“Putting the customer in the centre of all we do is why we have been successful” says Carol Johnson, COO of Sensis Yellow Pages. And success is indeed the case. Telstra has just announced 8.4% growth for Sensis, Australia’s Yellow and White Pages. While the paper product has lost value in other parts of the world the Sensis team has increased organic print revenue by 3.3% (which is especially impressive given the first half is when they close the big Metro books). The Yellow Pages Metro campaigns have seen the highest first half revenue growth in four years. White Pages exceeded double digit growth again! And there was triple digit growth (21%) achieved for Sensis’ online advertising for Real Estate, Auto and IT sites in China.

While this is exciting news it has created a bit of a dilemma for our management team. On Friday we called an emergency management meeting to determine whether it would be better working as an “Island Caretaker” on the Great Barrier Reef or putting our occasional online promotional efforts behind Sensis? We went through an analysis to come to our conclusion.

The job (as posted on the Internet) as “Island Caretaker” on the Great Barrier Reef involves some serious tasks and there have been 34,000 applicants from over 200 different countries. This indicates some pretty fierce competition for the job. As “Island Caretaker” we would be required to feed the fish, (Prasad, our CIO, has first dibbs on this since he has memorized every variety of marine life and their preferred choice of cuisine), clean the pool, (John, our VP of Sales, claims to have expert experience in this area having worked as a pool boy during his early education years), and report to Tourism Queensland and the world, (it would be my role to blog and tweet about the virtues and bliss of island life in the hopes of generating some visitor traffic to the island). Now compensation seems to be guaranteed in the form of warm weather, (at -35 Celsius in Winnipeg, Canada this has been a strong motivating factor in our job application), blue skies, crystal water and pure sand. While we will need our lawyer to review the contract carefully, in essence this opportunity is being touted as “The Best Job in the World”. We have agreed that our best strategy is a “leap of faith” under these unique circumstances.

Now, regarding Sensis, we feel there is a rather natural fit here. The duties are not specified other than to share the truth, and it appears only if we are inclined to do so. It is hard not to be inclined to do so when you look at the extraordinary story behind Sensis’ success. It is one of a group of very talented women who turned around an industry through extraordinary leadership, vision, and collaboration. Their mantra of “I think I can win” is an energy and spirit that permeates the whole cross-functional team. The employees I have had the opportunity to exchange communications with are excited to be a part of “their” company’s success. The company cares and they in turn care for the company. Part of the reengineering included reversing the management model putting employees and customers first. This is central to the foundation and to the awesome results of year after year growth in usage, revenue, and shareholder value.

Great leaders know how to touch hearts and make a positive difference in the lives of everyone they encounter. They are not arrogant or proud, boastful or self-centered. They embrace differences and motivate through simple acts of kindness. When faced with difficulty you know them through their actions. They can heal with a smile, a touch, or a wise word. Great leaders have followers who want to be around them. Gandhi, Churchill, and Mother Teresa all had an enormous number of followers. There is a grass roots momentum at Sensis that has been evidenced for a couple of years now that leads one to conclude that there is exceptional leadership talent at work and play there.

Could the Sensis leadership team have an impact in the North American marketplace? Could their inspirational story and leadership attract a whole new breed of leaders that in turn would be like Sensis, care about their directory and agency customers, make time to meet for feedback, input and to solve issues, be committed through their actions to growing strong relationships and celebrating the successes in the mutual promotion of the industry sector? Carol Johnson will be a Key Note presenter at the upcoming YPA Convention in April. I guess time will tell. In the meantime, we can dream.

So, while the “Island Caretaker” position looks very enticing our team has agreed that we will chose to continue to support and applaud Sensis from our whole heart in return for Kiwis. (i.e. John has asked that I clarify that I am referring to “the fruit”).  Our address is: 201,701 Pembina Hwy, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3M 2L7 (sometimes mail sent to the geographic centre of North America or the coldest place on earth, gets through).

Meeting adjourned.