Hamish Thomson – Curiosity, Challenge, and passing on life lessons
“TS Elliot penned the phrase, “If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?”
Personally, I always want to know how tall I can be.”
- Hamish Thomson.
On the launch of his first book ‘It’s not always right to be right and other hard-won leadership lessons’, we sat down (over email) with Hamish Thomson, Massey alumnus, to learn a bit about his post-Massey story.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) in 1990, like many young Massey grads before and after him, Hamish Thomson looked at the wider world and was curious. That curiosity took Hamish and his growing family to countries all over the world from the Netherlands and England to America and Australia, and Hamish’s career from copywriter in the London advertising scene to CEO/regional president roles with large international brands like Reebok and Mars.
“From a career perspective, I desperately wanted to get into the world of advertising following my business/marketing degree at Massey. My degree greatly facilitated my entry into advertising and the respective brand roles that followed. The London agency scene was great fun for a young Kiwi of 21 years old and certainly an eye opener for an ex-Timaru and Lower Hutt boy.”
These days Thomson calls Sydney home, where his ‘day job’ is working with and advising various start-ups and multi-nationals on both strategic direction and leadership. In addition to this, there are advisor board roles, and a position as a non-exec director of OzHelp Foundation, one of Australia’s leading men’s mental health and suicide prevention charities, a cause which Hamish is passionate about. He no longer holds a fulltime leadership role, resigning completely from Mars Incorporated to make space in his life to begin a new challenge, writing a book.
“My wife and former boss still think I was crazy to resign as they [Mars Incorporated] are an exceptionally values-based business to work for. I just needed a fresh challenge as I’m inherently a restless character.”
The decision to choose writing as a new challenge came from more than just a desire to do something completely new and push himself out of his comfort zone. A joy in writing, learned during his earliest working days as copywriter in London and a desire to document the life lessons he had learned for his children to read also played a significant role in his decision.
“I initially wrote [the book] simply as a bunch of lessons and insights for my three kids. Every day when you are at work, you do your very best to try and coach, develop, and unlock the potential in others. I wanted to document something for my own kids that would hopefully make them at their very best. Not necessarily business wise, but life in general. Whether they read every page or not is a different story mind you.”
To that end ‘It’s not always right to be right’ portrays 30 years of lived experiences in the corporate world, along with dozens of practical action-oriented models and frameworks to implement the leadership lessons outlined.
In addition to Thomson’s own lessons, there are 17 additional contributing authors who critique the opinions and perspectives he presents. Each is a global leader in their field (CEO’s, diplomats, consultants, general counsels, and coaches) and they bring a wealth of thought diversity to the book.
The book itself took four months of writing, which Thomson describes as “great fun” and three months of editing and proofing with publisher Wiley Publishing. “They were exceptional, but the process drove me crazy. Patience is not a strong trait of mine.”
Looking back
Looking back at the journey that has led him to this point and the part his time studying at Massey played in it, no part is bigger than what happened on his second night (the first he still can’t remember) on campus. “I met my beautiful wife who still to this day is way out of my league. This makes up for any lingering painful memories of all-night last-minute exam study sessions!” Though there were he feels, gaps between the theory-oriented learning at the time and actual corporate realities, the diversity on campus, intellectual stimulation, and how he learned to appreciate different ways of thinking and doing was hugely beneficial to him.
Beyond this Thomson blames the Palmerston North pub scene (The Fitz, Carlton, Majestic…) for quite a limited memory base, but some events, (tour-de-kegs, champagne breakfasts, Easter tournaments, rugby games versus the Mothers Motorcycle club), and some amazing life-long friendships stand out despite this.
“Like most, my years at Massey remain some of my fondest. I encourage my fellow alumni to stay connected. It is always a great feeling when a past name pops up on your feed.”
Hamish Thomson’s book is out now