Ian Ash has been fortunate to have held a wide range of positions in the business world, with a track record of success, and currently puts that experience to good use as managing director of OrgMent Business Solutions. His company provides business advisory, coaching and mentoring services to help transform the business performance of small to medium enterprises. Ian is a credited associate of the Institute of Independent Business, which gives him access to a global and national network. He has a real passion for working with businesses to get results they didn’t think were possible. Wife Kristine works in the not-for-profit sector for Everyday Hero and they have two children – James 30, a pharmacist, and Laura, 29, a clinical psychologist. Ian and Kristine have lived in the Casey-Cardinia region since 1998 and are currently building a new home in Upper Beaconsfield.
Describe a typical working day…
The best thing about what I do is that I don’t have a typical working day. The work is so varied. I do similar things – working on business strategy and training – but because the businesses are so different, nothing is the same. That’s what I love about my job.
What are your impressions of the Casey Cardinia Region from a business perspective?
I don’t think we have reached anywhere near to where we are going to be. The best is still to come – by far. The region has huge potential and there is a great deal of pride and innovation in the business community. We have a quite robust collaboration; people with similar services willing to work together for mutual benefit. However, I have seen a reluctance to be trained and take advice. I know that plays in to my area of business, but I think we need to develop that more.
What has been your biggest career success to date?
I was really proud, when working as an engineer, to be invited to lead an international team at Bell Labs for AT&T in Chicago for two years. It had a huge impact on me from a professional sense and, in a personal sense, gave me the opportunity to live and work overseas. In more recent years, I particularly enjoyed working with Greenview Accounting Group when it was judged Cardinia’s Shire Business of the Year in 2013.
What has been your biggest career failure to date?
Before starting my own business I headed up a Boeing subsidiary in Australia, working on aviation simulation systems. I managed to reduce the losses of the company but didn’t manage to get it in to profitable territory, which was disappointing.
What did you learn from that experience?
I really took three things out of that, which now shape what I do to a large degree. 1- The importance of having a good business model; I didn’t really understand what it was at the time. 2- I realised I didn’t need to have all the answers. As a CEO you don’t need to know all the answers, but you have to know where to get them. 3- The need for good systems and processes – you have to know your numbers.
If you had to invite five people to a business luncheon, who would they be and why?
Malcolm Turnbull – I have met Malcolm and he is one of the nicest people I have come across.
US President Barack Obama – He has such presence and charisma. You can tell his thinking is external and not about him. He must be the least shallow of all American presidents.
Steve Jobs – He is a must because of his acute thinking and ability to see things from a different perspective – his ability to make the impossible seem possible.
Einstein – I did a degree in applied mathematics and I am still fascinated by relativity. By simple observations, he came up with a model that changed the way we view the universe.
Jim Collins – The author of books like Good to Great, Built to Last and How the Mighty Fall, he put years of study into business and leadership.
I realise it would be pretty heavy dinner conversation and I was tempted to put singer Lana Del Ray in there to lighten it up a bit, as long as she sat next to me!
How do you relax away from work?
My wife would say I don’t get to relax that often, but I think I do. I am probably a lot busier running my own business, but not nearly as stressed as I used to be. I play the guitar and get it out when I can for half an hour at night. I enjoy running, mainly for fun but competitively on occasions. I do the Puffing Billy Fun Run every year. I also like to walk and have been known to enjoy a sip of red wine.
Tell us something most people would not know about you?
A few years back I learned to fly an aircraft. I have always had a passion for flying and as a kid wanted to become a pilot. I’m glad I didn’t do that now, because it’s a bit like being a glorified bus driver. What do they say – five per cent terror, 95 per cent boredom? I don’t fly much now but (wry smile) when the business starts to take off I might have to take it up again. I do love the freedom of getting up into the air.
What is your business mantra?
To be open to new ideas, input and insights. You can always learn things from other people – we don’t know what we don’t know.
