Edition number 20; dateline 2 June 2011
Who’s whom
As the weather pretends its November these people have the umbrella of a new job to keep them dry:
Iain G Morrison has been appointed as head of marketing and communications at Greenwich Leisure Ltd where he will develop and implement a 360° marketing strategy; Football NSW has announced that Eddie Moore has been appointed as the organisation's new chief executive; Alex Newton has been appointed the performance manager of British Fencing; Tim Hollingsworth is to leave UK Sport in July to become CEO of Paralympics GB; and the Rugby Football Union has continued its recent overhaul with the appointment of Sophie Goldschmidt as the new chief commercial officer. Goldschmidt will join the RFU by mid-July from the National Basketball Association (NBA) where she is senior vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa Operations. Brian Morris, chief executive of Melbourne and Olympic Parks, has been named as the new president of the Venue Management Association (VMA); David Beckham is now Samsung’s Olympic ambassador
Who’s looking for whom
And these people are looking for someone to join them in stirring rendition of Singin’ in the Rain:
If you fancy telling the All Blacks what to do, the New Zealand Rugby Union need a general manager in charge of business development based in Wellington; while the England Hockey Board also need a business development manager, based in Marlow; Pro Active East London have over £36,000 per annum to give to an experienced project manager; Manchester Camerata need a £20,000-per-year marketing manager who might not know anything about classical music; DC Leisure are after a swimming development manager in Walton-on-Thame; someone who will relish the challenge of working with community networks in North East Derbyshire is required by the Community Sport Trust; the good people at Sport Nottinghamshire are looking for a youth sport manager with expected remuneration in the region of £40,000; and the Royal College of Art require a dean for their school of fine art.
the people page
comings, goings, jobs and a personal spotlight
Spotlight: Richard Grazier
What is your current position?
Director of sales and marketing for Gladstone Ltd, including health and leisure, Australia and education
What will be your biggest challenge over the next twelve months?
In vertical market software companies the key tool we have at our disposal is the brains of our employees. So my biggest challenge over the next twelve months will be continuing to work with and developing the individuals who work for us to be the very best that they can, for themselves and for our customers. In a fast-paced environment it is sometimes easy to find plenty of other things to do but making time to develop people is time very well spent and some of these will importantly go on to be future leaders within our business.
Apart from your current post, which job within sport and leisure sector would you most like to do?
Commercial director for Portsmouth Football Club.
Who or what has inspired you in your career?
Initially I was going to say my grandfather, who started work on the factory floor sweeping up and then went on to have a career in politics and the aircraft industry. Of note, he received through his work in politics the British Empire Medal for services to education, and he is a really good role model for me and many others. He lived his life with the principle that the difference between good and great is extra effort. However, more recently I would say my two young children Alexandra (7) and James (5) are my inspiration. They ask questions without worrying if they are silly or not, which often challenges my own paradigms. When I look them in the eye I want them to be so proud of me and to be the very best that I can.
What advice would you offer to a young person entering the industry?
In my experience the most important advice I would give someone is that not one person has all of the answers and that a career is a constant process of learning. Come to work with hunger and enthusiasm to constantly improve and to be the very best that you can. That’s a skill as an employer we cannot train. Good listening skills are the key and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. That’s how we learn and we all make them. Trying and not getting it right first time, is much better than not trying at all.
Which single thing could improve the sector?
With the ageing population I would like to see closer and clearer links between the fitness and leisure sector and the NHS and health sector. This includes improved awareness and communication on being healthy, educating the population about healthy eating, right through to the reason why participation in physical activity is so important.
What could the sector do without?
Inflexibility such as long-term contracts still acting as a disincentive to get the other 88% of the population through the door. And second, does the inflexibility of memberships, whereby they cannot be tailored more specifically to match our individual needs and lifestyle, also restrict participation? After all, the type of flexibility needed in the fitness, leisure and sport sector is already evident in many other service sectors, so it's something we are used to.
Where do you hope to be in ten years time?
It seems that keeping your job as the President of FIFA is easy so maybe I will give that a go!
