When I was young, maybe 7 or 8 years old, my dad and I used to go hiking up near the Coromandel, an area that is both beautiful but bears the scars of the 1870′s gold rush. Yet at the time it didn’t see it like this, the tunnels and discarded equipment in the middle of forest was a source of excitement and adventure for a small child. A few of the rivers and streams are still polluted from the mining, though fortunately there are many that escaped unscathed and our hikes usually ended in lunch and a swim in a nearby stream.
I seem to be doing so much recently, not that I mind being so busy, but at times it feels a lot like it did swimming in those streams; being pulled along swiftly by the current, little feet not always being able to touch the bottom. Most nights I’m not home to 7 or 8, in fact it seems like I’m never home these days, not that I mind that much as this flat is quite damp over winter.
My business is growing which is both exciting and daunting. I guess it’s the realisation that most business owners come to when they have to start hiring people. You’re no longer responsible for just yourself and as employer as have a obligation to help your staff grow and move forward in all areas of their lives, not just professionally. I like Richard Branson’s approach to business that you have to love what you do, in so you’ll hopefully create an environment where people enjoy working. In contrast to the television series The Office, which seems like so many companies I’ve worked at in the past.
At the moment I’m taking courses on management skills and building high performance teams, the non technical skills of running a business and an area that is all too often neglected. It looks like it’s going to be a long road ahead and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scarred. Nevertheless, this path seems right and who knows, the swimming hole at the end of it might be pretty good.
