ISOLATED
IN YOUR
CITY.
now was the perfect time to set up my
own business. From the beginning, I
decided to not target the big miners,
a very wise decision in hindsight! I
started off by offering a generalist
human resources and people related
consultancy. But I always knew that I
wanted to hone what I offered so that
it was much more bespoke and
by Tammy Tansley
unique. Something that reflected who
I was and what I could do that was
t’s known as the most different to others.
isolated city in the
world. And its inhabi- Over the seven years I have had the
tants have been known business, I have chip, chip, chipped
to want to secede from away at what it is that I can offer that
the rest of the country is unique to my skill set and draws on
from time to time. Wel- all my experience here and overseas.
come
to
Western My landing point is – Tammy Tansley,
Leadership and Workplace Culture. I
Australia; specifically Perth.
do what it says on the tin – I work
Perth has a population of almost 2.2 with organisations big and small,
million people, accounting for almost who want to improve and enhance
9% of the overall population of their leadership and their workplace
Australia – but it punches well above culture.
its weight – contributing more GDP
per person than the Australian aver- I have also written two books; Do
age. There has been a period of What You Say You’ll Do (a book for
unprecedented growth in WA, but new leaders and those reinventing
this growth is on the decline and this their leadership style), and Enterprise
sector is returning to more normal Agreements – Made Easy (a book on
negotiating enterprise agreements).
conditions.
Some years ago, I added leadership
coaching to my repertoire, and this
now comprises about 30% of my
practice. The rest of the time, I consult
to organisations and either write or
speak about leadership and work-
WA is a fiercely proud state, both of place culture – either to industry
its people, and what comes from the groups or to the media.
land.
And pretty much every single day I
All of this contributes to Perth and WA thank my lucky stars. Imagine having
being a fascinating place to work. a job doing exactly what you love
There are enormous companies that doing; a job that challenges you to
operate globally, and then every size think outside the square every day; a
and complexity thereafter. There are job that pushes you out of your com-
traditional industries doing innovative fort zone, again and again. A job
new work, and there are start-ups that feels like you’re doing something
leading the way with new thinking important, that you’re making a differ-
ence in this world, on whatever
and ways of working.
scale.
What this has meant for me is that
when we returned back from living To work in Perth, you need to be
overseas and interstate – I decided mobile as it is a big city. I can drive
For a long time, Perth and WA were
about mining and oil and gas. But as
mining has downturned, new indus-
tries have emerged and others have
returned to greater dominance.
hundreds of kms each day as I go
from one client to another. Whilst
many of the big organisations are in
the CBD, there are many other areas
where businesses are based. This is
less of a hardship than it might seem
though – as Perth is one of the more
stunning cities in the world. The
every day views are literally breath-
taking, and one of the advantages to
driving all around this city is being
able to take in these views.
Perth has its challenges, as does any
city. And it’s not perfect by any
means. Perth has the social challeng-
es of any big city, and there is still a
long way to go with respect to many
of these areas.
But, there is a reason that so many
people land in Perth and just never
leave – it’s a stunning city situated in
an extraordinary state. It’s having a
few growing pains as all cities that
grow up must do – but – I am glad
that after living all over the world, I
can call it home once again.
My favourite Perth Landmark
Sunset over the beach
My favourite place to relax
The river
My favourite place to do business
Como Hotel, Treasury
www.tammytansley.com.au