strong bond was created.

Perpignan and ITV Digitalwere huge learningexperiences for Fyfe. ITVDigital gave him lightbulb

moments almost as important asthe engineering dispute.

The business was struggling

when Fyfe was brought in. He wasunable to turn it around. "At a per-sonal level I found that really chal-lenging because I had set goals."

On reflection he learned fromthe experience that hard decisionsneed to be taken quickly or morejobs were put at risk. That is why heacted so decisively at Air NewZealand.

In true British fashion Fyfe andthe employees went to the pub thenight he informed 500 staff they nolonger had jobs. There he learnedanother lesson. A number of stafftold him that had they known whatwould happen, they still wouldhave taken the job because of thejourney they'd been on.

"I learned not to be afraid to gointo something that is high-risk.

Even if it doesn't succeed you havegained a lot from the experience. Ihave reflected on that many, manytimes."

The second lightbulb momentthat emerged from the wreck ofITV Digital was that you can neveroffer someone a job for life. Insteadhe offers an environment to helpeach individual reach his or herpotential.

"It is in everyone's best interestthat (an employee) is growing,learning, and feeling like (they) canmake a difference."

Standard career advice is tohave a career plan. Fyfe never has."I never thought: 'I want to be aCEO'," he says.

His moves were based on thenext challenge and to be the best he

could possibly be at everything hedid - a value established by hisparents.

H is advice to others? Don'ttake a job that you can'tbe the best at. In his 30sFyfe turned down a pres-

tigious promotion at the NationalAustralia Bank because the job waseverything he wasn't good at. Hedidn't want to do it as a stepping-stone to show on his CV.

The bank's CEO, Don Argus, hadnever been turned down before.He didn't talk to his employee forabout six months.

Fyfe was eventually promotedto global head of marketing anddistribution, a role for which hewas much better suited.





No matter how bad the news, how difficult thesituation, transparency, honesty and courage inbeing straightforward and inclusive withemployees pays huge dividends.Rob Fyfe on lessons learned from Air New Zealand'sengineering layoffs and the Perpignan tragedy

Dressed for success: Fyfe and Jeremy Moon, Icebreaker founder.





i ' i v ' • > v i •' . ' - . . ' ' . - ; '•' , - . •• " ' : ' ' "





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