Name: Peter Wilkinson

Title: Director

Organisation: SamWilko Advisory

I help average businesses in Engineering and Construction become exceptional companies that can manage growth without blowing up. More about this on www.tippingpointadvisory.com.au.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Peter's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

Creating common Leadership language "on site" and in "head office"

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

My career began as a Degree Mechanical Engineer in Railways in Engineering & Construction, and based on my knowledge of the industry and education (MBA), progressed through Consulting, Senior Line Management roles, and now Business Coaching & Board Roles

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

My secret is starting early (5 AM) and making good use of that time to get the important things done for the day. I don't worry too much about the rest of the day (allows flexibility, reducing stress), and I definitely avoid pushing on into the evening if I can - classic morning person!

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

The importance of just showing up and being prepared to carefully and patiently listen - it's a skill that one can't practice enough!

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so

far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

I read Steven Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People a long time ago on holiday in one sitting - can't remember where. It inspired me to get my $&** together, the first step to being an effective manager.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Being an effective leader requires compromise and takes an emotional toll. Self-awareness is key to making the decision if this is what you want and, if so, when you want it.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far? I learnt there's more than one way to be a leader when I had an opportunity to observe at close quarters the interactions between a CEO (a psychologist) and an Operations Manager (very experienced in the industry and a very good people manager). The Operations Manager would go to the Psychologist regularly for answers and would regularly return with smoke coming out of his ears with the answer, "Well, what do you think?"

More often than not, he would then fix his problem once he'd calmed down. Eventually, our Operations Manager twigged to the process, and out of that came respect for the boss.