Straight Talk Interviews – John Brogden

“One of my great revelations in the past 10 years is that most people think if you have a friend who is suicidal, you shouldn’t talk about it. But the reality is, you should. All the evidence is that you should bring it out, and ask that incredibly direct question, are you suicidal? We should never glorify suicide, but we have to bring it out.” – John Brogden 

John Brogden has had a largely successful career in business and politics, with early success, a very public failure and redemption. John was the youngest ever leader of a major political party in Australia (at just 33 years of age). An insatiable drive for career success lead to a very public fall and a later suicide attempt at the end of his political career. John has worked hard to come back and now leads a successful career as a Chairman and CEO – most notably for Lifeline and Landcom respectfully.

“I always saw myself as being on an escalator. I’d go up and get off at the next level, then go up again and get off at a higher level, and so on. But I was never satisfied. I always had to work harder, because that’s how I pushed the pain away.”

After his unique experiences in corporate and political leadership, John has become an outstanding advocate for mental illness in Australia. He speaks publicly about his personal journey with suicide and depression, to set an example of how modern business and communities should understand living and working with mental illness.

In January 2014, John was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the community through representational roles with social welfare organisations, particularly Lifeline, to the business and financial sectors and to the Parliament of New South Wales.

Mark ask’s John about his personal career, the scary numbers around suicide in Australia, and how government’s in Australia should implement a national mental health initiative for the small business community, to help business owners and employees through mental illnesses.

What governments need to do to support the small business community

John discusses how he believes the government should provide an employee assistance program, FREE, to small businesses.

Large corporations and governments often have employee assistance programs, which helps staff through personal issues and mental health concerns, yet the small business community has no mental health assistance programs.

John said, “the stats done by some of the big firms show that there are billions of dollars lost of lost productivity in Australian businesses courtesy of people and mental illness. So not only is it the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do for your business. But you can’t afford to do it if you’re a small business”.

The most important asset of any business

Brogden stresses that one of the biggest lessons he has learnt is the importance of people in business, particularly employees who get the culture of the business you’re in.

“You hear people talk about how people being your most important asset, and I use to think that was a lot of bulls**t ten or fifteen years ago. Now I have 180 staff and it’s true.”

“It’s about how the [people you hire] fit into your organisation.”

“Jack Welch said that there are four types of people in business: 1. People who don’t get the business and don’t get the culture – get rid of them. 2. People who get the culture and get the business – keep them, promote them, they’re the best. 3. There’s people who don’t get the business, but get the culture – that person you give a second chance and a third chance. 4. Worst person in the business are those who get the business  but don’t get the culture – Jack said they’ll never to deliver on a budget, they’ll never be late, all of those things, but they don’t believe in the culture of the organisation, in fact they’re poisonous.”

For John, if you’re employing someone who is good for business and helps you grow but who doesn’t buy into the culture you wish to build, you’ll simultaneously tearing down your business in a less obvious manner.

John said, “You might be brilliant at your job, but if you don’t get the culture, and you might be stabbing people in the back all the time and you don’t believe in what we believe in, you’re the wrong person for the joint.”

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