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I grew up in South Africa before moving to New Zealand. South Africa had compulsory military service and I always quip it was one of the best times of my life I never want to do over again.

Here are some lessons I learned and apply to my working life:

1.  Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

This is a great lesson for venue managers and although it sounds like a line out of the “Bourne Ultimatum” it stands one in good stead. It’s about hopeful preparedness. In our business we always want to ensure our guests have the best time and are kept safe. We study risk and train for disasters that may never come. Safety of our guests is paramount and preparing for all manner of situations will ensure a much better experience.  When we plan we can make decisive decisions that are often the difference between a great experience or a bad one, and sometime the difference between life and death. We recently had Elton John play at our stadium and had the team not studied weather patterns and seen that 80 mile an hour winds were a possibility we would not have been ready and would not have protected the stage area in the stadium. The concert went ahead and brought $14.9 million of economic benefit to the small city of 125,000 people.

2.  When the first shots are fired all plans go out the window

This sounds like a complete contradiction to the first statement, but I have often seen people under stress lose the plot. Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan until he gets hit in the mouth”. I remember in the army how adrenalin pumps when you are under attack and how plans often fall over as fight or flight responses click in. A wise man once said, “Planning is everything and plans mean nothing”. This is where training takes over and when one is well trained and practiced it allows people perform wonderfully under pressure or those who haven’t trained don’t.  Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to carry on despite your fears and training and preparedness are two key factors in our ability to keep going. Training allows us to have trust and faith in our fellow staff members and the knowledge that they will do the right thing. Training gives us endurance through the tough times and the stamina both physical and emotional to perform.  Elton John was another fine example of where we failed to plan properly, and train effectively. My city in New Zealand is a University City with 25,000 students; the majority of which come from out of town. Elton John played outside the University calendar and the caterer found over half the workforce had gone home. We operate a wet pour beer system and on the night the staff were not trained in using it. Guests who previously had waited 4 minutes for service were waiting over 30. You can imagine this was both unacceptable and costly.  We learned an expensive lesson where bringing in a new workforce for some pre event training could have landed us a much better catering return.

 3. You always on duty

The military taught me that attacks often came at the most inconvenient times, often when one was asleep or relaxing. One had to be in a constant state of preparedness. Your bearing is so important, the way you carry yourself, the way you treat others, your attitude ensures you deliver a favorable impression to our staff, guests and partners. When I first started out working in the venues and events business I was under the impression I would get to see so many fantastic events and meet so many interesting people. I have sure worked at some wonderful events and met some very interesting people, just not the ones I thought I would meet. I have never seen an event at the stadium or center I have worked at and even when I have been hosting visiting dignitaries I seldom get to see much. I have learnt that, that is ok and actually I love the buzz of an event day and the satisfaction of seeing thousands arrive, enjoy an event and leave with a smile. The lesson goes further than that, even when I am shopping I still get approached to discuss events in the stadium or to be asked a question about why we haven’t got a certain show. When you take on a job where so much emotional capital is tied up in the venue you simply cannot afford to ever be off duty. High profile jobs require a constant preparedness and amazing patience. No complaints from me, it is what one signed up for.

 4. Do it once, do it right

In the military mistakes cost lives. Sometimes your own, sometimes other peoples. You soon learn it take things seriously and ensure you follow through with a plan. Events and Venue management often gives you one chance to get it right. Never cut corners it will inevitability come back and bite you. People come to our venues because they want to share the excitement and the experience we offer. We often feel the need to compromise due to financial constrains or under trained staff. I have learned the importance of doing it right, having to do it over is often expensive and is detrimental to the guest experience.

 5. Hit first, hit hard

This lesson seems better left to the military but what I have found is that this is about tackling problems head on and not skirting around the edges or trying to bury challenges. I remember hearing a talk form a great motivational speaker called Zig Ziglar and he said, “If you have to eat two frogs best you start with the biggest one”. It was a great lesson for me to get on the front foot with issues. Every venue is going to have issues with staff, guests, public relations and the media. Issues seldom go away and the sooner one faces them and sorts them out the better. Everything one tries to bury or ignore has a terrible habit of appearing at the worst possible times.

I have learned other amazing lessons about; trust, teamwork, friendships and dependability. Some funny lessons about what not to call your rifle but those can wait for another day. Running a venue sometimes feels like going into battle. You go through the highs and lows with a team of people you learn to trust, depend on and have fun with. The military is where I formed ever-lasting friendships because we had seen the best and worse of each other. Sometimes Venue Management reminds me of my days in the military.