The biggest challenge was managing through the COVID mandates within our industry. "It felt like the Victorian government gave us a loaded gun and effectively said sack everyone who doesn’t comply with the vaccine mandate."

"In 35 years of business, the last 2 years have been the toughest I’ve ever experienced because I care about people and try to respect their beliefs and opinions whether I agree or not." Rick said it was tough watching people struggle not only with the mandates but also with the added burdens of home schooling and stay at home rulings etc."

Whether he agreed or disagreed with the government mandates, Rick's wanted to honour people and their beliefs, but on some days it was tough navigating around the challenges and responsibility of being an employer.

• "How do you tell an employee of 18 years that their job is in jeopardy due to government mandates?

• What do you say to the wife of another employee, who’s crying because they’re planning to have a baby the following year and she doesn’t want her husband to get vaccinated until they fall pregnant?

• How do you comply with all the rules and honour your staff and their beliefs?

• How do you navigate through governmental changes - which seemed to change every other day, and weren’t all that clear – and manage through the practical stuff, ensuring everyone is being heard and their opinions respected?"

The one-size-fits-all rules were also impractical - and often made absolutely no sense at all - in our industry. The classic example was having to apply the same density rules as cafés when there’s probably only ever 2-3 people on our building sites (30 square home) at any one time.”

“We worked hard to honour everyone’s position, but sometimes it was a juggling act to continue employing people that weren’t allowed on building sites. Fortunately, we didn’t lose any employees.”

"I’m a strong leader with a disposition to lead from the front. This is underpinned and sustained by my faith in God, inner strength, and an extremely loving and supportive wife, but even so, as a leader I’ve struggled at times."

“People often think leaders are invincible, but it’s not true, however, there’s a fine line between slumping and letting it get to the point where people think, ‘you’ve lost the plot’, and showing the type of vulnerability that leads to more openness and trust as other leaders’ feel empowered to step in and provide cover.

When I realised I had been neglecting my own needs, I opened up to my leadership team, letting them know I was struggling and a bit uncertain about some things. The support that flowed back to me was amazing, and suddenly those who I’d been propping up, were supporting both me and their colleagues. From that emerged a genuine support and collaboration, galvanising the rest of the organisation. I saw that I didn't need to suffer alone, and that showing my own vulnerable had an extremely powerful impact, drawing us closer as a team.

"I’ve always been pretty good at switching off regardless of what's going on at work. I knew I wasn't coping when my two coffees a day and ocassional glass of wine gave way to five coffees during the day, 2 glasses of wine in the evening, and then a sleeping pill before bed."

When Rick saw that his habits were unhealthy, he started working on refilling his physical, emotional and mental tank. "I knew I had to detox and also started working out most days. There was a lot I couldn’t control, but I could work on myself and my body, which helped me bounce across the top of the waves rather than ride them all the way up and down."

Five things:

1. The need for self-care and that I can only help the team when I’ve got energy to give - when I was younger, I would have exhausted myself, supressed my own needs, and then reacted like a grumpy dad rather than a great leader. It's about shifting the balance to look after them by looking after me.

2. I’m extremely grateful to have a wife who’s my friend – and lucky that also happens to be a professional counsellor.

3. The need to stay humble, be open to learning and knowledge.

4. The need to value and support my team because afterall they are Hadar - without them we couldn't have done what we have done to get through the difficult times.

5. Leaders, particularly the strong ones, can often rush ahead and steamroll their teams to get things done, but that’s not leading. I want to lead by empowering rather than drive by squeezing. And I’m also motivated to continue to drive innovation and change, focussing on how to do things better and quicker.