John’s Cemetery Career
1986 General Manager – Centennial Park Cemetery Trust
I was selected from 150 applicants for the position as General Manager. I didn’t have a clue about the industry, how it worked, or how it was financed. All I knew was how to run a business and the fact that dead people don’t sign cheques.
What I discovered was scary. This was a public organisation administered by a board of members who were also elected members of two local councils. So I found myself working for 8 politicians which proved to be a challenge beyond my abilities. You see, I am rather a straight shooter and I found it diffficult to be working for people who reall had very little understanding of business, let alone one in such an emotional field as dealing with death.
The reason I was selected by the employment agency is that my profile demonstrated that I had the ability to have empathy for clients but not get emotionally involved.
I loved the indutry but after 18 months and a huge disagreement with the board I “resigned”.
The very next day I was invited to join Brisbane Crematorium Limited as there General Manager. After building a very succcessful funeral directing organisation with 15 offices and 96 people conducting almost 10,000 fuerals per year, I left that organisation and was again offerred another position as Chief Executive Officer of the Cheltenham & Regional Cemeteries Trust.
The following video presentation demonstrates my successes there but sadly I was the subject of a rather vicious personal attack by one of the board members who made a series of malicious but untrue allegations.
By this time I had had enough of this emotionally charged industry so I decided I would not go back to it ever again.
What had I learned during my 20 succesful years in the business? I learned that there is a way to help people regardless of their circumstances. I learned to handle the press, sometimes at my expense. Ilearned a communication technique I call the LogicofLove.
I learned how to find a way to get through to highly distressed people in seconds.
I am very grateful for the experiences and successes I experienced during this thrilling and eventful 20 years of serving millions of people by helping them to celebrate the lives of many thousands of people who had died.
