Leadership Journeys [40] - Kevin O'Loughlin - "Possessions and things don't amend happiness, but people around us do"

This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other's stories - of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.Kevin spoke about the lessons he learnt from that experience, the value of transparency and honesty, and putting people first. He shares his vision for Nostra for the next 10-15 years, while at the same time expressing gratitude to his family and everybody he works with.You can find Kevin at the below linkshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kevino11http://www.nostra.ie/In the interview, Kevin sharesOur key strategy has been getting a customer, look after everything to do with it, including the supply of people, if they're required and then keeping the customer for as long as you possibly can.We very rarely lose a customer.I've learned that my wife and kids are far more important than any of those things.People's happiness comes from the people that are around them. And one of the things, that I'm blessed with is having a great family, a very supportive wife, and amazing kids who are all flying. Every business is about people and you have to get yourself in a place that you're in a good place personally. And then you can grow a business The number of times that the directors and the company had to have their salaries delayed for the following couple of years, it was very difficult, but the learning, it was, we learned. How to survive. We learned how to negotiate.  We didn't lose any people during that period. And, we even had some of the internal staff saying, listen, I've got a credit card. If we need to use it to buy things, I had unbelievable support from everybody.One of the reasons our accounts were so bad was I wanted to look after the people. So at no point was I gonna let good people go that I cared about, we would carry everyone.There are lots in companies that is left unsaid and left undone. And for me, it's, if you're not enjoying leadership, there's something wrong. Go find it, figure it out, have the conversation and deal with things as they come up.We said we would get through which we did. And then we'd move on. And that's something I'm very proud of.No matter what challenge or headwind comes out at an organization, there is always a way out.