Meriton Boss, Harry Triguboff, Explains His 10 HOT Tips to Success.

Everybody always asks me what my tips to success are, and I can tell you they are not the obvious – business plans and goals.

I don’t do either, and if someone comes into my business and wants to do that, they won’t last. I work in the moment, I have always said that the further you look down the track, the blurrier the picture becomes. Focus on what is in front of you, right now, and the picture is very sharp and the vision, very clear. I have been successful without goals or business plans. So, strike them off the list!

Here are my 10 HOT tips that are essential to my success.

TIP 1 – TO BE SUCCESSFUL YOU MUST BE IN YOUR BEST FORM!
You cannot be successful if you are not strong in mind and body. I have exercised nearly every day of my life. Regardless of what is going on, I make sure I have enough sleep and I have regular health checks. We all tend to think we are invincible but nobody is. I put my longevity down to good doctors and making time to look after myself.

I believe I feel my best self, most of the time, because I take good care of my mind and body. I am 92-years-old. I have no pain, I’m still mobile, I work every day, and can do nearly everything I have always done. Yes, I have had the odd visit to hospital where I have been told I could die but I always bounce back. Although still in hospital, within hours I am back working, within days I am back at my desk and feeling terrific.

TIP 2 – YOU MUST LOVE WHAT YOU DO!
To love what you do is a no brainer. If you love what you do, you won’t work at day in your life. I studied textiles, worked in textiles with my father and brother, but in my gut, I knew there was no future in textiles. When I built my first block of apartments, it was love at first site, and it was also very profitable. I knew I wouldn’t do anything else for the rest of my life.

I was educated to be a textile engineer, but I was born to be a builder. I loved being out on site, I loved learning about all the trades and I loved the people working with me. They were my family then, and still are now. I learned so much, so quickly, but I still wanted to know more.

Now, over 60 years later, there is no problem I can’t solve. I am the very best at what I do, Meriton is the very best at what we do. I have worked, and loved, every day of my life for 75 years. I wouldn’t change a thing. I was never distracted by other industries or businesses. My entire focus has been on building apartments.

Loving it and being that single-minded has been key to my success.

TIP 3 – DON’T LET MONEY BE YOUR PRIORITY!
As soon as money becomes the priority, you may as well shut your doors. You’re focused on all the wrong things. The more money I made, the more money I put back into the business. I have a lovely home, a nice car, good suits and after 60 years in my own business, that’s all I need. I don’t travel enough to buy a private jet and I have no wish to have the biggest watercraft on Sydney Harbour. I don’t need to flaunt my wealth because I don’t need to impress anyone. I just look at the landscape and there is my success, everywhere.

Do I care what others think? I care about those closest to me who have helped me build my business. Money is not the symbol of success. Cutting costs, cutting corners and using cheaper trades so you look more successful is a fooI’s game. The market is too educated. It’s better to give back. It’s a far greater symbol of success when you are able to contribute to resolving the bigger problems.

In Australia, we are in the midst of a housing crisis. I am in the position to create housing and I am also in the position to loan money to buyers with a better deal than they would get from the banks. That is how I measure my success. When I am in the position to do more for the people of this country than any of the four big banks, then that makes me more valuable. More successful.

TIP 4 – ROUTINE AND DISCIPLINE ARE ESSENTIAL!
To keep a routine, you must stay disciplined.

I have a strict routine but it’s not even a routine anymore. It’s second nature and the way I live. I get up in the morning, walk or swim, have breakfast, go to site, then into the office. I problem-solve until lunchtime when everyone has an hour off between 1pm and 2pm. I will not disturb anyone during that hour. I believe everyone needs the restart for the afternoon. I either go out to lunch with other business leaders or friends, or I eat with someone from the office.

After lunch I have either internal or external meetings until the end of the day, and then I have a meeting with my senior management and project teams. I do that every day, and then one of my family drives me home at around 6pm, but on many days, I stay later.

I don’t let too much rattle my routine. I know my routine, others know my routine, so they work their day around it. It benefits everybody. Makes everyone successful.

TIP 5 – SURROUND YOURSELF WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE!
I surrounded myself with like-minded people from day one. Ken McDonald was my brickie on my first project and his family are still working on my current projects, over 60 years later. I have people working for me, many of them, that have been with me for 20, 30 and 40 years. I don’t know another company that has that kind of longevity with staff. That’s because they all get along and they think like me.

I have “The Sheets”. Each department contributes a report to them every Friday. Three of us take them home every Friday and read them over the weekend. Me, my grandson and assistant managing director, Daniel Hendler, and I take them home and read them over the weekend. The Sheets are our business week to week, not 10 years down the track.

The unpredictability of the property market demands being able to change direction in a heartbeat. If demand suggests we need more rental accommodation, we are always in the position to change tack and build to rent instead. My whole team is on board with that; it’s how we give the market what it needs. If you fit in with the mindset of me and my team, you are welcome. If not, you can bugger off! The smart one’s get it. And we only want the smart ones.

TIP 6 – IGNORE THE COMPETITION!
Some companies get so bogged down in watching what the competition is doing that they drop the ball on their own growth.

Very few companies have a monopoly in any industry these days, so you have to expect competition. I don’t worry about them. In fact, I don’t see anyone as competition because many of them are trying to copy me.

We all know that a copy is never as good as the real deal. Because our product is premium and has that reputation, I don’t care what others are doing. Worrying about it is a waste of time. If you want to be successful, concentrate on your own business.

By concentrating on the competitions’ business, you are making them a bigger success.

TIP 7 – KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR BUSINESS AT ALL TIMES!
This is really important. As my business has grown throughout the years, I have made it my business to know exactly what is happening in every area of it.

I never want to be the last to find out. If it’s not good, I can’t promise there won’t be some shouting, but then we all group together to find a solution. Sometimes, it’s a blessing in disguise because we are forced to find a different option, and in some cases, it works better than the original.

In many other companies, the workers try to hide problems from the boss. That doesn’t happen at Meriton. They come to me first. I am always going to find out anyhow. It is important to encourage a culture where you are the first port of call, not the last.

At the end of the day, I’m on their side. They take it on the chin, they learn and we move on. That’s why they stay with me for so long.

TIP 8 – HAVE AN OPEN DOOR POLICY!
I have an open-door policy for my direct team, they have an open-door policy for their direct team, and so on. This keeps the equilibrium. Everybody knows they have someone they can talk to. Because they know that, they get on and do their jobs. I have had an open-door policy from the day I started my business.

You won’t see transparency like we have at Meriton in any other company. I will talk about anything in front of anyone within our walls. A junior in the office is unlikely to end up in my office, but if they did, they are welcome to sit down and listen. I always talk to the apprentices on site. I like their perspective. There is no place at Meriton for hierarchical snobbery.

Everybody knows that wherever you sit, you are part of the team. That culture is important to becoming successful, and that is why we have the best staff retention.

TIP 9 – LEARN THE ART OF PERSEVERANCE!
This is one of the most important tips to success. So many times, over the years, I could have given up when the going got tough. With the unions, with the councils, with approvals. Red tape sucks! Had I been able to build twice as much as I have, the housing crisis would never have been this critical. Had I not persevered, the housing crisis would have been much worse.

I have built 80,000 apartments. It is annoying when I know I could have built double that, but without perseverance, I would only have built half that number. It’s astounding that even though the housing crisis is at breaking point, approvals are still taking too long. The only way we are going to fix the housing crisis is to build our way out of the problem. Give builders money and clear the way for them to do what they do.

It is frustrating but I will continue to persevere with councils and government until they loosen the red tape around approvals. The time that has been lost procrastinating, we, and I don’t just mean Meriton but the industry as a whole, could have built another 50,000 homes. That’s the only fix.

TIP 10 – YOU MUST HAVE FUN!
There can be no success without some fun. When you consider how much of your life you spend in the office, or on site, you can’t be under constant stress and strain.

At Meriton we work hard but also have fun and plenty of laughs. I have had the best life working almost every day of my life. Of course, I like to sit in the sun and spend time with my family, but a lot of my family now work at Meriton, so I see them every day. Even the great-grandchildren come in on their holidays, and the babies even come to visit me at work.

Meriton is my life, it’s my priority, and the people closest to me understand that. I would never have had it any other way. Meriton is my fun. I have spent my life building and I don’t regret a single second. I am High-rise Harry. I am still loving what I do and I am a huge success.

To still be able to do everything I have always done in my daily life, at 92 years of age, that is my biggest success. I chose something I could do forever.