A CEO’s spare time

They’re a diverse bunch, the chief executives who spoke with Unlimited magazine for a feature on CEOs, so it’s not surprising they unwind in very different ways.

Yet there are commonalities. Time with family and friends is a priority.

"I religiously try to get home so I can eat with the family at 6.30 at night," says Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns, who also breakfasts with his daughters, aged 12 and 14; says Wakatu Incorporation CEO Keith Palmer: "I socialise with really good friends and don't talk about business. I've got a group of friends that have nothing to do with the business and they know never to ask me about it."

Despite busy schedules, the majority also make time to exercise. "I go for a run, go for a bike ride, go to the gym," says Cisco country manager Geoff Lawrie. "That's the one thing about my job, it's quite sedentary. I don't break into a sweat often over my PC - unless it's a critical situation - so the essence is always to go and do something physical, some genuine hard work."

And even CEOs need a decent break. For the past 10 years Westpac's George Frazis has holidayed with his wife and four children on the Greek islands his grandparents came from.

"That ends up being a really critical part of refreshing the batteries, spending some good quality time with the children and relaxing," says Frazis. "We love it."

Jim Moser
Clemenger Group
One of my favourite painters - and I actually discovered him when I was in Australia - is Mark Olsen. He is a major, major talent. I've met Mark here and bought one of his paintings and he's teaching me and my daughter how to paint. When he came over to our house to deliver the painting he saw some of my daughter's paintings and he said 'she's very talented'. She's 10, and I said 'you should see some of her sculptures'. She's an amazing sculptor. I said 'I would love her to learn how to paint', and he said 'I'll teach her' and I said 'well while you're teaching her could you teach me?' So we started this programme where we're doing a portrait.

The work-in-progress portraits being painted by Clemenger Group CEO Jim Moser and his 10-year-old daughter Olivia, under the tutelage of painter Mark Olsen. As per Olsen's technique, the pair are painting their works upside down.

David Baldwin
Contact Energy
My son loves skateboarding and I do too. I have a skateboard, and my wife and daughter get on their scooters and keep up with us, so we scoot around the harbour or go for a bike ride.

Lesley Kennedy
Maven
I love to walk. We've done the Oxfam walk - 100km in 36 hours - twice with a team from Maven. I had to do a lot of training, a lot of hill work, so I love walking, and one of the things I did for training was to walk home from work, which is 14km. I get my iPod with my favourite music, put my walking gear on and pound home. The energy around walking and the music puts you in a happy space, so by the time I get home I'm in a
great mood and I've forgotten the stresses of the day.

Mark Cairns
Port of Tauranga
I love my fishing! There's something about when you get out on the boat and you cast off - you just leave all the concerns that you may have onshore. I've caught a marlin. I caught it my first time out marlin fishing and I got it in to the boat thinking I'd have it mounted and tease everyone with it. I released it, though, much to the disgust of the skipper. They're like an animal, not really like a fish. I never want to catch another marlin. I prefer snapper fishing. They're quite a hard fish to catch - the bigger ones - so it's more like hunting. There's quite a skill to it.

Alastair Carruthers
Chapman Tripp
I go bush, just disappear. I'm very lucky to have a retreat in my life that I retreat to - go to chop wood, carry water, no television, no phone, no internet.

Geoff Lawrie
Cisco
My wife and I, we both love to cook and both love to eat. That's one of the fabulous things about New Zealand now - you can eat and drink on a world-class scale here. The food ingredients, the accessibility of it, the quality of the wines you can drink - either going out or at home - is just fabulous.

-UNLIMITED