Arabian Business published an interview on Monday, 14th October 2019, “Lessons from leaders: Jade Robertson, International Publishing Director for Austin Macauley Publishers”. Jade shared the story of her company’s mission, values, successes and upcoming plans. According to her, a strong interest in the Arab market and ever-increasing requests made complete sense to open new avenues in the region. Both, new and experienced authors are being given opportunities, in Arabic and English languages. She further added that she looks forward to involving herself in the educational sector and publishing books in other languages.
Copyrights and counterfeited products, in her opinion, remained the biggest challenge for the publishers worldwide. She discussed her open-door policy for the talented staff members who can come to her and share their ideas. She opens up about how she keeps the staff motivated by giving motivational talks, praising them, setting clear objectives, having appraisals and much more. While answering to a question about one advice that she would give to an old boss of hers, Jade replied, “To be more systematic and to plan for the future”.
On a question about her decision-making process, she said that she assessed the risks and results of her decision before making a decision. Jade also highlighted the importance of social media and online marketing for a business. She mentioned how she enjoys the freedom to explore new markets, check out new opportunities and grow basic ideas to complete the projects. She recalled her first job at the age of 16 when she worked alongside her studies. Jade looks up to her first-ever boss at this job as her mentor. With 30 years’ experience, he trusted Jade and her abilities to run her business. This is where Jade realised her true potential and interest and decided to pursue her studies at the university after working for two years with him.
According to her, for a new employee, “culture is everything”. She summarized the three characteristics a leader should possess with a very simple but straight forward answer to the question – “The three Ps – Patience, Persistence and People-skills”. She surprised the interviewer by telling that she is currently learning the Arabic language. Jade emphasized the art of multi-tasking. She told that she always wanted to be a lawyer while growing up. She shared about her strict schedule to accomplish the daily goals. She likes to have breakfast and a coffee before she leaves her house and her tasks listed-down.
Finally, she expressed her opinion that the world would become a better place if “we all become unprejudiced and accepting of each other, celebrating our differences, instead of looking at them as something that separates us”. She stressed about being aware, knowing and acknowledging the other person’s story. This exactly what Jade Robertson and her team at Austin Macauley Publishers look forward to in the company. The environment is created where every individual’s voice, thoughts, experiences, stories and ideas are being heard. She looks forward to publishing more and more new voices, thus, making the environment “more liberal and inclusive”.
