Chris Jones
Regional Manager, Downer NZ
Class of 2022
“naMBA got me out of a funk.”
Your life story is your leadership story. Not An MBA goes deep on your individual leadership development - something that Chris Jones, Regional Manager at Downer NZ, hugely appreciated.
“There's lots of leadership cliches out there about what it means to be a people leader. You can Google some tips and tricks pretty easily, but it doesn't mean anything if it doesn't first start with you as an individual.
naMBA asks: how do you think? What's the wiring that you've been preconditioned with, or have developed over time?
We unpick and understand that, because if you can understand yourself and how you approach situations, you’ll get even greater insight and depth into how other people have been preconditioned and wired.”
Not An MBA brings together an incredible community of smart, curious, senior leaders. Many students find the most valuable part of their Not An MBA experience is the depth and richness of connection they build with their fellow students. Chris reflects on the level of comfort and vulnerability he was able to build with his cohort.
“You’re in it together, and there’s nothing to hide. There’s no incorrect answer and just when you think you’re going off on a tangent, the room will add to that, and you'll then create this discussion that you didn't realise you were going to have! It’s through that, facilitating that level of comfort as a group, that you unlock these awesome conversations in breakout rooms.
I met humans that I want to keep in touch with because they’re awesome. And you really only get that through having a diverse group, and allowing that diversity to come out.
The level of experience and the wealth of of knowledge and wisdom in the room gives you some really cool conversations and some really unique insight into situations that that you otherwise wouldn't get and my takeaway from it has been: make sure you've got the people that are aligned with you and make sure you've got everybody in between. Because it's only then that you really break down and get into the real raw reality of what you're trying to thrash out as a team.”
Chris found the community connection so valuable that he’s taken our thinking on diversity and representation into his own team meetings.
“It’s been awesome to take the benefits from the naMBA training into day-to-day meetings. I start a meeting off and say: “Have we got the right people in the room? Is anyone missing?” If we’re missing people, I send everyone away and give them their hour back. I’m not having the conversation if the right people aren’t in the room.”
Chris used the tools from Not An MBA to shift his mindset when it was time to tackle challenges in his work and life. The change was instant - and he delighted in sharing his newfound strategies with his team and building their capability along the way.
“Picking up some of the tools that that we've learned along the way through naMBA got me out of a funk.
Every Tuesday morning at the end of the session, I’d come out my office and and there's a bunch of people that come up to me: “So, how did they go? Tell us all about it!”
What was beautiful about that was my team were holding me accountable to it as well. They're sponges, they wanted to hear all about it and find out what those tips and tricks and tools are.
That’s been amazing thing to be able to do for people and unlock potential in them as well."