How does it feel for somebody that was running a partner business to be on the other side of the fence?
One benefit coming from Australia is that your peers can be your friends although you are competing with each other. If there had been animosity it would have made it difficult for those people to be my customers. It's interesting being at the Cisco Partner Summit because I came to 10 of these as a partner and this is my third working for Cisco. The transition took me a while because at first I was behaving almost like a partner. That's an advantage in some ways because one of the reasons Cisco wanted me to be part of the team was because I had a partner perspective that I could bring to planning conversations. The Australian partners pull my leg about it all the time.
What do you do when you're not at work?
I work pretty hard and do a lot of travelling so during the weekends I try to do a lot with the family. I try to keep fit by jogging and swimming but I don't have time to play golf, unfortunately. I read a couple of books a week - business books, autobiographies or novels; whatever takes my fancy at the time.
Read anything interesting lately?
I've just finished Guns, Germs and Steel [Jared Diamond] which looks at how different human societies have prospered ...or otherwise.
What about sports?
I still watch Celtic and have been known to fly back to Glasgow for games. That's one of the things I miss about Australia because I'm sports mad and enjoyed watching the State of Origin games, the AFL and NRL grand finals, the Wallabies, the Olympics, cricket and even the tennis or the grand prix. Australia is world class at so many sports and I particularly enjoyed watching the Ashes cricket because as a Scotsman you support two teams - Scotland and anyone who plays England. I think Australians are the same.
Are you a gadget person?
Not really. I'm surrounded by technology but everybody needs balance in their life so I enjoy getting away from it when not at work. I like art, reading, talking to people and having a good time.
What are your biggest ambitions - personally and professionally?
Professionally, I've never had a long-term goal. I've always tried to do two things in any job - enjoy it and do it to the best of my ability. If you concentrate in the moment there are always opportunities. I was offered the chance to go to Hong Kong and Australia unexpectedly and now Singapore. Those opportunities came through focusing on what I was doing at the time rather than the next thing.
Personally I want to give my kids the opportunity to travel and experience things because I had a fairly blinkered view of life when I was young. I love experiencing different environments and am lucky enough that I get to travel a lot.
