Orion CEO addresses MBA alumni breakfast series
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From left: Tony Mortensen and Rob Jamieson |
Rob Jamieson, CEO of Orion New Zealand Ltd addressed both current and past MBA students in the 3rd breakfast forum of the MBA CEO series this morning.
Mr Jamieson provided a fascinating insight into Orion, discussing their history, management of infrastrutal assets and the challenges they faced as a result of the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquake.
Of real interest to the audience was the fact that Orion had reinforced all of their main substations a number of years prior to the September earthquake which, in Mr Jamieson’s words, prevented a catastrophic failure of the power networks. He believed that had this work not been conducted potentially all of Christchurch would have been without power for not weeks but months, which could have resulted in residents having to move away from the city almost indefinitely.
An interesting observation made by Mr Jamieson regarding career development and self advancement post earthquake, is for people to “seek discomfort” and take on the projects that others do not want to do. He highlighted Roger Sutton as an example of a person who had achieved great success at Orion only to then take on the top job at CERA. This role would undoubtedly place him into the firing line and push his skills to the limit. He believed that people have an opportunity to make a real name for themselves by taking on the difficult jobs and achieving successful results for their company and in fact the Canterbury Region.
Tony Mortensen, MBA Director said: “I would like to thank Rob for his time and energy for the presentation at the breakfast forum. The MBA CEO Breakfast seminar provided a great networking opportunity for UC MBA current students and alumni as well as an insightful look into Orion New Zealand Limited.”
