Talking heads: Mark Douglas

Position: General manager

Company: New Horizons Computer Learning Centres


What makes your day at work?


Making a difference. I need to feel my input is valued. Paradoxically, as a manager if I am successful at managing a team I effectively make my position redundant. This is not negative - it gives me a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. Having staff grow to tackle problems on their own, and solve them using processes we have implemented, makes me happy. The underlying driver is contributing to the global community. New Horizons is a global company that trains 2.5 million people a year. Every one of them improves his or her personal net worth. Customers positive comments make me realise that as a company we make a difference - every day. And that makes my day.

When did you first become a manager?


In 1981, I was appointed general manager of my family business Douglas Sandals - manufacturers of Roman sandals since 1949. Anyone who has been a family company manager knows you do all the jobs you can't ask staff to do. You are expected to work harder and longer than the other staff and, at least initially, for less money. But it is like an apprenticeship. My Dad had 50 years in manufacturing and gave me lots of insights that have helped in all sorts of roles since.

What was the most important lesson you learned?


My Dad was my mentor. He taught me that respect is earned - not given. Your actions - not your title - earn you respect. One conversation I had with him has stayed with me. If you want the respect of your staff you need to be there when they arrive and leave after they have gone home. This has proven to be true time and time again.

What has been your best moment in business?


In 1986, my Dad bought a bankrupt knitwear business. The processes and disciplines we introduced to bring the company to life are more or less the same as those I have instilled at New Horizons. My best moment was in February last year - I reported to the board that the company had its first profitable month in January, six months ahead of my most optimistic expectation. The event illustrated the power that can be generated if people go in the same direction. We had been able to paint a picture of what a successful New Horizons would look like, and then create it. The positive energy that flows from this type of experience is what management is about.

How have you dealt with the pitfalls in your career?


What's a pitfall? The only negatives are those you allow. It's the old "is the glass half full or half empty" scenario. The answer depends on your attitude. Losing your job can be a negative experience - or a positive one. I always look at the bright side. If you are released from a role, my integrity tells me the employer is the loser. My next employer will be the winner. In general, people do not leave jobs - they leave their management. And if people are dismissed - or let go - generally it is because management has been unable to enlighten the employee as to what is required from them and why. In other words their managers have been ineffective.

What annoys you most?


Pontification. Make a decision and get on with it. You will not always be right - but that's okay. Learn from your mistakes. Don't make the same mistake twice. But make one. Now.

If you were starting over again, what would you be?


Probably a professional sportsman. In my youth I was a pretty good waterskier. I had several seasons in the US just as professional water-skiing was getting started. We lived off tips. Today you can make a reasonable living. My grandfather once said to me that if you can make a living doing what you enjoy then you are a wealthier man than the person next to you. Most people never follow their hearts - they follow their heads. Consequently, they end up in roles that pay well but for which they have no passion. I have tended to follow my heart and [it has] paid financially. However, the experiences I have had have made me who I am today.

What management wisdom is most overrated?


That management is about having all the answers. It's not. Neither is education - despite bureaucratic assertions. Management and education have moved from what is the answer to what is the question. We have moved from a mainframe society, where the Government had all the answers and looked after everything for its constituents, to a networked society where everyone has to be part of the solution. If you ask the right questions you will find the right answers. The old management tenet that "I am your boss and you will do as you are told" is seriously overrated. How do employees make a difference in that scenario? The truth is that they don't - and they leave their managers and move on.

What will be the big business issue of the next decade?


I believe the big issue for business is really the same big issue for the country. The reassertion of the male psyche. We have had 25 years of feminist assertions that New Zealand would be a better place if women were in charge. Now they are, and our economy has never been in worse shape! But seriously, if you look back it is clear women needed enfranchising, but perhaps the pendulum has swung too far. There is now a social and business cost associated with this over correction.

How do you relax?


I like nothing better than relaxing at home with my wife and my two kids. It's my sanctuary. I read to keep up with the global expansion of business. I love boating on the Waitemata. And after the kids are tucked up I often do the midnight stroll around the streets of Remuera and dream of my next round of golf.

* Mark Douglas talked to Ellen Read.