October 27, 2021 • 40 mins
Radek Sali’s working in a cinema - his first job out of school - when he realises that encouraging his team to up-sell popcorn and make more choc-tops might be more valuable than what he’s learning at university.
It’s then that Radek decides to treat his career like that of a professional athlete: he accepts that it will be a long, tiring journey full of sacrifice, but worth it for a life of passion and excitement.
It’s safe to say Radek made the right call - since then, he’s been a leading figure in the Australian health and wellness market, working in various capacities with Swisse, Hydralyte and myDNA among many, many more.
Radek shoulders a wide variety of responsibilities, and employs a wide variety of techniques to stay on top of his game. He shares how meditation, DNA tests, workplace culture assessments and altruism work together to make him happier, healthier and more productive.
Connect with Radek on Twitter or Linkedin
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If you’re looking for more tips to improve the way you work, I write a fortnightly newsletter that contains three cool things I have discovered that help me work better, which range from interesting research findings through to gadgets I am loving. You can sign up for that at http://howiwork.co
Visit https://www.amantha.com/podcast for full show notes from all episodes.
Get in touch at amantha@inventium.com.au
CREDITS
Produced by Inventium
Host: Amantha Imber
Production Support from Deadset Studios
Episode producers: Jenna Koda and Liam Riordan
Sound Engineer: Martin Imber
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
How do you think about your health? Do you just
try to do and eat the things that are traditionally
thought of as healthy or have you dug a little
deeper to find out more about what your body wants
and needs and how it reacts to different things. Do
you even think about the mind as part of that
(00:21):
health routine? When it comes to physical and mental health,
there are so many different options out there, but how
can you know for sure that you're getting it right?
When Radik Sally was the CEO of Vitamin Giant Swiss
Wellness Group, he had a lot of time to think
(00:42):
about wellness and he's taken his investigation a little further
than most by digging deep into his DNA. He's also
not afraid to lead by example and can be regularly
found meditating just around the office. And Radik is also
a big fan of the execs I give health check,
something he now gets done religiously every couple of years.
(01:06):
So why are routines for the mind just as important
as our regular health and hygiene routines like brushing our
teeth or having a daily shower. And what can our
DNA tell us about our health habits? And what does
it mean to truly have good mental health at work.
And here's a hint, it starts with the people around you.
(01:33):
My name is doctor Amantha Imba. I'm an organizational psychologist
and the founder of Behavioral Science Consultancy Inventium, and this
is how I work a show about how to help
you do your best work. So when I was researching
for this interview with Radek, I've learned that he had
had a DNA test when him and his wife were
(01:55):
trying to get pregnant. So I was very keen to ask,
why do you do that? And what on earth does
the DNA test involve?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So a DNA test is just like a blood test.
It seems a bit scarier because a lot of sci
fi movies have run away with various subplots of what
you could do with your DNA, But ultimately the DNA
you can find out a whole lot of things about yourself.
And what we found is that we had a matching
(02:24):
DNA jeene that meant our chances of falling pregnant through
natural conception and without doing this this radical treatment that
we did was going to be very low. And so
thankfully we got onto that piece of advice and ten
years down the path. We finally had a baby girl,
so she's threed ow.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Wow, amazing. I have got a seven and a half
year old girl, so it's very very joyful. Lots of pink. Now,
what else did you find out in that DNA test
that I guess helped shape some of your health behaviors
and rituals.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Good question.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So the DNA test we did was really focused on
finding out whether we had that matching DNA, but there
was this there is an investment that we made as
a grouper's lot. Were in a company called my Dna
and that and I did the test there and that
is focused on wellness outcome. So what best matches your
DNA from a lifestyle point of view, So your diet,
(03:26):
your exercise, your capacity for digesting caffeine, So tips on
keeping your DNA as healthy as possible. And over ninety
nine percent of our DNA is influenced by lifestyle factors, so.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
We can improve the health of our DNA.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
We're not set sailing down the path of ending up
with a chronic disease unless we switch on our DNA
receptors and through through bad lifestyle choices.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
So, what have been some of the most powerful things
You've found out about yourself through DNA testing.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
That I have an extraordinary capacity for endurance, which it
doesn't surprise me now looking back at my life. But
I also get injured very easily and hence why my
knees are pretty ordinary and I struggle with running and
things like that, So that was one thing that was reassuring.
I also found out that it takes me six to
(04:21):
eight hours to process caffeine, so if I'm to have
a cup of coffee.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Late in the afternoon, I'm going to struggle with sleeping.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
And also that a Mediterranean diet is the diet of
choice for me, whereas my wife was more focused on
a plant based diet. So it really comes back to
your personal situation and with the DNA you've been blessed
with and how can optimize that.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Are there any other health tests that you've done that
have influenced like how you think about health and well
being in your life.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I love doing an executive health check at the National
Institute of Integrated Medicine and we do that every two years,
and it's a full health check on the standard things
a stress test on your heart through to blood tests
and measuring things like cholesterol, all things that you'd go
to a doctor as a one off if you're concerned.
(05:19):
But also the benefits of this as you see a
psychologist and you have an evaluation where you're.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
At, you have a good chat about your life and stress.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
And because stress is the number one cause of all
chronic diseases, that's the.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Number one thing we need to get in hand and manage.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And so there's a whole lot of stress markets that
are well that can be measured through your blood. And
then also they look at things like your nutrition, like
your vitamin D levels, which is a goad essential for
our health throughout winter. A respiratory system just doesn't do
well unless our D levels are optimal, and many studies
(05:56):
have shown that over fifty percent of people.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
In Melbourne alone we have a too low vitamin D levels.
And envitamin D is.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Essential for protecting us through winter through viruses and so
forth through to things like B vitamins and B vitamins
I ensure that your nervous system and your brain functions
operating correctly. So it's just a wondrous mix of great
information that I could go on about. And actually I
was just looking at the book that you get as
(06:25):
a result of that process at the end of it,
which is about a two hundred page document on your
health and how you can optimize it and do better
by it, and also markets that you need to be
aware of and regularly monitor.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And so to me, we go.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And do that with our cars very regularly by servicing them,
and we pay extraordinary amounts of money to fix our cars.
And yet when we talk about our health, we don't
think about it the same way. We should be doing
proactive system checks and how it is performing and how
we can optimize what we do each day through health.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
And in terms of your own life with general health
and wellness behaviors, I'd love to know what are some
of the daily or weekly rituals that you have in
place to just function better as a human.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, So I think number one for me is just
the state of mind and making that choice to really
concern myself about the controllables in my life and what
I can do to manage that, because every day we
just get served with a set of uncontrollables and we
need to be the.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Best state possible to deal with those uncontrollables.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
So the controllables are things like choosing to get the
right amount of sleep each night, choosing to exercise the
amount of times that make makes you feel invigorated, and
that's become more over time for me.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And I started out with three times a week and
now I'm.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Doing five to six times a week for an hour,
and that's something that I've just found it helps me
a lot through to choosing to do things practices like yoga,
which I now do three times a week and wasn't
doing three years ago, but had done as a child.
But probably if I'm frustrated thinking if I've done it
for the last twenty years, some of those injuries that
(08:18):
I was talking about earlier, I might have managed them
in a more positive function that said, my body is
moving better than it ever has as a result of
choosing to practice those modalities.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Also meditation.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Hella and I, my wife, we gave each other the
great gift of meditation a good bet seven eight years
ago where we got a meditation coach to coach es
both because we both thought we needed meditation to help.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Us deal with stress.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
And I've done meditation as a child and many times
I've gone for mindful courses.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
But what I discovered it was the best.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Coach that got me going and making it a practice
that I'm devout to where I do twenty minutes minimum
per day and then in stressful times like we see
at the moment where there are a lot of uncontrollables,
twice a day, twenty minutes is absolute necessity and it
should be something that you look forward to, like you know,
I look forward to brushing my teeth every night or
(09:14):
having a shower every day. The state of our mind
really should be something that we make a priority.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
So that's been really important.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Choosing healthy food too, I mean the gift of doing
something healthy for your partner and preparing them a healthy
meal is a wonderful process just to go through and
to feel that that level of gratitude as a result
of doing that each other for each other. So service
and service, service in partnership with those around you, but
(09:47):
service to others around you is what I see is
essential as a leader in this day and age to
get by and see your role as a person that
serve and support those around you.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
And how does serve and support those around you? How
does that work in practice? Can you give me examples
of what that looks like with the teams that you
work with, for example.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I'd probably like to think about it from a broad
point of view first, to just to break it down
and know, we all just saw the AFL Grand Final
on the weekend, and any kind of sporting event requires
a great coach to be there to support. And if
you watch the football or any sport you might be into,
there's permission for that coach to talk openly about the
(10:30):
player's development and team strategy and how the group is
going in delivering on that. And if you saw a
team member turn around and backchat to a coach and
say mat or there was generine disagreement amongst that group
that things weren't going to plan, the team's less likely
to win. And yes, sometimes that can become you know,
(10:51):
it could be a heated moment and a challenging moment
and they get through it.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
And that ends up.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
But when that's the fine balance of service and being
there to support, the thing that's always kept me up
at night is how people feel about the work they
do and whether they feel purpose in how they go
about doing it, And that, to me is our great
responsibility as leaders in society. Our version of democracy is
(11:22):
under attack. You democracy and capitalism, and the next best
version is autocratic capitalism, and I'm not too excited about that.
And so you know, eighty percent of people work in
workplaces in these free societies and in businesses, twenty percent
only work for government. So it's our responsibility as leaders
(11:42):
to ensure that people feel really great about the work.
We'll get better performance, but also we'll have a much
happier society as.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
A result of it.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
So with the idea of feeling a sense of purpose
at work, firstly, I want to know how do you
know if you're feeling it or if you're not.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Exactly, I think the most important thing is that you're
reviewing your culture and your values as often as your
business plan and so your KPI. As you budgeting, you
focus on the numbers, and the outcomes of those numbers
need to be really closely aligned. How's the culture doing
(12:21):
and does the organization have a value set? A guide's
decision and our people brought him to that value set
and hence the culture.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
And are there specific questions that you like to ask people,
because I imagine like a lot of listeners would work in
organizations that have value stuck on the wall, Whether they're
lived or not is a whole other discussion. But you know, anecdotally,
like for example, when you're at Swiss and you're you know,
walking down the corridors back when we used to be
(12:52):
in an office, like, are there questions that you would
ask people just casually to get a sense as to
you know, people like really dialed into the purpose of
they're feeling it.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And so that's where it has to be a fundamental
choice from everyone in the organization that they are going
to brace those values. There's nothing worse than having the
values on the wall and no one connecting with them,
that there's no reason for them, that there's no decisions
that are clearly guided by them. And the number one
(13:23):
thing that went to is when anyone presents to us
that's leading one of our businesses that we're invested in,
we get them to present the business player, present the values,
and then the culture player and then communication plan along
with that.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
And I asked them to cover their eyes and repeat
the values.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
And the amount of times people don't know what they
are it just continues to kind of make me smile.
Whereas if we're talking about the revenue targets, the bunch
of targets, the cost of goods, the payroll targets.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
It's all very clear. Everyone knows KPIs. So you really
need to work really really hard on this notion of
it coming to life.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And so how we did, how I've done that in
past life, say at Swiss, was to make sure that
our choice of language is always constructive. You think about
if you go to a personal trader and they say
to you, right through your ten push ups, and you're
so halfway through that ten set of push ups and
they start telling you look tired. You're not going to
(14:21):
get through this, and this is how workplaces are.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
You know, we.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Don't use constructive, positive language. So we threw out words
like problem. At Swiss it was replaced with challenge. I
still hesitate before I say a lot of these things
because of so against our nature to use these words,
because it was so ingrained.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
It was so important for me as a leader to
reinforce you.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Know, instead of saying I we would talk about week
all the time, and you know, we talk about LGI moments,
so learn grow and improve moments. So that's when something
went wrong, we would talk about this is an LGI
and what you can learn from because from fun.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Out, I've heard you say that the people that you
have around you are really key to having good mental
health at work. Can you tell me what you mean
by that?
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Well, I think that let's start with the basics.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
We do so much better when we're around people that
enable us to thrive.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
And that's a balance of not just telling each.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Other how great we are all the time, but also
being brave enough to say, hey, these are the areas
you need to improve it, and have enough respect in
that individual to want to make those changes to move
forward and become better.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
So I like it.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
So we've all had a bad relationship, you know, a
bad boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife, and we're just
such a not the best version of ourselves in that relationship,
and that other person wasn't either when I look back
at it. And then when you break up with them
or your friends say hey, I knew that was bad
for you, we's like, why didn't you tell me during
the situation.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
And so a lot of us.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Are in this bad relationship at work and know, for me,
whenever someone didn't click with our culture, didn't get it
and didn't want to make those positive constructive choices to
deliver to work and you know what is quite confronting
to have quite honest and genuine conversations about how we're
going to improve, but.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Also hugely rewarding.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
And the amount of people whose husband's wives partners told
me after that started working with us how much of
a better person they'd become as a result of the
wonderful culture that we had and the spy they have
in all our businesses. Just just underline this fact that
you can do it and do it in a way
(16:41):
that feels positive and great. And those one percent that
didn't work out five percent at certain times now maybe
they just want to be miserable in the workplace, and
I'd say that's wonderful. Go and be somewhere where others
are miserable, and you've all be miserable together.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Now, what's your process for vetting people if they're going
to be someone that is an energy giver as opposed
to more of an energy taker.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Well, I think that you've got to be really careful
because you need diversity and all shapes and sizes, and
you don't want just people, you know, on that kind
of extrovert end that are just all about rah rah
and calling out this is the way we go about it.
What I really love was seeing each of it really
embrace choice of languages but doing it in their style
and way, and it was really really effective. So you
(17:30):
need to be careful over just being a genuine chemistry
that you have, But it's about assessing what you think
that the organization needs and having that kind of that
perspective that you really need that mixture of personalities to
get the best outcomes.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Just like a great.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Team needs all sorts of people with shapes and sizes
and speeds and strength to get things done, but there's
a level of high performance that's required to get amazing
out now.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
I like how you use a lot of sporting analogies
to the world of work. I'm curious what other ones
have you found really resonate with people in terms of
getting concepts to really click a land.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah, I just I'm a big one for why waste
time at work? You know, when I got my first
job out of school, I worked at Village road Show
and I started in the candy bar, and I was
getting paid casually like all my mates.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Then funk job because you're in cinemas.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
And then at the same time I was studying university,
and I was paying to go to university. I was
getting paid to learn about business and work and how
to manage people and so forth. So I worked really
hard and tiresly from there on this kind of development
of my leadership style, and there was just no room
(18:52):
for me to be any anything else but authentic because
a lot of these people that I worked with with
my mates that I would catch up with Drew in
the week for a drink outside of work, and then
I have to go to work and say, hey, guys,
we're going to upset today or we're going to make
some chop tops. And as I progressed through the ranks
and took on my role seriously and.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Saw it as this great opportunity.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
To learn, and it became as more important than my
university in the gray.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
So you know, I.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Kind of liken that sort of lifetime journey to me
making the choice that I was going to be professional
about my work, professional.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Like a sportsperson. So if you want to win one
hundred meter rays, you have to have some talent first.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
The goal that that goal at the Olympics is a
really difficult thing to do. You have to make a
whole lot of life sacrifices that are probably a whole
lot more aggressive than a lifetime in business. But there
are still a huge amount of choices that you need,
sacrifices that you need to make to be successful and
to operate at that high performance level. It won't just
happen automatically. It takes a whole lot of work and
(19:56):
commitment to it.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
So why waste your time?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
You're at work for the great This amount of your
waking hours that is your chosen profession, just like a
sportsperson has chosen that profession to be number one end,
just like a person in the arts might choose theater,
or an actor might choose to be top of aircraft.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
It is a huge amount of hard work. And you
know what I've.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Realized too now the grand age of forty five is
that I won't be a CEO again. I don't have
the energy to do that again. It's a massive effort
and it took me good ten years of my life
that I don't think I could deliver again.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
We will be back very shortly with Erratik, where we'll
be talking about why he thinks focusing on community is
the foundation for well being and also why erratic has
been known to often secretly pay for strangers coffees. Now,
if you are not fo me on the socials, but
(21:01):
you want to consume more content and get additional tips
and tricks and so forth for being better at work,
why not connect with me. I am on LinkedIn. You
can find me at Amantha INMBA. I'm also on Twitter
at Amantha and on Instagram at amantha I. And if
you do connect with me, shoot me a little note
(21:23):
to let me know that this is how you found me.
I'd love to hear from you, so, Radik, I've heard
you say that focusing on the community is a foundation
for well being. Can you tell me what you mean
by that?
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Well, it's about filling your soul, filling your cup. And
I know I talked a little bit earlier about how
culture and how can affect families and how they feel
feel so much better going to a workplace feeling purpose.
But for greater meeting and organizations to have greater meeting,
they not only have to have a purpose for making
(21:58):
I suppose the world a better place. How they go
about doing business and the products they create. Uh, that
goes also into to working with community and doing work
that's above and beyond, and you know, the meetings that
I have and again that mood barometer. If I walk
out of a meeting that I've had with it a
(22:20):
not for profit, there's a beaming smile on my face
and my wife notices the difference. And being intuitive and
aware of these sorts of things is so important and
so yeah, one thing after yeah. So so just just
that that that feeling of gratitude, contentment, and that that
(22:42):
that sense of when you give something you feels so great.
I always love giving people presents and watching the reaction
from that happened. I gave more from that than than
than receiving a president a gift. So there's just so
much joy in giving. And so to be in the
lucky position where we sold Swiss wellness for an extraordinary
(23:03):
figure and now to have, you know, to sort of
step back and get a real sense of what's important
in life. I've chosen now to spend half my time
working with community, working alongside them, and that's not because,
you know, not only because I'm giving, but I get
so much more from that and just from the interaction
(23:27):
of extraordinary leaders that are out there just doing extraordinary things.
In society and being there to support, not help, AT's
walk alongside them.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
And what do you recommend for people that are not
able to do that, because it's such a fortunate position
that you're in, So, you know, for people that aren't
able to dedicate half their life to doing not for
profit work or half their time, what do you see
as some effective, smaller ways that people can get that buzz.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
There's so many things that you can do to just
make people's day better. And so your choice in terms
of getting out of bed and making that decision to
smile at someone as they walk past you, wave, do
the unexpected. I used to me for a long time,
(24:19):
I've just paid for people's coffee, sometimes in queues well
before I've done well financially, just to get a sense
of giving. So there are little things like that going
above and beyond. And then just knowing your responsibility in
the workplace to create a great culture and trying to
find ways to create purpose and meaning in what the
(24:42):
organization does and.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
How you.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Kind of tread on this world and the impact it
has to those around you.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
I love that example about paying for other people's coffee,
is that where you like say to the cashier, Can
I just give you some extra money for the person
behind me? Is that how that works for you?
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Or you just yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Get you give them some extra cash and say please
just take this off the the next bill. I mean,
cash isn't as popular now, but it's a bit more challenging.
But you know, in cues and grocery cues too, you know,
you might have an elderly person that you know, we
should be looking towards with respect and love. Again, just
just putting an extra fifty one hundred dollars towards their bill.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
That's so cool. What are some other examples of things
that you do, like, whether that be in the workplace
or around your community, just those little things that really
like light up someone's day.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I think it's just been thoughtful and asking people questions
as to what interests them or what's happening and you
know what might be challenging them. And you know, sometimes
it's organizing an appointment with the doctor or a chiropractor
or an osteopath or acupuncture specialists and helping them deal
(26:10):
with something. So it's just asking questions, been truly interested
and then taking that a step further by doing something.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
That's so cool. So you might speak to someone like
a friend or a colleague and they would express a
problem and you would go, hey, I'm going to book
you in to see this person. That's really awesome. Is
that right? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Absolutely? Or well you might know about a friend that's
going going out for an anniversary dinner that has been
really special to you for a long time, and give
that restaurant a call and pay the bill.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
That's so awesome. I love that. And what are some
things that you do, like back at Swiss for example,
Just like just those little things that really make a
big difference to people. I'd love to hear some examples.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Well, this simple as language, And we talked a little
about a bit about the fact we chose words like
challenge instead of problem and instead of that there was
an issue with someone's performance, you know, in terms of
giving them feedback, would say, it's a learn, grow and
improve moment, an LGI moment, and so just opening up
(27:20):
with a little bit of humor and softening the situation
with positive anecdotes for how we can improve instead of
dealing with something in a negative way. You can so
quickly turn around a situation and it feels so much better.
You know, all of these things, you feel better as
much as the other person feels better if you're if
you're just awares of the way you approach things. So
(27:44):
you know, being a bit dorky is good fun. And
that's why a lot of the things I'm saying is
it sounds a bit dorky, but you know, that's a
good thing in life. I don't know if we're playful
enough in our everyday lives. We've got to have a
little bit of fun and just soften the moments, remember
that we're we're all human.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
You mentioned gift giving and just you know the joy
that you get from giving, and I can definitely relate
to that like I you know, I love sending people
things in the mail, you know, whether it's a book,
whether it's some flowers or a bottle of champagne. It's funny.
One of my close friends just started a new job,
(28:25):
and I'd arranged for a bottle of champagne and some
flowers to be sent to her on her first day,
because it's a weird time to start a job at
the moment, because you don't go into an office. It's
a bit anti climactic. So I thought that would be
a really cool thing. And her start date changed about
four times, so I felt like every day I was
emailing the Hamper company, going, we just need to change
(28:46):
the date again, we need to change the date again.
But I'd love to know, like what a you know
the topic of you know, playfulness and fun. What are
some fun gifts that you've done that you've given to
people that have brought a lot of joy.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Well, first of all, even just you sharing that story,
I was beaming smiling the whole way through at the
other end, and I can hear you with the same
And isn't that just the one wonderful thing that you
get from giving? And it's just such a nice remind
And I'm sure our listeners are feeling the same way
because they're all going back to that warm place that
(29:20):
you go to when you have that opportunity to give
someone that the unexpected and that's the key in life.
And so part of it was also setting up situations
where you created rewards for the team and those rewards
(29:42):
would be unexpected. So we did what was called a
H and H day Health and Happiness Day. We announced
at an end of year where we've done really well.
It was many years ago, back at Swiss time in
Swiss days, and so we gave people a day off
when when there was a public holiday in that month,
(30:02):
and it was fantastic and it was beautifully received. But
the one thing I'd say with warning is that if
you need to be careful around structuring gifts to those
people that have gratitude about it and thinking about how
they can step up their game too and give back.
(30:24):
So it's a constructive relationship, not just a one way relationship.
Sometimes it can be that way spontaneously, but not the norm.
And when you start to create as a normal in
a great culture, I think it's really important to create
performance around that and high performance and making sure that
you're getting this much back both ways. And it's the
(30:45):
same even with my not for profit organizations that I
work with. Sometimes it can be very one way and
there's not much regard for how much work that's actually
being done, and you kind of lose your wie and
that's not healthy. So it needs to make sure that
whatever you're doing, you're feeling better about it, it's making
forel warm and you're both gaining from it in their
(31:07):
equal way. And that's why I always say that we
don't help organizations, we walk alongside them because we gain
as much back from the knowledge, their inspiration and what
they're doing as working with them. So going back to
those performance measures in a corporate organization, you need to
make sure that it's geared around high performance and if
(31:29):
the team are performing great And so we actually had
to turn that H and H day, the Health and
Happiness Day into something that you earned out of having
a conversation with your manager on how you're performing. So
then that conversation has had too so people understood where
they stood and there was good open feedback on how
we can improve and do better, and then there was
(31:50):
a reward for good behavior that was mutually agreed and
it would be very rare. People wouldn't get it because
they wouldn't last long in the culture because again, if
it was one way, the organization would quick you know,
it wouldn't be me that would have to drive at
the organization, and peers around them would suggest it's probably
not the place that they're going to be happiest in.
(32:12):
Some people just love being miserable, so they're better off
working with other miserable people.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Definitely, Definitely, and for people that like like, Oh, I'd
love to do volunteer work, but I just don't even
know where to start. Like how does one find volunteer
work or not for profit that they want to volunteer for?
Like where do you start?
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Well, I think it's about thinking about your superpowers. We've
all got superpowers that we do things, you know, particularly
better than other things in our lives. So we need
to think about that and think about where we're going
to offer most. And then once we've got a good
sense of what that superpower is, we start to think
about our circle around us and asking, you know, are
(32:59):
there people that might be better off with the support
of your superpowers? And so, Yeah, aligning yourself with organizations
that are aligned with your cause and on what you're
looking to do is really really important, and it takes time.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
It's a constant journey.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
And I've been involved with some not for profits for
most of my working life twenty twenty five years, and
others have come in and out, and others I've connected
with in the last five six years that I see
a lifetime ahead of working with them.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
I want to come back to meditation. I'm intrigued by
the fact that you got a coach. And I also
heard that from Josh Pitterman, who I have had on
the show and is actually someone that mentioned you and
said what a good guest you would be as and
I said before we started recording, I've followed your career
for years and I'm a fan from afar. But in
(33:58):
terms of getting a coach for meditation, how did you
even go about finding a coach that was going to
be the right fit for you?
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Well, the universe still visit you what you wanted if
you focus your intent on it enough. And so funnily enough,
we'd talked to probably two or three other people about
meditation and they both mentioned this coach, and so it
just felt like that it was the right thing to
follow that calling and follow that circle of people that
(34:27):
you know, we like a track's like and you have
these kind of conversations with and we did it under
recommendation as a result of conversation. And yeah, we looked
up Johnny and you know, he's amazing and thankfully for everyone,
you can do his free course. It's one giant line
with the number one giant mind. It's an app on
(34:50):
the Apples and the Android store, and it sets you
up with a thirty day challenge and the amount of
positive feedback I've had from people taking that up is wonderful.
But look, to be honest with you, meditation isn't for everyone.
And as I said, I tried mindfulness and I did
Japanese ink brush painting. There's a lot of meditation link
(35:11):
to that, and do meditation with that. And you know, really,
until I'd found what felt right for me, I hadn't
been too successful in practicing every day. So I just
encourage people to go out and an experiment and try
different things, you know, like some people like running, others
(35:32):
like to play golf or go for a walk. It's
the same thing with finding our center. Just as long
as that process. You know, it might be breath work.
I might be whim half and jumping into you know,
ice an ice bath, or getting in the ocean every
morning and going for a swim. It's just something that
(35:54):
settles the noise in our heads, that doubt, or just
makes us aware of it. That you know, we're so
much happier if we've got that noise in check and
we realize what's going on, so then at least we
can start to address it.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
And so I've heard that the type of meditation you
did with Johnny focused on a mantra. Can you tell
me about the sort of mantras that you use.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, So, the wonderful thing about having the mantra is
that it gives you something to focus on. And what
you basically do. You're given a Sanskrit word and essentially you.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Repeat that word while you're practicing your meditation.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
And the wonderful thing about the style of meditation, which
is vain meditation, is that you're taught to it's okay
to have thoughts, and that's part of you do stressing.
So what I find for that twenty minutes is that
while I'm repeating the mantra, things come up, but they're
almost dream like. They're kind of makes sense but they din't.
(37:01):
But they're obviously causing me stress, and I need to
decant them and go through a detoxifying process. By letting
them go, you know, those thoughts wonder and dissipate. And
so the great challenge for me in other forms of
meditation is that you weren't encouraged to think anything, and
that's near impossible I think for.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Humans to do it, definitely, And so is the mantras
in Sanskript, like, can you give me some examples of
ones that you use and maybe what they mean translated?
Speaker 3 (37:32):
Well, I'm not allowed to give up my mantra that's
part of all.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
But there is a generic one that's rum rum that's
on the app that that that is used.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
But we all get.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
A personalized mantra given to us by our Vedic coach
and that's based on our chakras and kind of what
they see is necessary for oatgroundings.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
That's fascinating. Now I heard that you like you meditate
in public and this was something that you've brought into
workplaces that you've been a part of. Can you tell
me like if I was, you know, just happened to
be walking into an office like you know when back
in the days where we worked in an office, like
what would I see?
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Yeah, So we had Johnny come and coach the team,
and we probably had seventy percent of our team meditating
twice per day, and we'll be a morning session around
eight am and another one around three o'clock. Now, I
generally couldn't join those group sessions, but I would do
do mine and around five or sometimes.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
At three in my office.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
But my office had big glass windows and everyone and
also I'd be in the office at eight am and
be meditating in the office. So I'd always meditate in
the office to lead by example in a very public
place where people would see me and see that I
was living what I preached.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
So, Radik, I've loved our chat for people that want
to connect with you and find out more about what
you are doing. What is the best way to do that.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
I'm most engaged on LinkedIn side. Just look me up
on LinkedIn and we'll go back to you.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
Wonderful Radick. Well, this conversation has brought a huge smile
to my face. So thank you so much for sharing
all these gems with me today.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
You're the best. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Thank you so much for listening to today's show. I
hope you found some useful tips from Radik. And if
you are not a subscriber or follower of How I Work,
now might be time to hit that button because I've
got some great episodes coming up in November, like Phil Livin,
who co founded ever Note, which is possibly your note
(39:48):
taking software of choice, and we'll be talking about all
sorts of things with Phil, including how he approaches decision
making How I Work is produced by Inventing and with
production support from Dead Set Studios. The producer for this
episode was Jenna Coder, and thank you to mat Nimba
who does the audio mix for every episode and makes
(40:08):
everything sound so much better than it would have otherwise.
See you next time.
How do you think about your health? Do you just
try to do and eat the things that are traditionally
thought of as healthy or have you dug a little
deeper to find out more about what your body wants
and needs and how it reacts to different things. Do
you even think about the mind as part of that
(00:21):
health routine? When it comes to physical and mental health,
there are so many different options out there, but how
can you know for sure that you're getting it right?
When Radik Sally was the CEO of Vitamin Giant Swiss
Wellness Group, he had a lot of time to think
(00:42):
about wellness and he's taken his investigation a little further
than most by digging deep into his DNA. He's also
not afraid to lead by example and can be regularly
found meditating just around the office. And Radik is also
a big fan of the execs I give health check,
something he now gets done religiously every couple of years.
(01:06):
So why are routines for the mind just as important
as our regular health and hygiene routines like brushing our
teeth or having a daily shower. And what can our
DNA tell us about our health habits? And what does
it mean to truly have good mental health at work.
And here's a hint, it starts with the people around you.
(01:33):
My name is doctor Amantha Imba. I'm an organizational psychologist
and the founder of Behavioral Science Consultancy Inventium, and this
is how I work a show about how to help
you do your best work. So when I was researching
for this interview with Radek, I've learned that he had
had a DNA test when him and his wife were
(01:55):
trying to get pregnant. So I was very keen to ask,
why do you do that? And what on earth does
the DNA test involve?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So a DNA test is just like a blood test.
It seems a bit scarier because a lot of sci
fi movies have run away with various subplots of what
you could do with your DNA, But ultimately the DNA
you can find out a whole lot of things about yourself.
And what we found is that we had a matching
(02:24):
DNA jeene that meant our chances of falling pregnant through
natural conception and without doing this this radical treatment that
we did was going to be very low. And so
thankfully we got onto that piece of advice and ten
years down the path. We finally had a baby girl,
so she's threed ow.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Wow, amazing. I have got a seven and a half
year old girl, so it's very very joyful. Lots of pink. Now,
what else did you find out in that DNA test
that I guess helped shape some of your health behaviors
and rituals.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Good question.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So the DNA test we did was really focused on
finding out whether we had that matching DNA, but there
was this there is an investment that we made as
a grouper's lot. Were in a company called my Dna
and that and I did the test there and that
is focused on wellness outcome. So what best matches your
DNA from a lifestyle point of view, So your diet,
(03:26):
your exercise, your capacity for digesting caffeine, So tips on
keeping your DNA as healthy as possible. And over ninety
nine percent of our DNA is influenced by lifestyle factors, so.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
We can improve the health of our DNA.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
We're not set sailing down the path of ending up
with a chronic disease unless we switch on our DNA
receptors and through through bad lifestyle choices.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
So, what have been some of the most powerful things
You've found out about yourself through DNA testing.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
That I have an extraordinary capacity for endurance, which it
doesn't surprise me now looking back at my life. But
I also get injured very easily and hence why my
knees are pretty ordinary and I struggle with running and
things like that, So that was one thing that was reassuring.
I also found out that it takes me six to
(04:21):
eight hours to process caffeine, so if I'm to have
a cup of coffee.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Late in the afternoon, I'm going to struggle with sleeping.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
And also that a Mediterranean diet is the diet of
choice for me, whereas my wife was more focused on
a plant based diet. So it really comes back to
your personal situation and with the DNA you've been blessed
with and how can optimize that.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Are there any other health tests that you've done that
have influenced like how you think about health and well
being in your life.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
I love doing an executive health check at the National
Institute of Integrated Medicine and we do that every two years,
and it's a full health check on the standard things
a stress test on your heart through to blood tests
and measuring things like cholesterol, all things that you'd go
to a doctor as a one off if you're concerned.
(05:19):
But also the benefits of this as you see a
psychologist and you have an evaluation where you're.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
At, you have a good chat about your life and stress.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
And because stress is the number one cause of all
chronic diseases, that's the.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Number one thing we need to get in hand and manage.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
And so there's a whole lot of stress markets that
are well that can be measured through your blood. And
then also they look at things like your nutrition, like
your vitamin D levels, which is a goad essential for
our health throughout winter. A respiratory system just doesn't do
well unless our D levels are optimal, and many studies
(05:56):
have shown that over fifty percent of people.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
In Melbourne alone we have a too low vitamin D levels.
And envitamin D is.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Essential for protecting us through winter through viruses and so
forth through to things like B vitamins and B vitamins
I ensure that your nervous system and your brain functions
operating correctly. So it's just a wondrous mix of great
information that I could go on about. And actually I
was just looking at the book that you get as
(06:25):
a result of that process at the end of it,
which is about a two hundred page document on your
health and how you can optimize it and do better
by it, and also markets that you need to be
aware of and regularly monitor.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And so to me, we go.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And do that with our cars very regularly by servicing them,
and we pay extraordinary amounts of money to fix our cars.
And yet when we talk about our health, we don't
think about it the same way. We should be doing
proactive system checks and how it is performing and how
we can optimize what we do each day through health.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
And in terms of your own life with general health
and wellness behaviors, I'd love to know what are some
of the daily or weekly rituals that you have in
place to just function better as a human.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Yeah, So I think number one for me is just
the state of mind and making that choice to really
concern myself about the controllables in my life and what
I can do to manage that, because every day we
just get served with a set of uncontrollables and we
need to be the.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Best state possible to deal with those uncontrollables.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
So the controllables are things like choosing to get the
right amount of sleep each night, choosing to exercise the
amount of times that make makes you feel invigorated, and
that's become more over time for me.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
And I started out with three times a week and
now I'm.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Doing five to six times a week for an hour,
and that's something that I've just found it helps me
a lot through to choosing to do things practices like yoga,
which I now do three times a week and wasn't
doing three years ago, but had done as a child.
But probably if I'm frustrated thinking if I've done it
for the last twenty years, some of those injuries that
(08:18):
I was talking about earlier, I might have managed them
in a more positive function that said, my body is
moving better than it ever has as a result of
choosing to practice those modalities.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Also meditation.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Hella and I, my wife, we gave each other the
great gift of meditation a good bet seven eight years
ago where we got a meditation coach to coach es
both because we both thought we needed meditation to help.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Us deal with stress.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
And I've done meditation as a child and many times
I've gone for mindful courses.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
But what I discovered it was the best.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Coach that got me going and making it a practice
that I'm devout to where I do twenty minutes minimum
per day and then in stressful times like we see
at the moment where there are a lot of uncontrollables,
twice a day, twenty minutes is absolute necessity and it
should be something that you look forward to, like you know,
I look forward to brushing my teeth every night or
(09:14):
having a shower every day. The state of our mind
really should be something that we make a priority.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
So that's been really important.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Choosing healthy food too, I mean the gift of doing
something healthy for your partner and preparing them a healthy
meal is a wonderful process just to go through and
to feel that that level of gratitude as a result
of doing that each other for each other. So service
and service, service in partnership with those around you, but
(09:47):
service to others around you is what I see is
essential as a leader in this day and age to
get by and see your role as a person that
serve and support those around you.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
And how does serve and support those around you? How
does that work in practice? Can you give me examples
of what that looks like with the teams that you
work with, for example.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I'd probably like to think about it from a broad
point of view first, to just to break it down
and know, we all just saw the AFL Grand Final
on the weekend, and any kind of sporting event requires
a great coach to be there to support. And if
you watch the football or any sport you might be into,
there's permission for that coach to talk openly about the
(10:30):
player's development and team strategy and how the group is
going in delivering on that. And if you saw a
team member turn around and backchat to a coach and
say mat or there was generine disagreement amongst that group
that things weren't going to plan, the team's less likely
to win. And yes, sometimes that can become you know,
(10:51):
it could be a heated moment and a challenging moment
and they get through it.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
And that ends up.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
But when that's the fine balance of service and being
there to support, the thing that's always kept me up
at night is how people feel about the work they
do and whether they feel purpose in how they go
about doing it, And that, to me is our great
responsibility as leaders in society. Our version of democracy is
(11:22):
under attack. You democracy and capitalism, and the next best
version is autocratic capitalism, and I'm not too excited about that.
And so you know, eighty percent of people work in
workplaces in these free societies and in businesses, twenty percent
only work for government. So it's our responsibility as leaders
(11:42):
to ensure that people feel really great about the work.
We'll get better performance, but also we'll have a much
happier society as.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
A result of it.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
So with the idea of feeling a sense of purpose
at work, firstly, I want to know how do you
know if you're feeling it or if you're not.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Exactly, I think the most important thing is that you're
reviewing your culture and your values as often as your
business plan and so your KPI. As you budgeting, you
focus on the numbers, and the outcomes of those numbers
need to be really closely aligned. How's the culture doing
(12:21):
and does the organization have a value set? A guide's
decision and our people brought him to that value set
and hence the culture.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
And are there specific questions that you like to ask people,
because I imagine like a lot of listeners would work in
organizations that have value stuck on the wall, Whether they're
lived or not is a whole other discussion. But you know, anecdotally,
like for example, when you're at Swiss and you're you know,
walking down the corridors back when we used to be
(12:52):
in an office, like, are there questions that you would
ask people just casually to get a sense as to
you know, people like really dialed into the purpose of
they're feeling it.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And so that's where it has to be a fundamental
choice from everyone in the organization that they are going
to brace those values. There's nothing worse than having the
values on the wall and no one connecting with them,
that there's no reason for them, that there's no decisions
that are clearly guided by them. And the number one
(13:23):
thing that went to is when anyone presents to us
that's leading one of our businesses that we're invested in,
we get them to present the business player, present the values,
and then the culture player and then communication plan along
with that.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
And I asked them to cover their eyes and repeat
the values.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
And the amount of times people don't know what they
are it just continues to kind of make me smile.
Whereas if we're talking about the revenue targets, the bunch
of targets, the cost of goods, the payroll targets.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
It's all very clear. Everyone knows KPIs. So you really
need to work really really hard on this notion of
it coming to life.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And so how we did, how I've done that in
past life, say at Swiss, was to make sure that
our choice of language is always constructive. You think about
if you go to a personal trader and they say
to you, right through your ten push ups, and you're
so halfway through that ten set of push ups and
they start telling you look tired. You're not going to
(14:21):
get through this, and this is how workplaces are.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
You know, we.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Don't use constructive, positive language. So we threw out words
like problem. At Swiss it was replaced with challenge. I
still hesitate before I say a lot of these things
because of so against our nature to use these words,
because it was so ingrained.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
It was so important for me as a leader to
reinforce you.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
Know, instead of saying I we would talk about week
all the time, and you know, we talk about LGI moments,
so learn grow and improve moments. So that's when something
went wrong, we would talk about this is an LGI
and what you can learn from because from fun.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Out, I've heard you say that the people that you
have around you are really key to having good mental
health at work. Can you tell me what you mean
by that?
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Well, I think that let's start with the basics.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
We do so much better when we're around people that
enable us to thrive.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
And that's a balance of not just telling each.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Other how great we are all the time, but also
being brave enough to say, hey, these are the areas
you need to improve it, and have enough respect in
that individual to want to make those changes to move
forward and become better.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
So I like it.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
So we've all had a bad relationship, you know, a
bad boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife, and we're just
such a not the best version of ourselves in that relationship,
and that other person wasn't either when I look back
at it. And then when you break up with them
or your friends say hey, I knew that was bad
for you, we's like, why didn't you tell me during
the situation.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
And so a lot of us.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Are in this bad relationship at work and know, for me,
whenever someone didn't click with our culture, didn't get it
and didn't want to make those positive constructive choices to
deliver to work and you know what is quite confronting
to have quite honest and genuine conversations about how we're
going to improve, but.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Also hugely rewarding.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
And the amount of people whose husband's wives partners told
me after that started working with us how much of
a better person they'd become as a result of the
wonderful culture that we had and the spy they have
in all our businesses. Just just underline this fact that
you can do it and do it in a way
(16:41):
that feels positive and great. And those one percent that
didn't work out five percent at certain times now maybe
they just want to be miserable in the workplace, and
I'd say that's wonderful. Go and be somewhere where others
are miserable, and you've all be miserable together.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Now, what's your process for vetting people if they're going
to be someone that is an energy giver as opposed
to more of an energy taker.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
Well, I think that you've got to be really careful
because you need diversity and all shapes and sizes, and
you don't want just people, you know, on that kind
of extrovert end that are just all about rah rah
and calling out this is the way we go about it.
What I really love was seeing each of it really
embrace choice of languages but doing it in their style
and way, and it was really really effective. So you
(17:30):
need to be careful over just being a genuine chemistry
that you have, But it's about assessing what you think
that the organization needs and having that kind of that
perspective that you really need that mixture of personalities to
get the best outcomes.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Just like a great.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Team needs all sorts of people with shapes and sizes
and speeds and strength to get things done, but there's
a level of high performance that's required to get amazing
out now.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
I like how you use a lot of sporting analogies
to the world of work. I'm curious what other ones
have you found really resonate with people in terms of
getting concepts to really click a land.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah, I just I'm a big one for why waste
time at work? You know, when I got my first
job out of school, I worked at Village road Show
and I started in the candy bar, and I was
getting paid casually like all my mates.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Then funk job because you're in cinemas.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
And then at the same time I was studying university,
and I was paying to go to university. I was
getting paid to learn about business and work and how
to manage people and so forth. So I worked really
hard and tiresly from there on this kind of development
of my leadership style, and there was just no room
(18:52):
for me to be any anything else but authentic because
a lot of these people that I worked with with
my mates that I would catch up with Drew in
the week for a drink outside of work, and then
I have to go to work and say, hey, guys,
we're going to upset today or we're going to make
some chop tops. And as I progressed through the ranks
and took on my role seriously and.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Saw it as this great opportunity.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
To learn, and it became as more important than my
university in the gray.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
So you know, I.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Kind of liken that sort of lifetime journey to me
making the choice that I was going to be professional
about my work, professional.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Like a sportsperson. So if you want to win one
hundred meter rays, you have to have some talent first.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
The goal that that goal at the Olympics is a
really difficult thing to do. You have to make a
whole lot of life sacrifices that are probably a whole
lot more aggressive than a lifetime in business. But there
are still a huge amount of choices that you need,
sacrifices that you need to make to be successful and
to operate at that high performance level. It won't just
happen automatically. It takes a whole lot of work and
(19:56):
commitment to it.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
So why waste your time?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
You're at work for the great This amount of your
waking hours that is your chosen profession, just like a
sportsperson has chosen that profession to be number one end,
just like a person in the arts might choose theater,
or an actor might choose to be top of aircraft.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
It is a huge amount of hard work. And you
know what I've.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Realized too now the grand age of forty five is
that I won't be a CEO again. I don't have
the energy to do that again. It's a massive effort
and it took me good ten years of my life
that I don't think I could deliver again.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
We will be back very shortly with Erratik, where we'll
be talking about why he thinks focusing on community is
the foundation for well being and also why erratic has
been known to often secretly pay for strangers coffees. Now,
if you are not fo me on the socials, but
(21:01):
you want to consume more content and get additional tips
and tricks and so forth for being better at work,
why not connect with me. I am on LinkedIn. You
can find me at Amantha INMBA. I'm also on Twitter
at Amantha and on Instagram at amantha I. And if
you do connect with me, shoot me a little note
(21:23):
to let me know that this is how you found me.
I'd love to hear from you, so, Radik, I've heard
you say that focusing on the community is a foundation
for well being. Can you tell me what you mean
by that?
Speaker 2 (21:37):
Well, it's about filling your soul, filling your cup. And
I know I talked a little bit earlier about how
culture and how can affect families and how they feel
feel so much better going to a workplace feeling purpose.
But for greater meeting and organizations to have greater meeting,
they not only have to have a purpose for making
(21:58):
I suppose the world a better place. How they go
about doing business and the products they create. Uh, that
goes also into to working with community and doing work
that's above and beyond, and you know, the meetings that
I have and again that mood barometer. If I walk
out of a meeting that I've had with it a
(22:20):
not for profit, there's a beaming smile on my face
and my wife notices the difference. And being intuitive and
aware of these sorts of things is so important and
so yeah, one thing after yeah. So so just just
that that that feeling of gratitude, contentment, and that that
(22:42):
that sense of when you give something you feels so great.
I always love giving people presents and watching the reaction
from that happened. I gave more from that than than
than receiving a president a gift. So there's just so
much joy in giving. And so to be in the
lucky position where we sold Swiss wellness for an extraordinary
(23:03):
figure and now to have, you know, to sort of
step back and get a real sense of what's important
in life. I've chosen now to spend half my time
working with community, working alongside them, and that's not because,
you know, not only because I'm giving, but I get
so much more from that and just from the interaction
(23:27):
of extraordinary leaders that are out there just doing extraordinary things.
In society and being there to support, not help, AT's
walk alongside them.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
And what do you recommend for people that are not
able to do that, because it's such a fortunate position
that you're in, So, you know, for people that aren't
able to dedicate half their life to doing not for
profit work or half their time, what do you see
as some effective, smaller ways that people can get that buzz.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
There's so many things that you can do to just
make people's day better. And so your choice in terms
of getting out of bed and making that decision to
smile at someone as they walk past you, wave, do
the unexpected. I used to me for a long time,
(24:19):
I've just paid for people's coffee, sometimes in queues well
before I've done well financially, just to get a sense
of giving. So there are little things like that going
above and beyond. And then just knowing your responsibility in
the workplace to create a great culture and trying to
find ways to create purpose and meaning in what the
(24:42):
organization does and.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
How you.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
Kind of tread on this world and the impact it
has to those around you.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
I love that example about paying for other people's coffee,
is that where you like say to the cashier, Can
I just give you some extra money for the person
behind me? Is that how that works for you?
Speaker 3 (25:05):
Or you just yeah, you.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Get you give them some extra cash and say please
just take this off the the next bill. I mean,
cash isn't as popular now, but it's a bit more challenging.
But you know, in cues and grocery cues too, you know,
you might have an elderly person that you know, we
should be looking towards with respect and love. Again, just
just putting an extra fifty one hundred dollars towards their bill.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
That's so cool. What are some other examples of things
that you do, like, whether that be in the workplace
or around your community, just those little things that really
like light up someone's day.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I think it's just been thoughtful and asking people questions
as to what interests them or what's happening and you
know what might be challenging them. And you know, sometimes
it's organizing an appointment with the doctor or a chiropractor
or an osteopath or acupuncture specialists and helping them deal
(26:10):
with something. So it's just asking questions, been truly interested
and then taking that a step further by doing something.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
That's so cool. So you might speak to someone like
a friend or a colleague and they would express a
problem and you would go, hey, I'm going to book
you in to see this person. That's really awesome. Is
that right? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Absolutely? Or well you might know about a friend that's
going going out for an anniversary dinner that has been
really special to you for a long time, and give
that restaurant a call and pay the bill.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
That's so awesome. I love that. And what are some
things that you do, like back at Swiss for example,
Just like just those little things that really make a
big difference to people. I'd love to hear some examples.
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Well, this simple as language, And we talked a little
about a bit about the fact we chose words like
challenge instead of problem and instead of that there was
an issue with someone's performance, you know, in terms of
giving them feedback, would say, it's a learn, grow and
improve moment, an LGI moment, and so just opening up
(27:20):
with a little bit of humor and softening the situation
with positive anecdotes for how we can improve instead of
dealing with something in a negative way. You can so
quickly turn around a situation and it feels so much better.
You know, all of these things, you feel better as
much as the other person feels better if you're if
you're just awares of the way you approach things. So
(27:44):
you know, being a bit dorky is good fun. And
that's why a lot of the things I'm saying is
it sounds a bit dorky, but you know, that's a
good thing in life. I don't know if we're playful
enough in our everyday lives. We've got to have a
little bit of fun and just soften the moments, remember
that we're we're all human.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
You mentioned gift giving and just you know the joy
that you get from giving, and I can definitely relate
to that like I you know, I love sending people
things in the mail, you know, whether it's a book,
whether it's some flowers or a bottle of champagne. It's funny.
One of my close friends just started a new job,
(28:25):
and I'd arranged for a bottle of champagne and some
flowers to be sent to her on her first day,
because it's a weird time to start a job at
the moment, because you don't go into an office. It's
a bit anti climactic. So I thought that would be
a really cool thing. And her start date changed about
four times, so I felt like every day I was
emailing the Hamper company, going, we just need to change
(28:46):
the date again, we need to change the date again.
But I'd love to know, like what a you know
the topic of you know, playfulness and fun. What are
some fun gifts that you've done that you've given to
people that have brought a lot of joy.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Well, first of all, even just you sharing that story,
I was beaming smiling the whole way through at the
other end, and I can hear you with the same
And isn't that just the one wonderful thing that you
get from giving? And it's just such a nice remind
And I'm sure our listeners are feeling the same way
because they're all going back to that warm place that
(29:20):
you go to when you have that opportunity to give
someone that the unexpected and that's the key in life.
And so part of it was also setting up situations
where you created rewards for the team and those rewards
(29:42):
would be unexpected. So we did what was called a
H and H day Health and Happiness Day. We announced
at an end of year where we've done really well.
It was many years ago, back at Swiss time in
Swiss days, and so we gave people a day off
when when there was a public holiday in that month,
(30:02):
and it was fantastic and it was beautifully received. But
the one thing I'd say with warning is that if
you need to be careful around structuring gifts to those
people that have gratitude about it and thinking about how
they can step up their game too and give back.
(30:24):
So it's a constructive relationship, not just a one way relationship.
Sometimes it can be that way spontaneously, but not the norm.
And when you start to create as a normal in
a great culture, I think it's really important to create
performance around that and high performance and making sure that
you're getting this much back both ways. And it's the
(30:45):
same even with my not for profit organizations that I
work with. Sometimes it can be very one way and
there's not much regard for how much work that's actually
being done, and you kind of lose your wie and
that's not healthy. So it needs to make sure that
whatever you're doing, you're feeling better about it, it's making
forel warm and you're both gaining from it in their
(31:07):
equal way. And that's why I always say that we
don't help organizations, we walk alongside them because we gain
as much back from the knowledge, their inspiration and what
they're doing as working with them. So going back to
those performance measures in a corporate organization, you need to
make sure that it's geared around high performance and if
(31:29):
the team are performing great And so we actually had
to turn that H and H day, the Health and
Happiness Day into something that you earned out of having
a conversation with your manager on how you're performing. So
then that conversation has had too so people understood where
they stood and there was good open feedback on how
we can improve and do better, and then there was
(31:50):
a reward for good behavior that was mutually agreed and
it would be very rare. People wouldn't get it because
they wouldn't last long in the culture because again, if
it was one way, the organization would quick you know,
it wouldn't be me that would have to drive at
the organization, and peers around them would suggest it's probably
not the place that they're going to be happiest in.
(32:12):
Some people just love being miserable, so they're better off
working with other miserable people.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Definitely, Definitely, and for people that like like, Oh, I'd
love to do volunteer work, but I just don't even
know where to start. Like how does one find volunteer
work or not for profit that they want to volunteer for?
Like where do you start?
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Well, I think it's about thinking about your superpowers. We've
all got superpowers that we do things, you know, particularly
better than other things in our lives. So we need
to think about that and think about where we're going
to offer most. And then once we've got a good
sense of what that superpower is, we start to think
about our circle around us and asking, you know, are
(32:59):
there people that might be better off with the support
of your superpowers? And so, Yeah, aligning yourself with organizations
that are aligned with your cause and on what you're
looking to do is really really important, and it takes time.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
It's a constant journey.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
And I've been involved with some not for profits for
most of my working life twenty twenty five years, and
others have come in and out, and others I've connected
with in the last five six years that I see
a lifetime ahead of working with them.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
I want to come back to meditation. I'm intrigued by
the fact that you got a coach. And I also
heard that from Josh Pitterman, who I have had on
the show and is actually someone that mentioned you and
said what a good guest you would be as and
I said before we started recording, I've followed your career
for years and I'm a fan from afar. But in
(33:58):
terms of getting a coach for meditation, how did you
even go about finding a coach that was going to
be the right fit for you?
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Well, the universe still visit you what you wanted if
you focus your intent on it enough. And so funnily enough,
we'd talked to probably two or three other people about
meditation and they both mentioned this coach, and so it
just felt like that it was the right thing to
follow that calling and follow that circle of people that
(34:27):
you know, we like a track's like and you have
these kind of conversations with and we did it under
recommendation as a result of conversation. And yeah, we looked
up Johnny and you know, he's amazing and thankfully for everyone,
you can do his free course. It's one giant line
with the number one giant mind. It's an app on
(34:50):
the Apples and the Android store, and it sets you
up with a thirty day challenge and the amount of
positive feedback I've had from people taking that up is wonderful.
But look, to be honest with you, meditation isn't for everyone.
And as I said, I tried mindfulness and I did
Japanese ink brush painting. There's a lot of meditation link
(35:11):
to that, and do meditation with that. And you know, really,
until I'd found what felt right for me, I hadn't
been too successful in practicing every day. So I just
encourage people to go out and an experiment and try
different things, you know, like some people like running, others
(35:32):
like to play golf or go for a walk. It's
the same thing with finding our center. Just as long
as that process. You know, it might be breath work.
I might be whim half and jumping into you know,
ice an ice bath, or getting in the ocean every
morning and going for a swim. It's just something that
(35:54):
settles the noise in our heads, that doubt, or just
makes us aware of it. That you know, we're so
much happier if we've got that noise in check and
we realize what's going on, so then at least we
can start to address it.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
And so I've heard that the type of meditation you
did with Johnny focused on a mantra. Can you tell
me about the sort of mantras that you use.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, So, the wonderful thing about having the mantra is
that it gives you something to focus on. And what
you basically do. You're given a Sanskrit word and essentially you.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
Repeat that word while you're practicing your meditation.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
And the wonderful thing about the style of meditation, which
is vain meditation, is that you're taught to it's okay
to have thoughts, and that's part of you do stressing.
So what I find for that twenty minutes is that
while I'm repeating the mantra, things come up, but they're
almost dream like. They're kind of makes sense but they din't.
(37:01):
But they're obviously causing me stress, and I need to
decant them and go through a detoxifying process. By letting
them go, you know, those thoughts wonder and dissipate. And
so the great challenge for me in other forms of
meditation is that you weren't encouraged to think anything, and
that's near impossible I think for.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Humans to do it, definitely, And so is the mantras
in Sanskript, like, can you give me some examples of
ones that you use and maybe what they mean translated?
Speaker 3 (37:32):
Well, I'm not allowed to give up my mantra that's
part of all.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
But there is a generic one that's rum rum that's
on the app that that that is used.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
But we all get.
Speaker 2 (37:48):
A personalized mantra given to us by our Vedic coach
and that's based on our chakras and kind of what
they see is necessary for oatgroundings.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
That's fascinating. Now I heard that you like you meditate
in public and this was something that you've brought into
workplaces that you've been a part of. Can you tell
me like if I was, you know, just happened to
be walking into an office like you know when back
in the days where we worked in an office, like
what would I see?
Speaker 2 (38:20):
Yeah, So we had Johnny come and coach the team,
and we probably had seventy percent of our team meditating
twice per day, and we'll be a morning session around
eight am and another one around three o'clock. Now, I
generally couldn't join those group sessions, but I would do
do mine and around five or sometimes.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
At three in my office.
Speaker 2 (38:43):
But my office had big glass windows and everyone and
also I'd be in the office at eight am and
be meditating in the office. So I'd always meditate in
the office to lead by example in a very public
place where people would see me and see that I
was living what I preached.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
So, Radik, I've loved our chat for people that want
to connect with you and find out more about what
you are doing. What is the best way to do that.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
I'm most engaged on LinkedIn side. Just look me up
on LinkedIn and we'll go back to you.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
Wonderful Radick. Well, this conversation has brought a huge smile
to my face. So thank you so much for sharing
all these gems with me today.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
You're the best. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
Thank you so much for listening to today's show. I
hope you found some useful tips from Radik. And if
you are not a subscriber or follower of How I Work,
now might be time to hit that button because I've
got some great episodes coming up in November, like Phil Livin,
who co founded ever Note, which is possibly your note
(39:48):
taking software of choice, and we'll be talking about all
sorts of things with Phil, including how he approaches decision
making How I Work is produced by Inventing and with
production support from Dead Set Studios. The producer for this
episode was Jenna Coder, and thank you to mat Nimba
who does the audio mix for every episode and makes
(40:08):
everything sound so much better than it would have otherwise.
See you next time.
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