Game of Thrones? Corporate Australia or just a TV Series?

It's summer holidays, the weather is great. We are still hanging close to home, which means most nights are tv nights. This is a recent hobby in my life, and it would seem, after spending most of my life, not fussed about tv, I have become a tv addict with covid lockdowns. As they say, never say never, as you just don’t know what life will throw your way. We now have an obscenely large tv [choosing a tv is firmly a male decision in our household] and we also have every possible tv subscription streamed nightly from multiple rooms of the house .

Our large gaggle of children are now in their late teens and early adulthood, which means, we have firmly moved on from ‘Toy Story’ to Game Of Thrones’. Ah, the joy of family bonding sitting around the tv box glued to the screen with reruns of GOT watching all sorts of brutality and horror, as the ‘children’ lap it up and ask for another episode, even though it is way past my bedtime [10pm].

With 28yrs of corporate experience and many friends who are holding down corporate roles, it is impossible to not ask the question, is corporate Australia uncannily like Game of Thrones?

What do you think? Well, lets change the language by removing words like kings, queens, castles and dragons and focus on the fact, that are just different groups of people all with their own agenda, where survival depends on who is in power and how well positioned and connected to them you are.. One false move or trust the wrong person and you will be sidelined.

Have you ever worked with people who resemble these?

• Ceresi Lannister who trusts nobody, obliterates anyone she sees as competition or a threat

• Joffrey Baratheon who is power hungry and enjoys inflicting pain and bullying others

• Ned Stark who lives by his values and ethics, but doesn’t survive when he holds them too tightly

• Lord Varys, the master of whisperers, sharing mis-truths of situations and others

• The mad king who listens to the false poison stories and destroys everyone in with wildfire

Perhaps I am on the wrong track, after all, 2 yrs of intense TV watching can’t be good for those brain cells. What TV series/movie do you think represents corporate culture today?

What is culture anyway? Lets agree it is our actions and behaviours and how we treat others. I think most people wish to be decent but sometimes conflicting values and positions confuses that requirement. Lets remember how we treat others in work matters, so lets make the right decision to unite as one team and bring kindness into the office above everything else.

So which tv series or movie represents corporate Australia today? I will let you decide, but I will definitely be channelling positivity with my team, by choosing a mix of ‘The pursuit of happiness’ and ‘Rocky’ to represent how I want my team to feel this year. I have offered to bring them to karaoke to sing it for them, but I am still waiting for them to pick a date that works for them!