Richard (Branson) says:

1. Assemble a management team with vision, passion and sense of ownership. Look for leaders who listen – to employees and customers.
2. A business is….a group of people bound together by a common purpose and vision. Manager must look for the best in people – catch someone doing something right everyday.
3. Lighten up.  Find the fun in your business.  Ensure your customers and staff feel a sense of warmth and affection.
4. Have courage.  Have the bravery to give it a go and the resolve and conviction to overcome hurdles and the confidence for people to follow.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/4045103/Richard-Bransons-leadership-tips

I have had a great week in Hawke’s Bay, Christchurch and Brisbane. Why ? Because the people and companies we work with empower me and our company to deliver for them.  So we break our neck to do it.  we want to work long hours, increase productivity, hire top, talented staff and invest in the capability of our firm.

Who are these companies ?  There just “regular ” people with a dream and the drive to deliver on it.  They take responsibility for their actions, act in ethical manner, manage their business for reward and work damned hard.  All simple stuff.  All growing business in the GFC.  Inspires me.

Here’s a great “tongue in cheek” take on a serious topic close to my heart (no, it ain’t Schedule 4 close to my heart, its the “brain drain”….NZ’s greatest single, debilitating, sapping evil..)

“Keep Quiet World, NZ is Still Sleeping “

And this ones about a great company and people with vision (how come we don’t hear more of these stories ? don’t we have any more ? or is our media simply too lazy to report them – squeaking, whinging wheels are a lot easier to report ?):

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/4002151/Kiwi-company-brings-power-to-the-Afghans

and this one simply annoys and astounds me.  Mum and dad investor losses their family home ???? Give me a break !!!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4002376/Families-hit-hardest-on-forced-sale-front

Must be “over it” this week.  Let’s start making good choices, NZ.  Back the right people, listen to the right message.  Believe in ourselves.

RDCL has monitored its emissions and estimated the company carbon foot print as part of the journey to sustainability.

Per full time employee (FTE) RDCL’s carbon footprint (July 2009 – June 2010) is estimated at 4.8 tCO2 totaling to 30tCO2.

Our carbon footprint is dominated by air and road travel. This is based on miles traveled by air and estimated vehicle efficiency and fuel consumption.  We will focus on reducing travel through awareness, improved planning and choosing appropriate vehicles.

Office electricity consumption has seen a natural increase since we doubled our office space, but per full time employee and per unit area our consumption is decreasing. The decrease in electricity is a result of a large number of employees working on projects out of the office environment for extended periods of time. We aim to maintain the reduction in electricity emissions during periods when more employees are office based.

We dispose of one bag of waste to landfill per month making a negligible contribution to our carbon footprint. All organic waste is composted in worm bins and the majority of the remaining waste products are recycled. The aim is to maintain our performance and reduce paper usage.

Looking ahead, our vision for the year to come is to:

• improve and add emissions performance indicators, and

• offset the carbon emissions we are unable to reduce at this stage.

We will aim to gain carbon neutral verification by the end of the financial year.

We have applied emission factors most recently released by the Ministry for the Environment (2009). Emission factors are commonly used to convert direct source emissions to equivalent tCO2. The footprint in terms of waste, electricity and vehicle transport is currently limited to the Havelock North office and does not include employees and their emission sources elsewhere.

The mining industry in Australia results in 82,000 jobs and contributes $27 billion to the domestic economy.  The mining technology and services (MTS) sector which exports (technology and services !) values at A$30billion.  The MTS sector is about human smarts and value adding.

Derek Handley NZ’s latest high profile entrepreneur and founder of “Hyperfactory” recently talked on Radio NZ about the same opportunity to add value through the opportunity dairying presents.  He is quoted talking about his business:

“Globally, Kiwi companies are at the cutting edge of the use new technology, and by having the courage to take our ideas and capabilities offshore, we are able to become a significant powerhouse within some of the world’s leading corporations.”

The mining debate is emotive and easy to hijack.  The reality is that this is a smart, high  tech industry with the muscle to develop economies external to the mining sector.  The very many Kiwi’s on mine sites and holding high positions in the leading mining houses in the world know this already.

RDCL is a small company taking this challenge.  We supply mining, engineering and economic geology, resource evaluation and groundwater services in New Zealand and overseas.  We are developing NZ graduates and investing in technology, people and safety systems to compete on the world stage.  It’s a tough battle and we need support at home to realise our dreams.

The human species creates its own ecosystem through the built environment.  As engineers, we are directly involved in this process through our everyday professional lives. Our role and responsibility is to design and build to positively impact our world.  “Sustainability” is then simply nothing but good, design-led engineering.

FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers, http://www.fidic.org) supports the sustainable development of resources.  Good, practical resources for the implementing sustainability concepts and principles in engineering consulting practice are available through the web site (http://www1.fidic.org/resources/sustainability/) .

The NZ Society for Sustainability Engineering and Science (http://nzsses.auckland.ac.nz) is a Technical interest group of the Institute of Professional Engineers NZ, and a good resource concerning events and learnings in New Zealand.

Resource Development Consultants’ name reflects our interest in developing resources. We aim to do it through design, which, by definition,considers the effects on stakeholders and seeks positive, win-win outcomes.  We think this is simply sensible.

Safe work is efficient work, done right. First time.

Safety is our most important consideration in all that we do. This means consideration of safety in our designs, the way we carry ourselves in our everyday life and safety in the field, on the job site.

All remaining RDCL are attending the Gold card course to be held in Napier in early August, 2010.

Kevin Roberts (Auckland based CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi and Chairman of USA Rugby) writes in “NZ Rugby” (Issue 131, May 2010) that:

“we live in a VUCA world: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous ….where… (it is) impossible to predict 100 days ahead, let alone 3 to 5 years, ….and … strategic planning has never been so difficult.

The answer is to have a dream, a set of values, a framework and to have the confidence to move within these disciplines (sic) to take advantage of the ever changing world.”

We are a wholly New Zealand owned consulting business offering geotechnical and geological services to the mining and civil industries.

• Our vision is to be an iconic Kiwi company taking skills to the world.
• We value client service, team work, learning and our professional responsibilities.

In the tough times we act as we always have and continue to:

• support our clients through a difficult economy and in sometimes challenging regions,
• develop and train our staff
• successfully execute challenging projects to deepen group capability, and
• support professional societies and industry organisations in line with our responsibilities.

It’s pretty clear, it ain’t rocket science and it’s kinda’ easy to remember!

The Ministry of Economic Development has released a web based environmental assessment tool for small to medium sized businesses in New Zealand. The tool is aimed at reducing operational costs whilst quantifying and improving environmental performance.  Its a good start and we recommend it to you.

In our work we will continue to make logical, tangible recommendations in keeping with our sustainability policy and recommendations made by FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers, www.fidic.org).

RDCL company and staff are members of numerous technical societies and industry groups  representing and serve on national, branch and local committees including:

• NZ Branch committee of the AusIMM (www.ausimm.co.nz; and www.ausimm.com.au),
• ACENZ representative for Hawkes Bay (www.acenz.org.nz),
• NZ Contractors Federation Hawkes Bay regional committee (www.nzcontractors.co.nz), and
• NZ Minerals Industry Association national committee (www.minerals.co.nz)

This engagement allows us to sample widely across our markets and to understand the economic conditions in which we work.  In this way we identify opportunities, and also better understand the pressures affecting our clients.

We see some relief in the price of commodities including gold, coal and dairy (at least next year) and are hopeful that manufacturing can maintain growth.  We know that some residential development is happening, but really cannot see a substantial driver for growth in that sector.  We have seen no benefit from any “stimulus package” and don’t expect to in our region.

So, will we keep concentrating on:

• Serving you our clients,
• mining – coal and gold, mostly because we love it and can see the up-side in the industry,
• water – cause we think it’s going to be “BIG”,
• rail ‘cause we love that too, and
• power ‘cause everyone needs it !

Rock on.