4718345 Corporal R. J. Denton

INTRODUCTION

My first memorable experience of being placed in a situation requiring mental toughness occurred when I was conscripted into the Australian Army at the age of twenty for two years of military service. On the first morning of my ten week recruit training program, I found myself with 1500 other recruits at the Puckapunyal Army camp in Victoria in the middle of a very cold winter. At 5.30am the light went on in the hut where I and 15 other recruits were assigned, and we were hustled onto the parade ground for role call in our pyjamas with our bed sheets under our arms. …

I was recently reminded of the valuable responsibility leaders have in shaping the culture of their organisation. They can shape their culture intentionally, or they can shape their culture by default.

This important lesson was brought home to me when I listened to a presentation by Danny Meyer, the CEO of a restaurant chain in America called Shake Shack. He spoke of how he chose to define the way he would shape the culture of his restaurant by “shaping the way that people would feel when they dined in one of the Shake Shack restaurants.” And it all started with the interview of prospective staff where staff are appointed not …