The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal
01:14:10 · Vidit Agarwal, Alan Joyce
[01:14:10] S0: Well, one CEO I know who's not a CEO anymore, I think you know this person as well, he told me he changed his phone number every time he did a new CEO job. Ah, okay. Which I thought was very interesting and he said it was because of the reason that a lot of the relationships are transactional. So he was like, I don't want you in my life. If you can find my new phone number, great. Otherwise, you're out of my life. Yeah. [01:14:31] S1: No, so that's interesting. I've had the same phone number for my entire life. I've never felt a need to change it. Somebody publishes and I get views, maybe I would. But it's, and it is interesting because it depends on what drives you as well. Is it that, and that attention never really was something I thought was important. And I think at the same time, it's also you do know who your friends are, but if you didn't know that before you started the job, and who was close to you, I think you're a bad judge of friends. So I have the same friends I've had all the way through. I have the same people I trust implicitly. I have the same people that I love being with, and they've all continued. And if you have to have people dropping out, then you're probably weren't a good judge of them in the first place. [01:15:20] S0: Yeah, yeah, I think there's some truth to that for sure. Tell me present day, so you've been out of the Qantas role, what is it three years now? Just about three years, [01:15:28] S1: Yes, three years.
01:15:28 · Alan Joyce, Vidit Agarwal
[01:15:28] S1: Yes, three years. [01:15:30] S0: Yes, you've had a lot of time to process that and it's hopefully out of the washing machine now. You've written this book, you mentioned earlier about the advisory business, which you can touch on. If someone comes to you tomorrow and says, Alan, I've got a CEO job of a big company or I've got a chair of the board job of a public company, would you sign the contract? [01:15:49] S1: I've had hetto this come to me, you should expect, about being CEOs of airlines and other companies around the world, and I have no interest in doing that. I was the CEO of what I think was the best airline in the world. I've enjoyed doing that. I did that for a long time. And I thought, you know, being there, done that, don't want to do it. I'm very keen on working with my ex colleagues new projects, but I don't want to get that same level of intensity that we had before. I don't think that's for me. You're, you know, an airline CEO is intense. I think they are dog years. They're more than a normal CEO, I think, and I did that for twenty years. So that's certainly out of my system. Mine now is looking at new opportunities, new businesses, and get involved with them maybe as part of equity or involved with them as part of sweat equity. But it's not to be a CEO of a company again. That's not for me. [01:16:55] S0: And what about the board? If someone comes to you as chair of the board, would you take that?
01:16:55 · Vidit Agarwal, Alan Joyce
[01:16:55] S0: And what about the board? If someone comes to you as chair of the board, would you take that? [01:17:00] S1: Same thing again. I've had people approach me on that. Again, airlines around the globe. What I'm keen on is this new business. That's what we're focus is. I'm also doing a bit of speaking engagements. I'm doing a lot of travel from a personal point of view, which I like doing, and anything that get gets impacted on that, is not something I I want to do. And I think you you... It was an interesting perspective having left. I think I got to focus on what I think are my good priorities now and understanding what drives me. And I know people like going from CEO to CEO, and some people are driven by that. But when you've done it, I think the average, we talked about the average life of the CEO is five years. I've done it for twenty years, so that's equivalent to having done it four times in the country. Do I need to do it again? No, I don't feel that's something that interests me or drives me. That's not something that I'm keen on.
01:18:00 · Vidit Agarwal
[01:18:00] S0: Doctor I'm curious about identity. So I've been running my own business now for seven years, and I met my wife just as I was starting my business. And one of the things she always says to me, when I met her I always said to her that work is not my life, work is one of the things I do. Now she says, she's like work is your life, like the business is you and you are the business. And it is very much candidly a part of my identity. When I meet someone I want them to approve me. Absolutely, I have that desire. How does it feel for you? Because previously you were quanta CEO, you'd go to a party or you'd speak to someone and they'd go, here's Alan, quanta CEO. Now you don't have that title, which is we've talked about for the reasons why, but how does that change your own identity? Do you walk around now going, you kind of miss a piece of yourself?
01:18:48 · Alan Joyce
[01:18:48] S1: I think it... I would say to you that's not healthy if that's how you define yourself, because I think of myself as as broader than that, and I always have. I'm a husband, I'm a brother, I'm a friend. I'm somebody that likes those personal connections. I'm somebody that has other interests outside of the of work. You know, Rod Eddington, who was the CEO of Ansett, had a great expression. We work to live. We don't live for work. And I've always thought that was the right balance, and work at times can become all encompassing. And absolutely no doubt, when I was setting up Jetstar, when I was running Qantas, at times it became all encompassing, and it became you it became you because you had to focus in on it. But I'm not sure that's healthy. I don't think that's the way you should view your life. I think hopefully everybody's broader than that and bigger than that, and I certainly think that's the case. And it's freed me up, you know. It's like having a big, huge planet in your solar system, which was your job as CEO, and that's moved out. And then it's got the solar system of the other things that are you to be more balanced. And I think that's healthy. And I think that's why everybody should aim for, because that's what life is all about.
01:20:10 · Vidit Agarwal
[01:20:10] S0: I agree and it's something that's one of my development areas, so absolutely. Two questions and then we can move to rapid fire sprint to wrap this up. One, you've met some fascinating people through your time, right? People you've learned from, people you've admired. I love asking people if you could visualise a metaphorical learning room and you have five seats. So you have one seat and you can invite four people, and ideally people you know so it can't be random celebrities and people that you've admired. Would be the four people you'd love to spend a couple of hours with and just ask questions? People you know.