John Key, New Zealander

Image source: Phil Walter/Getty Images News/Getty Images

In Tokyo recently when I spoke to the Japan-New Zealand Business Forum meeting I was able to spend some time with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key. I was impressed. He’s definitely a new age leader. Practical experience, successful track record in business, excellent at international relationships, passionate and committed to purpose and ideals with the nation at his heart.

John Key is producing a dynamic can-do attitude towards politics and has created favorable impressions wherever he goes.

At his core he is committed to seeing New Zealand’s farmers and exporters producing more and getting better prices for their goods. He is a believer in our tourism industry. (I applaud the appointment of Kevin Bowler as CEO of New Zealand Tourism. I’ve known Kevin for many years now and he will bring transformational up-to-the-minute thinking given his recent Telecom/Yahoo experience). John’s core belief is that New Zealand’s future lies in the hands of Kiwi entrepreneurs selling their ideas to the world so they can expand businesses and provide new and better paying jobs. As many of you know, I’ve been committed to this very same belief for over a decade now. New Zealand must export or die and intellectual capital is what we have to offer. The role of business is to make the world a better place and the way we do this is through creating jobs, choices, growth and self esteem.

John Key is also committed to seeing more of New Zealand’s young people realizing their potential in New Zealand. I agree with this but I also feel that it’s necessary for New Zealanders to go overseas to stretch their legs, find their feet, and learn more quickly. My three children have all experienced this positively and successfully. The trick for New Zealand is to offer them a combination of lifestyle and opportunity so they will eventually return.

I’ve read John’s six part program which I feel can be a manifesto for the modern politician everywhere in today’s world, irrespective of political affiliation.

1. Ensuring our tax system encourages people to work hard, save, and invest in productive Kiwi businesses.
2. Focusing the Government’s activity on better, smarter, frontline services, and not bureaucracy.
3. Providing all New Zealanders with the education and skills they need to perform in productive well-paid jobs.
4. Building the transport, broadband, and other infrastructure networks that people and businesses need to get their jobs done as efficiently as possible.
5. Removing the red tape and cumbersome regulation that can prevent businesses from expanding, taking on new workers, and making the most of new ideas.
6. Supporting New Zealand firms to grow and develop new ideas by connecting them with our researchers and scientists, and helping them reach more global consumers by signing free trade agreements with our trading partners.

Count me in.

Creativity Is Fun

I don’t get a lot of free time, and that’s the way I like it. For me it’s never been about work-life balance, but always about work-life integration. Finding compelling and compatible work to who I am and who I want to continue being, and devoting everything I have to performing at peak, getting into flow.

In these new straightened economic times, we’re all having to work harder, knuckling down to the task at hand, and making sure we’re building a future that is sustaining and rewarding. It’s not easy. But it’s easier if you love what you’re doing, and you’re doing it all the time. Naysayers will say nay, but its actually easier than ever to devote yourself to what sustains you. All you need is a computer, and the desire to make a difference.

Probably nowhere in the world is this more clear than in my home of New York City, where once again, creativity is biting back and inspiring people to throw everything they have at their situation. I don’t know if the people who run the http://www.overthinkingit.com/ blog do anything else with their day, but something tells me everything they do has to be fun. At least they have enough time to bring us the graph above.

Which is fun, and will get you arguing about rock music, Rolling Stone, or crude oil. Their blog is classic pop-culture with a semi-serious spin. It’s fun for the readers, but what fun is it for the bloggers themselves? These people have created their world and devoted their time for their own enjoyment. It just so happens we love it too.

Our only way to make the long road ahead through our economic crisis run faster is to enjoy ourselves, to be creative in everything we do, and integrate work and life. Start today with something simple. Eliminate the reasons not to, apply yourself wholeheartedly, make sure you’re smiling, and enjoy the (bumpy) ride.

Cumbria Is Open

Video by Martin Campbell - http://www.cumbrialive.tv/LoadPlayer-2.htm?config1=/blip.tv/file/get/MartinCampbell-CumbriaIsOpen275.flv

The recent floods in Cumbria have certainly caused a lot of heartache for many and a complete recovery will take some time. But in the wake of this, the famous Cumbrian community spirit has emerged, with many stories of the heroic volunteer rescue effort and the determination of local businesses to get back up and running immediately. The county is once again looking tranquil and beautiful, and Cumbria really is open for business. See the video above for stunning footage from this weekend, and come pay a visit.

Victory Gardens

Saatchi & Saatchi Blue Team Tour of Rooftop Farms
Image source: http://www.saatchitrueblue.com/blog/2009/10/gardens-on-top-of-the-steel-world/

Tough times call for people to rally together for the common good. One of many examples of this during the World Wars were the victory gardens, where those at home were called to get planting to reduce strain on food supplies for the war effort. Gardens sprung up in backyards and vacant lots, churches and playgrounds.

Today, gardening is seeing a renaissance of sorts. In my conversations about DOT (the Saatchi & Saatchi Do One Thing personal sustainability practices), gardening is an example that keeps cropping up again and again. No wonder, considering its many benefits – great for the environment, for exercising, for healthy eating and saving money. It’s even reached the White House, which under the Obamas is seeing its first vegetable patch since the days of Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in WWII. And Saatchi & Saatchi New York’s Blue team are designing their own rooftop garden at our 375 Hudson St headquarters.

Holly Hirshberg saw the effect of the recession beginning to hit people’s pantries and decided to help others grow their own food. Inspired by the victory gardens, she started giving away seeds to anyone who asked through her website The Dinner Garden. "The Dinner Garden isn't just about the seeds," she says. "It is about giving people hope… creating communities where families spend time together in a productive way and children learn that they can create something beautiful and useful to their family." The idea snowballed, and since the project started in early 2009 her team has provided seeds to almost 14,000 families in 42 states. A victory indeed!

In other gardening and sustainability related news – it seems the xixi no banho (pee in the shower) idea is taking off in a different way – the grand country house Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire is encouraging its garden workers to relieve themselves on straw bales alongside compost heaps to save water and help the composting process!

Worshipful Company Of Marketors

At the Marketors' Annual City Lecture with (l-r) Rod Wilkes (CEO of the Chartered Institute of Marketing), Peter Goudge (Master of the Worshipful Company of Marketors) and Grahame Young (Chairman of the Trustees – London Chamber of Commerce Commercial Education Trust). Photograph by Michael Harrison.

Formed 25 years ago, The Worshipful Company of Marketors are part of the City of London Roll of Livery Companies, a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages. Livery Companies have played an important role in the development of trade over the centuries. As well as the obvious focus on promoting the benefits of their professions (from ironmongers and haberdashers to surveyors and solicitors) Livery Companies also have a strong charitable focus, with the Marketors granting over forty educational awards each year.

I was recently invited by Professor Michael Jones to give the annual City Lecture to the Company in the magnificent Great Hall of St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London. Founded in 1123, St Bart’s is the oldest working hospital in England, (some say Mozart had his tonsils removed here!) and its great hall was a special venue for an event so tied to tradition.

Enhanced by the traditional robes, livery badges and the grand surrounds, I certainly felt the ceremony of the occasion. This was pomp and ritual without a hint of stuffiness and those I spoke to had a real warmth and appreciation of their heritage. Just one expression of this is the handwritten letters of thanks guests traditionally send after these events, a personal touch of intimacy.

Under the watchful gaze of Henry VIII, I spoke on the challenges ahead and how to face them. While the true impact of the recession on society is yet to hit and should not be underestimated, overall I’m positive. Creativity, connectivity and collaboration can deal to the forces of darkness. The future will be real and after speaking with this group, I have no doubt that the rebuilding of the City is in good hands.

Many thanks to my gracious hosts, including Master of the Company Peter Goudge, Michael Jones and Diane Morris.

Toyota - Better Together

Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney recently revealed this clever ad for Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive. It’s even more clever when you know that the spot was filmed in a single take, with no special effects – just some very coordinated guys who put in two weeks of choreography practice. The spot illustrates the idea that two working together are better than one – a metaphor for the petrol/electricity combo – and I think it’s a good illustration of True Blue thinking. Hybrid cars are better for the environment, but they also provide immediate benefits for the people driving them, like fuel savings and increased efficiency. Acknowledging these advantages to people and planet is just one of the ways we can help to make sustainability irresistible.