Craig Hudson
Craig Hudson, a former New Zealand sevens rugby representative, leads Xero’s New Zealand operations. Following the accounting software company’s move away from the New Zealand stock exchange to list on Australia’s, Hudson has a big year ahead of him. The business should be expanding, and this is his second year as Xero’s country manager: While 2017 has probably been my busiest year yet – moving myself and my family back to New Zealand from the other side of the world to change roles at Xero has been huge, but I can already see 2018 is going to be full of challenges and opportunities. There are five areas I want you to focus on. When it comes to work, start by broadening your horizons. This includes approaching problems and opportunities in a different way, listening to others’ ideas and accepting things when they don’t go to plan. Take the time to build relationships. This includes networking – as a natural introvert I find this really hard but it is vital for growth both personally and in business. Slow down and pay more attention to yourself to help solve big problems. Invest in your team and give them what they need to achieve their goals. On reflection, the best thing you can do is just get out of their way. Allow yourself better work/ life balance. You will regret not going to that school event but you will never remember the meeting that ran over time. Yours sincerely, Craig Hudson