Ken_Brinsden

With Western Australia’s Pilbara region accounting for much of Australia’s Iron Ore production it is no wonder Atlas Iron are affirming their strength in business excellence with their two Pilbara based operations; Pardoo and Wodgina Mines. Ken Brinsden is a Mining Engineer with years of experience in surface and underground mining operations. In this Issue Ken answers questions about his leadership style and business management philosophies as well as Atlas Iron’s success story.

 

 

Can you describe your organisation and your role within the company?

Atlas_Iron_Logo

Atlas Iron Limited is an energetic and innovative iron ore mining and development Company, with a growing footprint in the Pilbara of Western Australia. The Company currently exports iron ore from Port Hedland at a rate of 6Mtpa, growing to 12Mtpa by the end of the 2013 financial year. With strong cashflow, great expertise and a solid track record of success, the Company is well positioned to deliver its growth strategy.
My role within the Company is ‘Chief Development Officer’, reporting to the Managing Director. I am responsible for activities consistent with the growth of the Company, from exploration through to the construction of new mines.

As an organization gets larger there can be a tendency for the “institution” to dampen the “inspiration.” How do you keep this from happening?

As a highly entrepreneurial company, with significant growth to date and more to come, we often consider the ramifications associated with that growth and the balance between maintaining an entrepreneurial culture and the requirement to establish ‘systems’ within the Company, to manage the underlying growth.

A strategy that is working for us is in the overall theme of strategic planning, for which we have got more disciplined in completing annual reviews/refreshes to the strategy. By contemplating where the business is heading at a high level, we can set the organizational capability to match the strategy. Furthermore, the strategic planning process helps establish the key messages to align the workforce internally.

Other key planks to maintaining and aligning the entire workforce include;

  • Doing our best to recruit the right people. That is, the people that either maintain or enhance our Values, and
  • Maintaining and enhancing our reputation, both internally and externally. A current initiative underway within the organization, termed ‘Connecting Atlas’, seeks to capture and enhance those elements of our brand and employment proposition such that we attract and retain the best people in the industry that match or enhance our culture.

How do you encourage creative thinking within your organisation?

Positive reinforcement is so much more powerful as a tool to motivate creative thinking than the historical norm in the Mining Industry, which would typically rely on implied motivation through pointing out failures or assigning blame.

Fortunately at Atlas our culture is much more strongly aligned with the principle that when things go well it is noted, and when problems emerge we look to solutions rather than assigning blame.

What are a few resources you would recommend to someone looking to gain insight into becoming a better leader?

Genuine experience of leadership (whether your own experience or consciously noting it in others) in both the positive and negative, beats the hell out of anything you might read in books or experience in courses. Whilst courses and books won’t do you any harm, living and breathing leadership puts you on the accelerated learning curve.

When faced with two equally-qualified candidates, how do you determine whom to hire?

I hope this does not sound too flippant………however I would generally look to understand their life experience. The bulk of employment in the Mining Industry requires most people to work effectively in a team, rather than relying overtly on core technical skills. Just about any day, I would choose the individual for his capacity to get along or lead a team, rather than academic or technical skills.

Can you name a person who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader? Maybe someone who has been a mentor to you? Why and how did this person impact your life?

There have been many……I have been fortunate during my career to be exposed to many leaders who I have looked up to and learnt from, with each experience offering something different.

A couple of key ones…….

– I spent a summer as a student working with an underground shift supervisor who had outstanding man-management and leadership credentials. His teams respect for him as a leader was amazing, to the point where they would work extremely hard to deliver shift-after-shift on his behalf. That experience could very well have been the best 4 months experience in leadership that I would ever get.

– In my time with WMC Resources (and since), I was exposed to some very strong leaders who each offered interesting insights into what it meant to genuinely lead teams. A quote from one of those leaders at that time sticks in my mind…..”anybody can do more with more, however it takes a good person to do more with less”.

– In my time with Atlas I have come to appreciate more the value that comes through interconnecting the activities of the Company with the communities within which it operates whether local, state or federally.

What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?

The insatiable demand for resources arising from growth in China and Asia generally, is placing very real pressures on people and equipment resources.

Those organisations that will prosper in this environment are the Company’s that can attract and retain those resources. The challenge for leaders is then to establish, maintain and enhance the Company’s culture such that employees and contractors feel comfortable working for you as opposed to taking their capacity elsewhere.

I am firmly of the view that whilst remuneration plays some part, the majority position for employees and contractors is that they prefer to work for those Company’s where they feel a part of the Company’s success. For employees, that might simply mean that they feel valued, or they can draw a line between the success of the Company and their success. For Contractors it might mean that they can participate further in the continued growth of the Company in a win/win outcome.

What is one mistake you witness leaders making more frequently than others?

You have to acknowledge your own weaknesses and areas for improvement……an area within which I could use some work!