The wet suit
The first washable suit by BOSS heralds a new era of ease for jetsetters who want to look sharp and save time.
For frequent travellers, the ideal wardrobe is versatile, lowmaintenance and stylish. A suit always looks smart but the regular drycleaning can be a chore. The new washable suits from BOSS do away with the hassle by combining the brand’s signature sharp look with innovative material designed to go into the washing machine. The secret is a high-twist yarn that stops water penetrating and shrinking the material so you can put it in the wash and it’ll be ready soon after – no need to factor in drop-off and pick-up time at the drycleaners. The suit’s softer structure means it can also be easily folded into carry-on luggage, making this an attractive travel companion. When you arrive, simply give it a light iron. Available in three wool-based fabrics, including 100 per cent virgin wool, the jacket and pants are sold separately so you can mix and match for multiple looks.
the same competencies and capabilities. It came down to how they would fit in, how they would play their role and how they could add value to our culture. We have lots of dominant, driven people at the executive level in our organisation – we’re probably a little unbalanced – so the question for us was: how do we balance that out but not put someone in place where everyone around them is moving too fast? It’s about getting the right mix of people who can [enhance] the culture.
You’ve got to have a team of people who look out for one another rather than blame one another when things go wrong. That’s hard to find, right, Kevin?
KS: It’s very difficult. In AFL, you don’t get to pick the best team because you’re doing it in drafting. It’s not like the Test team [in cricket] or the Olympic team, where you can choose the best. In AFL, you get one pick of the talent every 18th pick! So you must have great people around who can ensure each individual’s talents come to the fore. That’s what coaching is: a wonderful off-the-field team that makes sure these young people have a chance.
When a team or group is struggling, how do you motivate them?
KP: It’s about making sure that people can be part of the story. With the Australian Diamonds [national netball team], we had a team that absolutely believed it could win. Individually, they might not have been the best but together they believed they were unbeatable. We asked every single person who was involved in the sport to believe that, too. The feeling was we’re going to own this collectively. That belief meant it didn’t matter what the score was; we always believed the Diamonds could win, even if they were 20 goals down. That was the strength of the team: it had power collectively.
We’ve talked a lot about success but I’m curious to know what you’ve learnt from failure.
IT: It’s one of the best lessons because it’s learning about who you are and then being able to adjust. After a race, whether it had gone well or poorly, I’d look at the biomechanics, at where my stroke was and at the good and the bad things and then reassess what I could do the following day. There were things I may have needed to work on in training but not in the competition. We can reflect on performance in business from day to day, still have KPIs in mind of what we want to achieve, but it’s better if you’re able to park your performance and say, “You know what? I was six out of 10 today. I was good but I could do better tomorrow,” and then work on that. That’s what we do in [sports] training and that’s what I think the business world could do, too.