Page 72 - Food&Drink Magazine November-December 2021

REAR VIEW REVIEW 5
This year we launched our Rear View page in the magazine. Each issue we asked one of the industry’s leaders five questions about themselves and their career. They were told, ‘don’t think too hard, don’t dwell on the question, just tell it how it is’. The responses they gave, particularly around what they had learnt from their mistakes and what they would tell their younger self, were insightful and valuable. Here’s a snapshot of what they said...
A rear view of the fast
SPC ARDMONA
CEO ROBERT GILES
“I think I stayed in my
comfort zone for too
long. Over the years,
I’ve learned that it’s important to continue learning and developing. To do that you need to keep some sweat under your collar and keep pushing yourself.”
CORDINA FARMS CEO LOUISE CORDINA
ACCOLADE
WINES CEO
ROBERT FOYE
“My biggest
mistake in the
past was not realising that a successful business is about people and continuous improvement, not achieving success with single projects or at a specific point in time. When you build the right team and culture, you drive continuous innovation and improvement, and you learn as you go from your failures. The results are exponential.”
MURRAY RIVER ORGANICS CEO BIROL AKDOGAN
“ Believe in yourself more – it’s going to be ok. Change is a constant, and you can’t plan for everything, but you can learn to be flexible, adaptable and most of all resilient. Everyone is far stronger than what they really know.”
LION CEO STUART IRVINE
“At Lion you really see the power of sociability in
making people’s lives better, but the more that you
look at it you realise that to make the world a better place, that sociability has to include all humans,
not just your tribe. That would be a goal I want to achieve.
“Study the philosophy of how to lead a good life and start living it. Time is shorter than you think.”
“ Take others along with you for the challenges as well as the triumphs. It’s tempting to go into solutions mode and insulate others when things get a bit tough, but it’s important to keep communication open and not try to save the world alone!”
72 | Food&Drink business | November - December 2021 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au