Episode 30: Role models have helped me to value my leadership role and my life equally, with Nick Munroe

Leadership Amplified by Dr Karen Morley

Nick is Executive General Manager at Terrywhite Chemmart, and he reflected on his leadership journey and philosophy in our discussion for Leadership Amplified. Nick's sense of balance has been one of the hallmarks of his career, inspired by teachers, family and other business leaders. While at school he’d held leadership roles, for example as sports captain, but it was only as he was leaving school that one of his teachers called out his leadership ability. He was seen as a leader by his peers: she called out his role modelling, and this gave him a first sense of what leadership was, and that he could do it. When he reflected on the comments leadership began to take shape for him. Her comments encouraged a confidence to take on key leadership roles, coaching others and developing people. Nick says it took him a while to decide what he wanted to do with his career, he undertook study and worked in a wide range of different organisations, then fell into his retail career as a graduate with Aldi. From there, it has flourished. He subscribes to the KISS principle as his leadership theory, keeping it simple by focusing on engaging people to deliver results. This philosophy has served him well, particularly through the last several years of such rapid change. Nick tells the fabulous story of his parents running their own business and how that continues to inspire him COVID and its impact on retail pharmacy compelled Nick to evolve his leadership style to put more emphasis on people than ever: he says it’s critical to focus on your people and build trust for what you are trying to achieve. ‘Leadership is not an individual sport, you need followers’ To lead successfully you need to shift the source of your esteem from you to the team, says Nick. Seeing the team and the business get the results should be what it’s all about.