Last weekend I heard a story regarding a new match official who was in a position of having to use knowledge and experience against a backdrop of potential consequences.  This was the situation.  It was this match official’s second game that he had refereed; it was the second half with approximately 20 minutes to go and the score was 12/10.  A scrum was packed and a player was left injured on the ground with an unknown but significant enough injury to stop the game on the basis that it could have been a serious neck or back injury. On to the field come well-meaning managers, who want to pick him up and take him out of play so the game can continue. The match official, who had recently attended a duty of care seminar, said that they were not to move him and that he would phone for an ambulance,  which he did, but the ambulance would be at least 20 minutes.  Do you move the player knowing the risk?  If there were no other players around you wouldn’t move him but there were cries of “let’s continue the game.”   The game was more important to the players than the player was. The managers started to move the player; the match official told them that if they physically moved the player that he would leave the ground.  Consequently he called off the game and left the ground.  The ambulance arrived; the player was taken to hospital for observation and it was discovered that he had sustained a back injury.

We all have a duty of care to not only know the circumstances but also the consequences.  When you make decisions based on a duty of care then the consequences will have far less exposure to risk.

The match official did the right thing, as he was the only one who showed a duty of care.  It is not only paramount in business but in all walks of life. The consequences of not respecting duty of care could have been quite dire for this particular player.

This is due to be published in The Independent next week.

What are the best/worst airports – and why?
Auckland – based on the fact that I know it; the short-cuts, check-in counters and Customs.  Delhi airport is the worst – there is no APEC; it’s ciaos as you come through and baggage takes at least half an hour.  I do know however that they are building a new airport which is understood to be the biggest in the world, hence why it probably isn’t so great now.

What is the best/worst hotel/accommodation – and why?
The Westin in Shanghai.  It’s centrally located but one of the few hotels that actually has an area around it, which is unusual in such a heavily populated city.

Your best/worst hotel experience? (eg. Did you ever get stuck in a lift for 12 hours, or find your hotel was actually a brothel, or have your best wool suit shrunk by the laundry service?)
The worst hotel was a capsule hotel I had to stay in because of a plan diversion into Hong Kong. A very unusual experience – I probably know how a morgue feels.  It had a very claustrophobic feeling to it.

Best/worst airline for service – and why?
Emirates.  The feeling is very calm on their flights; unobtrusive service and they seem to rely on the passenger to be the best judge of their behaviour.
The worst airline is Dragon Air.  Two reasons for me personally; firstly, I don’t understand Chinese and secondly the age of their planes seemed to be more dated than most other airlines.

Which is the best airline on the Tasman (NZ-Australia) route?
Air New Zealand is the best airline for the Tasman.  They have a number of services which makes flying easier and the process quicker.  They have very much lifted their processing points across the Tasman route to now be the best.

Which domestic airline do you rate best?
Air New Zealand is the best domestic airline.  The introduction of the e-tag Fast Bag and their valet parking services takes them to the top of the list.

Top tip for arriving fresh and ready to go on long-haul flights – or for avoiding meltdown later in the week if you are flying to Australia and back in a day
A top tip on long-haul flights is to set your watch to the destination time straight away and begin to act in the time zone you are going to. To avoid a meltdown if travelling to Australia in one day I would recommend you turn left instead of right when you board.

Favourite New Zealand destination – and why? Which destination do you hate most?
The Southern Lakes region.  The scenery is spectacular, it’s always a welcoming destination and there is a definite sense they understand the travelling process.  There is probably not a destination that I hate as such.  The more difficult destinations are those that are remote which tend to be on the extreme East Coast and extreme West Coast – you can’t link your travel.

Favourite international destination – and why? And which one do you hate most?
Shanghai simply because of the diversification in culture, the transformation of the city over the last 15 years, the defining points between the old and the new, and the world-class financial district.  Again, I don’t hate any locations as such but Delhi would rank as being the most difficult just because of the sheer number of people and lack of infrastructure.  You need to be patient as it takes time to get from place to place and that ultimately puts pressure on you as a business traveller.

Favourite New Zealand bar/eatery?
Home.  I also like Orbit because of the view of Auckland.

Favourite overseas bar/eatery?
On the Huangpu River in Shanghai there is an area called 3 On The Bun.  This is an extraordinary experience of different places to eat. There is an eatery called Slice which is a teppanyaki experience.  Right next door to this is a brewery (see photo) where they actually pour the beers from the vat and I had never seen such a large range of beers before.

Worst/most interesting meal(s)/food you’ve had on an overseas trip (did you enjoy fried grasshoppers, or find yourself next to the cast of Friends, or have to get through a 6-hour, 12-course Asian banquet after a 24-hour flight)
The most interesting experience of a meal was in a restaurant called The Black Cafe in Shanghai.  It is run by blind people and you order downstairs and then go upstairs into a completely black room.  You cannot see anything and you are led to your table.   It is so you experience life (in a short window) as a blind person.  You can’t see the food they serve you and you end up eating with your hands.  You are aware that there are people around you but you can’t see them.  It is the most unusual experience.

Packing tips – anything unusual/useful you pack that you’d recommend other people take?
I always have a toiletries bag that is permanently left in my bag together with power leads then I never have to worry about those.  I also have a copy of my passport and a copy of my credit card numbers.

Do you work on the plane? – Why/ why not?
Depends on the length of the trip but it is a good time to completely clean out emails and to also work on bigger thinking projects.

What are the best/worst aspects of long-haul flights?
The best aspect is being able to watch a movie which I rarely do and the other one is having a longer period to be able to read. 

What is the most interesting/horrifying/dramatic thing that’s ever happened to you on a flight?
I was on a flight where the plane was diverted due to cyclonic conditions going into Hong Kong – I was quite nervous.  The only other one was when I was flying to Tauranga and they couldn’t get the landing gear down.  It was quite a small plane but eventually they did get it to work which was quite a relief at the time.

Most interesting/horrific fellow passenger/person sitting next to you on a flight?
There was one guy on a long-haul flight who kept his light on because he was scared of the dark.  This was both interesting and horrific.  People who snore are a problem.  The only other one was during a flight to Sydney we landed and there was a potential H1N1 passenger at the back of the plane and we were quarantined for 5 hours.  Fortunately I wasn’t sitting next to them.

If you didn’t live in New Zealand, where in the world would you choose to live – and why?
Sydney.  It’s a world class city now.  I also have a number of friends and family in Sydney.

Best travel experience?
My honeymoon on Waiheke.  We rented a small batch right on the beachfront in Palm Beach. The weather was great, there was plenty to do and the location was perfect.

Worst travel experience?
I had missed a flight between Auckland and Gisborne and had to do auctions.  The only way was to get a flight to Napier which landed at 10am and the auctions in Gisborne started at 12noon.  It was a 2 hour 15 minute drive.  Unfortunately they only had a Ford Focus available.  I won’t tell you what time I arrived but the Ford Focus seemed to be a bit overheated.

Any tips for getting upgraded? Any good upgrade stories?
I think upgrades are a thing of the past.  Airlines have a more defining relationship with their passengers now and it seems that upgrades occur from time-to-time but that is usually when the flight is overbooked more than any requests you can make.

I was with my friend this morning and he has a car wash business.  He will have an annual turnover of about $300,000 per year.  He has run this business for just on 3 months.  What should he spend on marketing? What marketing should he do? How does he measure the results? 

When you take into account a business and the three key costs which are generally labour, premises and marketing, usually labour will be approximately 45% of total turnover, premises 5%, and marketing should be no more than 4%.  The balance are generally sundry costs which add up to around 20%.  This gives the business a target of 25% gross to net profit.  If we quarantine marketing then he has a total spend available of $12k.  It doesn’t seem much but there again he is in the business of making people feel good about their car 

What we all know is who our customer is.  80% of his customers are known.  So immediately he has a target but if he can only spend on average 4% of his total turnover to attract a customer then where does he target it? 

The best form of marketing for his business is brand marketing through the customers that he currently is getting.  Emphasising loyalty and referral will be the best way for his business to continue to grow at a steady rate.  Remembering that the customer of his business will always want their car washed.  The question for him is “will they come back?” 

It is important to know the percentages within your business, they are standard and how you market your business or your product, linked with your service, is a key to new customers and customer retention.  In our business of real estate, generally the focus is on the product and rarely on the brand but with many businesses the focus is on the brand and then it drills through to the product.  My recent experience at looking at cars shows an emphasis on the brand which then provides the different products within that brand.  How much do you spend on marketing and is it at the 4% level?

When you go to the airport and you are going through the process of boarding a plane, leaving aside the sometimes frustrating experience that surrounds the process, when you look around at airports, they are an incredible place in the fact that the real news within us could be seen at an airport.  Rarely any other place will you see the emotion of families about to be separated and how that is expressed.  Conversely in the arrivals hall the joy that people have in being reunited with friends and family.  It really is amazing that the real news of the day can be seen at an airport. 

I think for the individual, while much of our community and the news that is related to it, is important, our own family and friends are far more important. 

If there was a news story at the airport it would be the connection that is shown through love within families.  There may not be any direct news that the wider community is interested in at an airport but for individuals, their families and their friends, it is a unique place to understand how important we all are to each other.   

I read a statement recently that social media is the new high ground for successful business leaders.  I would strongly debate that under the basis that social media falls into the non- contact mode.  I would agree with the commentators that say that having  a social media position is vitally important, but in saying that, I would strongly disagree with any business leader who believes that social media is the new high ground. 

There has always been two forms of high ground in business.  The first is recognition and the second is reputation.  There is an old saying that “charity begins at home”.  The high ground in business is with your own people.  I have on most occasions been able to keep the high ground in recognition.  I am not saying that this is unchartered territory but I would stand by two disciplines that I believe will serve any business leaders or person in sales better than social media presence will ever serve.

The first is a handwritten note.  It is rare in business that you receive a handwritten note.  I wondered as Christmas went past as to what people really thought when they received an e-card from someone.  It is the same deal that there are forms of communication that are necessary, but the high ground is an action that takes a personal approach. 

A handwritten note is the first high ground in business, the second is recognition.  Most Saturday mornings I will spend phoning salespeople who have achieved their Premier or Elite status within our company.  The response is measurable in the delight that people get from being noticed.  The second high ground in business is noticing and communicating recognition.

The world is moving at a fast pace with a very big audience.  It is important to stay ahead of the pack but you can only really do that by taking the high ground and that is the ground that very few good leaders will ever walk.

I enjoy the broad appeal of social media – but people do business with people – it is still about all about trust.