President's Update - April 2022

From the President

CONNECTIONS

I have just come back from EO Ignite and witnessed firsthand the power of connections. It was great to see our EO Melbourne Chapter members making connections with other Chapters and expanding their outreach. Spending time developing relationships with like-minded entrepreneurs felt like nourishment of the soul. I found myself sharing my darkest moments and walking away with a new perspective on the challenges ahead. As the EO Global community opens up and more event opportunities present themselves, I encourage all of you to build up your connections.

Member Focus Series: Michael Lattouf

Michael Lattouf is the Managing Director of Mikado Group. Michael has over 15 years of experience in senior and executive roles in Infrastructure, Railway Signalling and Telecommunication project planning and delivery in both the public and private sectors. He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow, and EngExec and also holds a business degree majoring in financial management encompassing both technical and commercial expertise.

Data vs gut-feel in decision-making

When do you use data and when do you rely on instincts in making business decisions?

Decision-making is important in every business and organisation. It is crucial in finding short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions to problems or plans that need to materialise.

Mentorship: it’s a two-way learning

It was a first-time for both mentee Laiken Kerr Clarke, Director at Medisound, and mentor Catherine Duncan, COO at Matthews Steer Accountants & Advisers, to take part in EO Melbourne’s Mentorship Program and both found it enjoyable. Plus, they found the program nicely structured, which allowed them to go through their objectives for this mentorship journey.

President's Update - March 2022

From the President

BE CURIOUS

Firstly, let me say that it is awesome to once again attend events in person. We have had a great start to the year with a great lineup of events, having attended the Australian Open, which was an amazing experience to connect with members whilst enjoying Melbourne at its finest. I have also enjoyed the presentation with Ecopsychologist Mark Mathieson as well as our member dine-around, which have become a new EO Melbourne tradition and a highly popular event of the chapter. I am also thrilled with the members' interest in this year’s Grand Prix. It will be a great day sharing stories and getting to know everyone on a deeper level. One thing EO does better than most organisations is “scale-up trust”. It always amazes me what a safe environment EO is for sharing and diving deep into any topic.

Strengthening your 2iC as a way of strengthening your business

One of the long-term goals of many business owners is for them to, later on, be more focused ON the business rather than be IN the business. This means that they evolve from doing job execution and daily operations to heavily leaning towards setting strategic directions and vision achievement of the company. To do so, entrepreneurs have to free certain space on their plate so that they can concentrate on growing their business. This is where having an effective 2iC becomes helpful.

The beauty of mentorship: having someone focused on your growth

The EO Mentorship Program runs for 12 months where mentors and mentees have regular monthly catch-ups, which usually last for only an hour or more. But for mentees like Jeni Clift, Owner and Co-founder of Otto, those regular conversations with her mentor, Anthony Closter, Director at Urban Land Developments, were precious to her.

Managing conflicts within your business

Disagreements, miscommunications and misunderstandings are never absent in any organisation, even in business teams. There will always be varying opinions and work styles because each individual is different and you cannot always control how they respond to certain situations. But when all these arise into a conflict, how do you handle them so that the entire team is not affected and work will not be jeopardised?

The importance of innovation in business

Competition is getting fiercer, technology is advancing faster, and market preferences are leaning towards newer products and services. For enterprises to have a continuous upward curve in their performance and remain relevant to the changing times, they need to look for ways to constantly innovate themselves and consistently improve their business.

Best practices on building good teamwork while working remotely

In this era of working remotely, getting your team to stay constantly connected and build a stronger relationship and dynamics is important to keep everyone going and motivated. The big question, however, is how? What are the things you need to do to enable you and your team to work together to achieve your business goals despite the challenges and limitations of distance and time?

The value of training in organisational development

How do you nurture your organisation’s human resources? Every member of your team is valuable on how to bring your business forward and achieve its goals. But as you take in new challenges, aim for greater heights and expand your horizons, how do you equip your people to ensure that you can all move towards the same direction and at the same speed?

Taking mentorship to a different level the second time around

Mentorship is a significant factor in one’s entrepreneurial development. Having a guide along the challenging path of the entrepreneurial journey helps accelerate one’s growth, progress and momentum. The good thing about mentorship is that it can be done over a specific period or can be repeated at certain points of the journey or can be done continuously, depending on one’s need.

President's Update - November 2021

From the President

The festive season is suddenly upon us and it is in full swing. The lead up to the end of the year has kept our Board busy planning and executing events. November kicked off our first face-to-face gathering after a long while with a twilight event at the Prince, which included our AGM. Our guest speaker Craig Harper reminded us that high-performers are generally willing to get uncomfortable, so I challenge you all to reflect on whether you are getting out of your comfort zone. Craig also challenged us to reflect on why we do what we do if we haven’t defined what success means to us. It’s quite a philosophical question to grapple with, and for me, the answer typically changes from year to year. I will be attempting to answer this again at the start of the new year.

Corporate values and nurturing them in your business

Corporate values are important in every organisation because they provide a strong foundation for decision-making, team building, customer relations and driving your business forward. It is your company’s compass that directs you which way to go and the backbone on how to run your business successfully.

How to have continuous learning along the entrepreneurial journey

Knowledge is not static. It constantly expands. Each day always brings something new to the table, which is why growth and learning are essential parts of human nature. Continuous development builds up a person, and many leaders and entrepreneurs get to where they are right now because of their thirst for learning.

Becoming a polished gem through mentorship

Although he already has over a decade of experience running their family business, Edric Taing, CEO of SH Jewellery, still finds ways to polish himself further so that he can be a sparkling gem in the entrepreneurial space. He thought that having a mentor would help him become a finely cut entrepreneur, someone whom he could bounce ideas off, just like how a gem would bounce light to produce a beautiful masterwork.

Becoming part of EO Melbourne’s Mentorship Program, Edric found that “The biggest value for me is really being able to have a solid person to share my thoughts and ideas and current progress and also being able to talk without judgment about the challenges that are rising.”

Retrospection along the entrepreneurial journey

“Experience is the best teacher, and the worst experiences teach the best lessons.”

- Jordan Peterson

In a challenging world of entrepreneurship, you can learn a thing or two from experience, may it be from your own experience or from the experience of others. When you retrace the steps you’ve taken and look into your past actions, you can see what you could have done earlier, what you shouldn’t have done at all and what you should have done better. Even in driving, you have to glance at your rearview mirror once in a while to ensure you move forward safely. It helps to look back to the journey taken or observe what others have done and bring the lessons learned to help you go forward in achieving your goals.

President's Update - October 2021

From the President

What’s Coming Up

As we slowly emerge from lockdown, the Board and our Chapter staff are looking forward to hosting members in person again.

One of the most significant realisations from my decade-long EO Journey is that the learnings I have acquired from the informal discussions with other members are invaluable.

Before joining our ranks, I assumed that the majority of my learnings would be gleaned from external experts presenting at events.