Alumni Profile: John Kolm
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Degree: Arts 1983 Current Position: CEO of Team Results, Washington DC, USA As the author of workplace happiness book Crocodile Charlie and the Holy Grail, US-based entrepreneur John Kolm often appears on radio and in the press to talk about happiness and productivity at work. Here, John tells us more about the challenges of balancing a writing and speaking career, family commitments and his ‘real’ job as CEO of global team dynamics consultancy firm Team Results. |
How did you get into this line of work?
I went straight from Melbourne University into the Defence Department on St Kilda Road, and ended up doing intelligence work for ten years. I also did some further studies in mathematics in the US. Somewhere along the way I got less interested in gadgets and projects and more interested in people. Like the Robin Williams character in Good Will Hunting, I moved from mathematics to human beings.
I left the intelligence business, ended up far higher in the public service than I really wanted to be, and quit to start Team Results. An ex-RAAF fighter pilot named Peter Ring and I started the company on a farm in New South Wales with no business plan and about $2500 in the bank. When I mentor new entrepreneurs, I tell them not to do it the way we did it!
Since then, Team Results has expanded into the USA, China, Singapore and New Zealand. I live in Washington DC with my family and travel regularly to deliver programs, coaching and talks.
Tell us about the book.
We worked with corporate clients like Toyota and BHP for years, and then decided to capture all the wisdom of their people and work teams in a book. The starting point was the notes we’d made from hundreds of team and leadership programs with them. Crocodile Charlie is now sold out in the Penguin edition – you can get it online, though – and I’m working on the sequel. My publisher thinks I’m further along than I really am. Don’t tell them.
How do you balance running team programs, writing, speaking and real life?
Family first, work second, friends third, everything else fourth. Some people may not list work so highly, but this is my business and it’s also my passion and fun. Teams are the only things left in business that confer a real competitive advantage. It’s no accident that all really successful companies invest in happy and successful work teams.
What else do you do for fun?
I mentor some young people, do the occasional talk at a university, and help other entrepreneurs. My family is into tour biking, climbing and caving, and I also love scuba diving on wrecks. I gave up cave diving, though – it’s too hard to get life insurance.
Is it okay if people contact you?
With pleasure! Just drop me a line to john.kolm@teamresults.com.au.
