Maximizing “Air Time” to Strategize

September 26, 2012

Seventeen years ago, Australia-New Zealand country manager Paul Robson’s own first manager gave him the best piece of career advice he’s ever received. 

“It was about giving yourself time to think and strategize, to make sure in every job, with regularity, you give yourself time to step away from the day-to-day of the role and give yourself perspective,” he says. “ It allows you to reflect both on the current activity and the achievements you may have and allows you to focus on the challenges you may have come across.” 

Paul’s role is all about effectively managing responsibility for Australia and New Zealand, recruiting a great team, engaging with customers, evangelizing Adobe’s products and representing Adobe to the government.  It also allows him to travel quite a bit, leaving plenty of time for reflection on long flights.  Unlike most people, he sees hours spent on a plane as a positive asset. 

“One of the benefits of living in Sydney is that the shortest flight is seven or eight hours, so I’ve got a pretty structured routine,” he says. “ I use part of my travel time to look at the business on a strategic and tactical level.” 

Holding a leadership role in the APAC region has allowed him plenty of unique cultural experiences gained through travel. 

“From a business perspective, it’s a great learning curve on how to do business in Thailand versus China versus Sydney,” he says. “ It’s great exposure to what is a global economy.  You need to have an understanding of different cultures and customs to be in a senior role.” 

When looking for new hires, Paul says his search comes down to one word: passion. 

“It’s about passion, commitment, team players, and people that really truly want to be here.” 

The culture at Adobe, he says, is “high performing, passionate, creative, full of some of the best and most talented people I’ve ever worked with.” 

And when it comes down to what he loves most about his job, it takes him a mere half-second to answer. 

“It’s all about the people that you work with every day,” he says. “ I have a firm belief in when you wake up in the morning, you’ve really got to want to be at work, and a lot of that is the people you work with every day.  Adobe’s just got great people who are passionate about their jobs and making a positive contribution to the business.” 

Adobe’s always looking for passionate team players to grow our business in Asia.  Discover opportunities at www.adobe.com/careers