Читать книгу The Comeback - Shane Hodge - Страница 4

Fifteen years ago I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Steven Covey, the Author of The Seven habits of highly effective people. What a great man; he was a guest speaker at a Fireside Chat for the Mormon Church. After his chat I got to spend some time with him. I had told him how much I admired his work and I was surprised when he invited me to be his guest at his seminar the next day. It was pretty expensive so I was excited to not only hear him speak but also not to pay for it ha-ha. I love the book so much and I am a great supporter of all the 7 habits, but one in particular has always grabbed me and that being “ Seek First to Understand before being Understood”. So many arguments and troubles could be solved or not even happen if we kept hold of and practised that habit.

The habit leads me to the reason behind this chat, for you to tally grab hold of the Comeback it’s really important to totally understand not only where I’m coming from but from WHERE I have come from.

In the opening chat Lessons from Chats with my Mother, I wrote the following:

“My name is Shane Hodge in 2009 and after 12 years of living overseas I returned home to the Land of OZ. I returned not really knowing what or where I was going to live or what I was going to do. During the last 12 years I had built Companies, been on TV watched by over 500 Million people in China, heck I even sang the national Anthem for my Government in Kuala Lumpur. I had dined with the rich and famous and the poor and down and out. I had done and achieved so much, but at a cost. For twelve years I had not been a Father, a brother and last but not least I had not been a son, and little did I know that my time had arrived for my own personal….COMEBACK”

Well I thought maybe that would be enough of an overview of my life but in reality it doesn’t tell you much. The question would linger of “What Happened Back in Day?” It’s sort of like when you read the Bible and you all of a sudden go from the Birth of Jesus to when he’s thirty years old and turning water into wine, you always have that thought - I wonder what happened before he was thirty?

What did he do, what was the driver to get him to that next place, what happened? Yes before that time I had been very successful, a great sales career, followed by a successful Training and Motivation Company that had ten of Australia’s top ten Corporations as my Clients. But as you will read later greed and divorce ended that. At that stage in my life I was in desperate need of a Comeback but you will read it was not yet my time.

For me to give a glimpse of “Back in The Day” of Shane Hodge is important for me and for you. I stated that after twelve years I finally got back to Australia. I can remember the day I was so overcome with emotion landing at Melbourne Airport. I seriously wanted to kiss the ground when I got off the plane. It had been twelve incredible years, so much happened good and terribly bad. How did I get there, and why did I stay - two keys to my own Comeback.

I had been overseas only once before, a short trip to the Philippines. Marcos was still in power, Martial Law was still in place so it wasn’t a fun place to be at the time. Funny if I would have stayed a couple more days I would have witnessed the place turning into a sea of Yellow and watched Corey Aquino and the Philippines people make history. Marcos got ousted, Imelda packed up her shoes and the rest is history. I had to wait a few more years to leave our Sunburnt Country again and little did I know what an amazing adventure that trip would begin.

I had always been a little jealous of those people that had jobs that took them all over the world. I always thought what a buzz it would be to fly Business Class, stay at great hotels, eat great food and meet sensational people from other countries. So when the opportunity came to take a position like that, it took about thirty seconds to think it over. The job was based in Melbourne and involved travelling overseas every month or so to negotiate the sale of Wireless networking systems - very cutting edge back in the day so was a great opportunity. I thought no problem with the travelling I could still see the kids each month, visit Mum and dad and all the family and mates not much would change so away I went, at last an International Businessman!

My first trip overseas was to attend a Conference with the United Nations to be held in Bangkok. I was so excited I had heard so much about the place I could not wait to get on the plane.

Well Bangkok was great, sensational people, food, the conference was a huge success and apart from the Traffic which is shocking, and the worst case of food poisoning from a nasty street side Satays, I had a great ten days away and it fulfilled all I had imagined - great hotel, Business class wow I thought I had made it. Then came a call from my Boss in Melbourne.

“Seeing as you’re in Thailand” could you just pop over to Malaysia and do a presentation to Telekom Malaysia. I thought “no problem” and more excitement on the way. What I didn’t think about was it was my son’s Birthday and I had promised I would be back home for the party. Well I thought!! He will understand - plenty of birthdays to come, next year would be Ok and off I went to Malaysia. Another incredible place, awesome food, people and so nice the weather, I was in my element. I had called Luke and explained. He was a little upset but accepted my assurance I would see him in a week or so – “we will catch up, drive go karts son” I said, “all will be great” and I hung up the phone.

Meetings with Telekom went well and I was about to pack my bags and head home and then another call came. “Seeing as you’re in Malaysia, could you just hop on over to Vietnam and do a presentation there, it won’t take long and you can take some extra time and be a tourist when you’re done.”

So far I had been gone almost a month, but I thought “what a great opportunity”. But I also forgot! I was due to ride go karts with Luke, I was also meant to go along with Luke and visit the other kids in Casterton which is about four hours drive from Melbourne. Again I just simply made the call, “Promise” you Luke I will back in a week and then we will ride the Karts, “Promise” you kids, Luke and Dad will definitely be there next month, and no problem.

Vietnam was sensational, all I had expected and more. I took up the offer of my boss and spent the weekend being a tourist around Hanoi - what an amazing place. Vietnam was still very raw back then and had that incredible simple feeling about the place. Women still wore traditional dress sitting sidesaddle on motorbikes; hotels were old French style mansions. It was wonderful and I enjoyed myself but it was time to leave and head back home.

It was a Monday morning and packed my bags, booked the taxi for the airport and was now about to check out. I handed the Company Amex to the receptionist and waited for the bill, the next moment the receptionist said the fatal words” There is a problem with your Card”. I asked her to try again but got the same response a few seconds later ”Your Card don’t work”. Now all Hotel people are so nice when a visit goes according to plan but they seem to lose their sense of humour when the old credit card fails. The next question “ Do you have another Card” well that drew a blank from me as I didn’t.

So here I am in wonderful Hanoi, no credit card, a huge bill and one choice as in PAY up or you will be enjoying Vietnam for a long time.

I didn’t panic yet, I called my boss who was in New Zealand at the time and asked him why I am having problems with this card. He coughed and spluttered and said he would get back to me. A few hours later he did that. It appears the pot of gold that the Company was using to fund all this wonderful Global exposure and Travel and Glamour was in fact now DRY. My card had not been paid and moreover the overseas people that had been funding the deal had gotten nervous with the current Management and had sent auditors in to the head office to check the books. So until that is completed all accounts are frozen, sorry mate!

So while I was riding a rickshaw around Hanoi like a tourist enjoying Special Fried rice served with strange looking creatures mixed with it, the Company was in the process of having its doors closed and nobody told me. All I could think? This is not good.

The management informed me that if I did not find a way to settle the bill they would call the police. The thought of spending time in a communist jail did not appeal to me at all so I put my thinking cap on and wondered who to call for help and then my phone rang. It was my boss, he told me all will be ok and he can settle the bill but I can’t go home yet. I have to go to Indonesia, as the people who are paying the bill are the same people who have been funding the Company and they want to see me to discuss the future of the Business in Asia face to face. He apologised that I had been put through all this trouble he couldn’t tell me until the problems in Melbourne had been checked and now he was advised to get me out of there and over to Indonesia.

My heart was still pumping hard when he gave me the credit card details and I waited for the Hotel Manager to see if that worked, when he smiled I knew this part of the ordeal was over. Thank God as I was certain the Fried Rice in Jail would have more stranger creatures crawling in it compared to the Street food!

Money paid, I was on my way to the airport and on a plane to down town sunny humid Jakarta, but sadly again I would be breaking a promise to all the children yet again. But in my mind I kept thinking I had to get this job right, I had to go to Jakarta, all would be good soon.

I arrived in Jakarta feeling pretty worn out. The past few days had been a little stressful and I looked forward to meeting with the Funders, doing my tap dance and heading back home. So I quickly checked into the Hotel and then went off to my appointment. The meeting went well, they felt that Asia was going to work out for them in the end and they asked me I I would be happy to continue to work for them; I was fine and replied no problem. Then they dropped the bombshell, they would be happy for me to continue however, could I relocate to Asia as it would be much easier to do business from this region as that where the majority of contacts would be.

I thought about it overnight, I felt I could easily live in Asia. I could travel back to see the kids, family and friends and it would be a great experience for me. Little did I know I was slipping further and further away from the truth.

I went back to meet the principals the next day and said I would be happy to move and was there any particular place they had in mind for my relocation? They replied that Indonesia or Malaysia would be perfect. My recent visit to Kuala Lumpur was good, English was more common and the City was a little smaller so I decided that would be the place for me. I didn’t return home to Australia, I took the suitcases I had and flew straight to Kuala Lumpur and set up home at the Concorde Hotel.

The choice, ended up being the start of the road to the Comeback. That choice ended up being a twelve-year break from Home, Family, Friends, Children and Shane as I knew him.

Very quickly after I moved, the Asian financial crisis hit, the Indonesian Rupiah fell 80% of its value against the US Dollar in a matter of days. It was a disaster of huge proportions, the Indonesian funders ran, I was stuck with massive hotel bills, no money and not much hope. I should have bitten the bullet gone back home and started again, but I thought that I could ride out the storm and sooner rather than later all would be great again. I had far more chance in my mind of making it big again in Asia rather than trying to start all over in Australia. I was so wrong.

What followed was three years of incredible hard times, never returning o Australia and a gap in relationships that just got wider and wider. Things would improve and each time they did, like a drug addict I would say “Just one more hit” and not go home. Each time thinking I could make a little more money so I could go back a hero rather than a loser, each time forgetting another birthday or Christmas, each time not calling Mum and Dad for months on end. My father jokingly told everyone he thought I was in jail!

After three years a lucky break came and I was given the opportunity of a fantastic role with a telecommunications Company in Hong Kong - great money and conditions and again flying Business Class and staying at wonderful hotels. At this point I met Tracy and fell head over heels for her - a young dynamic Chinese lady. We met at the Hyatt Hotel in Hong Kong; she was dancing the night away I could not get over her energy and super smile. It’s a great story so I will share a little with you. I was so interested in talking to her, so I stood next to her and said “Hi” and all I got was a puzzled look, you see Tracy spoke no English; I really wanted to talk to her so I paid a waiter to translate for me. When the place was closing we said good bye to each other and exchanged phone numbers which was a bit strange as how could we communicate? Meeting Tracy sealed the choice of taking the job in Hong Kong and the next day I got the Company receptionist to call her and ask her to meet me for lunch, we had a great time courtesy of another waiter translator! Tracy and I became inseparable; she picked up English so fast that within three months she was so fluent. Six months passed and on my birthday in front of a house full of people I asked her to become Mrs. Hodge, I asked her in front of all those people as I knew she had to say yes so I wouldn’t lose face ha-ha.

Tracy and I got married in Hong Kong and were so happy; life was great as was the job.

Quickly the bank balance rose as did my self-esteem. Many times I could have zipped home to Australia to see and hug my children, visit Mum and Dad but chose to earn money and party at Lang Kwai Fong where the beer, cocaine and the Bullshit flowed smoothly and I enjoyed them all.

Soon after getting married an opportunity came up in Malaysia to be the CEO of a listed Company. It was time for a change from Hong Kong - the “party” town was almost getting to me so for the sake of longevity! My health? It was a good idea to make a move and off we went to Kuala Lumpur. I love the place and always have. The food is in my mind some of the best in the world and I have some great friends there. Tracy being the dynamo she is got very bored very quickly and she decided she wanted to open a little shop selling products from her hometown of Guizhou in China. It sounded like a great idea and she could make some money and get over the boredom so she opened a lovely little shop called Oriental Dream. Within a short period of time she had become the darling of the Expat Community in KL and she would often have ten ladies in her little shop drinking tea all afternoon, but god bless her she actually sold some things and scored a hit with the local media and overall she did well. The downside was Asia and my hunger for the dreaded dollar and success, made each planned trip home more and more delayed. Troubles with Luke, Mum and Dad getting older really should have woken me up to reality but again the old catch cry of “Plenty of Time” always set in and the original couple of weeks in Asia had now dragged out to almost five years. Let me say right now I am not proud of this fact.

For me the CEO role was a disaster, it turned out to be the most Politically based place I had ever worked in, with each day having to fight another plot or plan, each day having to stave off another assassination attempt by some glory hunting General Manager and in the end my temper got the better of me and I told them in very Australian terms see you later.

Now faced with the, ‘What do I do now” problem, Tracy set me a challenge. I had always bragged that I could sell and market just about anything so she said “Can you make Oriental Dream Famous”?

I really liked the stuff she was selling, it was special and unique awesome embroidery and silverware with a long history and wonderful stories associated with the design - in fact some of the designs were over 3000 years old. I thought yes it’s possible to make a brand out of this. I sat down and wrote a business plan, went out and got a couple of Investors, the only problem was that to really make it as a brand? The Business would have to be based in Guizhou Province in China, as you have to be at the heart of the action, the culture to really make it work. So again I moved, to what would have to be the most challenging place on the planet to live as a Foreigner, China.

Now if you know somebody or have lived in China you may disagree with me, but I guess you or him or her have lived in Beijing or Shanghai. Well let me tell you it’s like Chalk and Cheese, living in a Province is like living on another planet - it’s very very tough. Guizhou is the poorest province in China.

It is 1500 feet above sea level, as an Australian I was a minority tribe, the food, living standard all very tough but I was determined I could make this Oriental Dream Work.

Five more years quickly passed, and we did make it famous. Tracy and I became household faces in Guizhou and most parts of China. We were on TV every other week, we had specials made about us that were seen by over 550 million people, and in fact CCTV6 which is the same as HBO approached us to make a Movie based around our lives. It was a very special time with some unbelievable memories, however it has also many tough times.

I struggled with the food, the loneliness, I was so homesick, but each time I thought I had the chance to go home, another event, another Interview would come up and the plan would fade. I was sick so many times, food poisoning, dehydration but the lonliness was the biggest killer. I really felt that I was almost a machine that would be turned on for special events and then put back in the Closet to wait for another major opening.

It all became a bit too much and I decided to spend time in a village around one hour from town. I could ride a motorbike and horses there, I would teach English to keep myself busy and return to the City when I was needed for a special event or meeting.

The time, the pressure, health issues, being away from Australia for so long all were getting to me and having a great impact on my relationship with Tracy. I began to hate the business and worse still became very bitter towards her and all those that surrounded her. I held Tracy at such a high level; she was the most amazing dynamic love I had so it was not a good time, nor frame of mind to be in. Something had to give, I needed a break from it all, not to run away just to get a new perspective some might say but in my case it was to get my soul back. Again I thought I could make it back home but then another chance arrived. A good friend in the US asked me to help him out with his Company for a few weeks. He offered me the ticket and said he would send me back via Australia after we got things sorted in a few weeks. I had read all his documents and it sound like a bit of fun for a few weeks and would help me get out of the rut I had dug for myself so I talked to Tracy she agreed I needed a break and away I went.

Well I don’t why, but I must have ran over a black cat, walked under a ladder, got a voodoo doll against me but when I arrived in LA nothing was like it was told. The business was a mess he had no money. I had to live with his family - it was a disaster. I used money that I had taken with me to try and help but after a period of time it finally broke the camel’s back and I decided the only thing I truly needed to do? Was getting back home, to Australia.

I had not seen my children in so long. The conversation had gotten less and less, the broken promises now made me a man of little if any integrity with my Children. The same could be said of my family who really didn’t want to know me, and as for friends? Well they had long since stopped returning my emails; my life was in an essence a disaster.

Do you understand now why I opened this chat up with my encounter with Mr. Covey and my respect for “seek first to understand before being understood?” Do you feel that I have taken my share of knocks, made selfish stupid choices and totally understand the need and desire for The Comeback?

I understand Divorce and the Breakup of relationships. I know the devastation it can bring I have been through it three times but have Comeback to have these relationships as friendships I cherish, including Tracy who is now my best friend and closest business partner.

I understand the pain, the hurt and loss you feel when you have children that are not only part of those relationship breakups, but more so I didn’t see them, hold them or hug them for almost twelve years. I understand the feeling of being hated and not part of a Childs life. I have four wonderful children who demonstrated that lesson to me, but I have the glory of a Comeback as a father, the beauty of a relationship with four children who not only now love me but respect me.

I know and totally understand what it means to fail in a business, or a professional career, drug addiction. I know the pain it causes, the loss of self esteem but I know that all this can be overcome and I have proved that a Comeback from all areas of failure is possible. I know this as I have made my Comeback not once but many times.

Friendships, Health, Spiritual, and Emotional issue that leave you at a point when you feel you cannot go on, personal losses - I understand and have lived them. I have spilt blood in the same mud most likely that you have, but I have overcome and I sit back now and enjoy the sweet feeling of success of my Comeback in all these and more areas. Can you see it now? Are you with me now?

This chat was not meant to be an Biography of the ups and the downs of Shane’s life. The book contains many other stories about my life, but this first chat was meant to give you a glimpse of the things I have gone through. This chat was to demonstrate, that I truly understand, appreciate and can apply the chats that are in this book and in the end as you can and will do. In the end you will be rewarded as others will around you with the best feeling and that feeling is…

The Comeback.