OUR BRILLIANT CAREERS
HUGH MINSON AND JACK MORPHET TALKED WITH 10 GREAT AUSTRALIANS TO FIND OUT THE COMMON DENOMINATORS OF THEIR SUCCESS
What do horse trainer Gai Waterhouse and grand slam-winning tennis player Pat Rafter have in common? What traits do former judge Michael Kirby and revolutionary feminist Germaine Greer share? And can we learn anything from the stories of pioneers such as burns surgeon Dr Fiona Wood or adventure documentary filmmaker Alby Mangels?
In a series of interviews on YouTube, called The Thread, we pieced together the key factors that each identified as contributing to their success.
Some seemed paradoxical, such as having support but being independent, or uncontrollable, such as being in the right place at the right time.
But backing yourself and not succumbing to the doubts of others, learning resilience and taking opportunities when they presented themselves were consistently important.
Professor Kevin Lowe, from the University of Sydney’s Business School, says: “Preparation comes in lots of different forms. For some people, it’s just mental rehearsal over and over in their minds. Some of it is pushing yourself to think differently.
“I think it’s the people who had the mindset that the failure is just one iteration of the experiment versus failure as the endgame that really describes what we often call resilience.”
SUPPORTIVE PARENTS
Having parents who are supportive but not obsessive and let you take risks was a common thread. Gai Waterhouse, says: “I was determined not to fail. Not because I wanted to make money or be a success – I didn’t want to disappoint Dad. And that’s another thing that I think drives people forward — a passion. Like my love for my father. I just wanted to show him so much. That’s all that drove me forward.”
DRIVE
Work harder than your peers on the things you’re good at and passionate about. Gerry Harvey says: “I think you just get up every day, do the best you can, and go to bed at night and say, ‘I gave it my best shot’. I’ve got to recognise if that day comes where they’re doing it and I’m not, that is the day I’ve got to go.”
OVERCOME PREJUDICE
Refuse baseless criticism and prove naysayers wrong. Dr Fiona Wood says: “I learnt very early on that negative energy is a black hole and if you want to waste yours, go jump in it. So I just absolutely don’t engage in that kind of totally useless one-sided negative criticism. ‘You can’t be a surgeon.’ Oh, why’s that? ‘You’re a woman.’ I remember saying: ‘I’m really good at embroidery, doesn’t that help?’”
LUCK
Working hard, creating opportunities for themselves and then acting on them was important. Former High Court of Australia Justice Michael Kirby says: “You seize the day, but you’ve got to have the luck to get the day and to get the chances to seize.”
FAILURE
It was the way the interviewees reacted to failure that allowed them to break away from the pack. The late entrepreneur Alan Bond told us: “Because it hasn’t worked doesn’t mean that you necessarily have failed. It may have been too early for the market, couldn’t get penetration, didn’t have enough capital, and you regroup all of those things and then you can move it on with that benefit of that experience.”
SUPPORT
Surround yourself with supporters. The people who had reached the top did it with the help of others. They were good at attracting others around them. As solo sailor Jessica Watson explains: “There were people offering to help throughout the whole journey and I realised somewhere along those lines, it was because they were able to share the journey, share that part of the dream and it became their voyage as well. So I think being able to share the vision with people is absolutely critical.”
MOTIVATION
Have a reason for seeking out the hardest challenges. Everyone we met had something that pulled them out of bed in the morning. Former Australian of the Year, investment banker and philanthropist Simon McKeon says: “I am like everybody else – I like watching a good AFL footy match, I like sailing, I like having a good time. But if that’s my entire life, I actually start feeling a bit unfulfilled, a bit as if something’s missing.”
CHILDHOOD
Having a childhood shaped by independence and discovery was common. Alby Mangels, who was estranged from his father and lost his mother at a young age, suggested the independence that gave him was one of the best things that happened in his life. He says: “I was free to make lots of mistakes and that was good!”
SELF-BELIEF
Challenge the status quo and have courage in your convictions. Germaine Greer says: “I think you have to listen to your own voice. You’ve just got to hold steady; keep to the course. You’ve no choice but to follow, really, otherwise you will be buffeted by every contrary current and you really can’t be that thing.”
SELF-PROMOTION
Everyone we met understood how to use the media. As former world No. 1 tennis star Pat Rafter puts it: “There were one or two occasions where I had to work at it – making sure if there is negative publicity, trying not to be too hard on that person. Once you’ve got the media on your side it’s very hard for them to write a negative article about you because everyone will bag that person. So I try to be honest.” The Thread is on YouTube
I was determined not to fail. Not because I wanted to make money or be a success — I didn’t want to disappoint Dad
Gai Waterhouse