Ep. 58 - Sean Mooney - A Journey of Tenacity and Impact

Embark on a voyage of discovery with Sean Mooney, a beacon of leadership and tenacity hailing from Johannesburg's vibrant heart. Sean lays bare the tapestry of his life, weaving tales of perseverance through family tribulations, ascending corporate heights, and embracing the unpredictable world of entrepreneurship. As he recounts his story, we traverse the terrain of his ventures, from the bustling restaurant scene to the tranquil gardens of aquaponics. Sean's personal narrative, fraught with early loss and parental divorce, reveals the roots of his success, while his dedication to ultra-marathon running, pastoral engagements, and global leadership initiatives showcases a life rich with purpose and impact.

In our thought-provoking dialogue, the intersection of leadership and faith emerges as a profound theme, with Sean sharing the compass that guides his life-changing decisions. Mindful of the echoes of Nelson Mandela's teachings, we unearth the power of forgiveness, the quest for joy in adversity, and the role of prayer in seeking clarity for the path ahead. Sean's spiritual journey casts light on his leadership style, marked by integrity, sacrifice, and unwavering faith. Whether you're at a crossroad or looking to deepen your own leadership approach, join us as we explore how one man's commitment to his values shapes not only his destiny but also the lives he touches.

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Transcript

Lisa Peters: 0:06

Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast. We are a community of leaders with a network in over 350 cities around the world, dedicated to optimizing our personal, professional, and spiritual lives to have impact. This show is where we have a chance to listen and engage with leaders who are living this out. We love talking with leaders, so if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions to make the show even better, please let us know The best way to stay connected in Canada is through our newsletter at leaderimpact. ca or on social media at Leader Impact. If you're listening from outside of Canada, check out our website at leaderimpact. com. I'm your host, Lisa Peters, and our guest today is Sean Mooney.

Lisa Peters: 0:42

Sean lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. He's been married for 35 years and they have three children on their own and two boys that they've adopted. Sean completed degrees in science, a master's in business and a B Admin in ministry. He has worked for a number of blue chip companies such as Coca-Cola, Nampak, as well as the subsidiaries of Anglo American and Exaro, as well as Impala Bafang King. He has vast experience in manufacturing and supply chain, as well as in the entrepreneurial sector, having owned businesses in the restaurant industry as well as a supermarket of an import business, frozen food. He is currently focusing on expanding his property rental business and also owns a growing aquaponics business. Sean is also a volunteer- pastor in his church and serves as a chairman on the board of the Wheatcliffs South Africa, as well as on the Leader Impact Global Council. For leisure. Sean does ultra marathon running and has completed nine Comrades Marathons. He is also a keen golfer. Welcome to the show, Sean.

Sean Mooney: 1:42

Thank you, Lisa.

Lisa Peters: 1:47

I have done, I think. A marathon is 42.2 kilometers. How long is an ultra?

Sean Mooney: 1:52

An ultra. Look, they start from about 50 kilometers. The one that I mentioned in my profile is a Comrades Marathon, which is actually about 87 kilometers, so that gives you an idea.

Lisa Peters: 2:12

And you run this all at once.

Sean Mooney: 2:14

You run that all at once, yeah.

Lisa Peters: 2:16

How long does that take you?

Sean Mooney: 2:19

The good runners will complete it within. I'm talking about the guys that will normally win the race. They'll only finish it in about five and a half hours, which is like amazing to run that kind of distance. I think. For me that's a serious novice. It would probably take about anything between 11 to 12 hours of running, so it's a long day.

Lisa Peters: 2:44

Wow, I have done marathons. I ran them in 4.30. So those guys are almost done ultra marathons and I'm still running one.

Sean Mooney: 2:57

Thank you.

Lisa Peters: 2:58

Those are big training goals.

Sean Mooney: 3:01

Thank you.

Lisa Peters: 3:02

So, first off, thank you for joining us. It is an early morning for me, later in the afternoon for you, but it is just an honor to have you here, Sean. So thank you for joining us. So we're always looking for a bit of your professional story. We talked a little bit about it and I giggle as we go from, I think, mining industries to restaurant, but I'm sure you'll say more. But we're looking for a bit of your professional story and how you got to where you are today.

Lisa Peters: 3:28

And it's really about just giving a couple snapshots that were kind of those pivotal turning points along your journey.

Sean Mooney: 3:34

Yeah, sure. So I'll give you a brief intro to a little bit of my life and my professional journey. And I guess, when I think about the start of my life, I was born into a fairly poor family, Lisa. My dad was a printer by profession, my mom just a clerical worker, and I think what made things a little bit more difficult was that they were divorced while I was still quite young. I think I was about 10 years old when they got divorced. This was quite traumatic for us as a family. I have two other siblings. My mom died fairly young and I think that was from depression. She died at the age of 48, and it was as a result of the divorce, so that was quite devastating for us as a family. I remember growing up being shunted from one home to the other after my parents divorced. I also remember growing up for a while in a home that had no water, no running water, no taps, no electricity, and yeah, that was interesting for a few years in my life. But I think what helped me, despite my parents' divorce, is that my parents still cared for me as well as my siblings as best as they could.

Sean Mooney: 4:55

I think what helped me, however, is that I was a fairly industrious and reasonably bright student at school and also university. I'm just saying reasonably bright, not brilliant, because I had hopes of becoming a medical doctor, but my grades were not good enough for that, so I had to consider other career options. I then qualified with a BSc degree in maths and chemistry. I then qualified with a BSc degree in maths and chemistry. I did a higher diploma in education, a master's degree, and then also in my last few years, a bachelor's degree in ministry. I've been blessed to work for and obtain fairly senior positions within blue chip companies in the FMCG sector and I think you've mentioned that in the introduction companies such as Coca-Cola and Anglo American, and during the last few years I was within the supply chain space. I was the most senior person in the supply chain space as the group supply chain manager, which in other organizations would be your chief procurement officer or chief supply chain officer within the organization.

Sean Mooney: 6:07

But despite the corporate world, I think during these days within the corporate world, I've also ventured into the entrepreneurial space and so I've been an entrepreneur. I've owned a restaurant, supermarket, frozen food import business. So I've really tried the entrepreneurial route, but I guess at some point some of those businesses failed. Some of them have still been, I still own them, which has been a blessing.

Sean Mooney: 6:43

I'm currently expanding my property rental portfolio business and I currently lease out about 25 rental units, so that's a good source of passive income for me. I'm the director of an aquaponics company called My Aquaponics, and so we're a hydroponics and aquaponics supply company and we also do training for anyone that's interested in venturing into aquaponics or hydroponics. I know that I'm getting a little bit old, but I don't feel that I'm ready to retire as yet, so I might still do some work from a consulting perspective in the enterprise and supply development space to the mining sector, and this would be with a fairly large one of the largest property development companies in our country, a company called GrowthPoint. So we're still in discussions about that possibility for now. So that just gives you a slight snapshot of my professional career.

Lisa Peters: 7:48

Yeah, that is a lot of pivotal moments in completely different career paths. At any point did you so when you're transitioning? And I think of many people who've listened throughout or who are listening and throughout COVID there was a lot of transition for people. Either they transitioned out, retired or had to transition within. Were you ever what was that feeling of moving from mining to restaurant, to rental, to hydroponics Like that's big, the moments that you're transitioning.

Sean Mooney: 8:21

It's quite interesting. I've actually found the longest stint that I had within the mining sector. I worked for 12 years with one of Anglo-American subsidiaries Kumba, INO, and Exxaro but even within those 12 years, for some reason I seem to every three years it's kind of been a pattern in my life. For every three years I seem to transition to something new. So, yeah, it was at Exxaro. You know, I had done really well at Exxaro, really done well, and I felt that I wanted to transition into possibly owning some of my own businesses.

Sean Mooney: 9:06

And that's what I ventured into. I left Exxaro and started venturing into the entrepreneurial space and, as I said, you know, some of those ventures really did well. The property business is flourishing but then some of them failed. You know the frozen food, vegetable. That was a tough space to move into and I had to stop some of that. So yeah, I have certainly tried my hand at various opportunities.

Lisa Peters: 9:46

Yeah. Well, I know one of our questions is about how much we learn from our failures and mistakes, but before we get there, I'm going to talk to you about the best principle of success. I wonder if you have one and if you can tell us a story that illustrates that.

Sean Mooney: 10:02

Sure, Sure, Lisa. I think for me, success and I had to think really long and hard about this, you know but for me success means leaving a lasting impact in the lives of those around me. I think that, for me, is successful, and defining what the lasting impact means, I guess would vary from different people's understanding but for me, that lasting impact needs to start with my immediate family. So if I'm not a success at home and I am successful in business or within the corporate sector but my home falls apart, that would be a disaster. So for me, having a fairly large family at various ages, including the adopted kids that we had, trying to be a good parent, a good father and really bring them up well, for me is really important. But it extends beyond your immediate family. For me success also means being able to make a positive impact in your work environment, within your community and also even within the church environment. So I just just a little bit of an example. Within the work environment, I've always felt a sense of achievement when I see people growing within the organization, developing themselves, studying, getting higher degrees and moving on, you know, from one position to the other.

Sean Mooney: 11:43

I recall in my last organization that it was very difficult, due to financial constraints, very difficult for people to do further studies and I tried to eliminate some of those stumbling blocks by just opening the doors.

Sean Mooney: 12:03

Let as many of my staff, if they ever desire, to study let's see if we could open those doors and it was such a delight to see a few of them, you know, complete their degrees successfully, move on to better positions. I recall in my last organization my 2IC, who reported to me, was a direct subordinate to me. I helped him complete his executive management diploma after many years of not studying and it was something that he always thought about doing and I think it really opened up some doors for him. He was eventually appointed into my position when I left the organization. So for me that also signifies just a feeling of achievement, but more than just him moving within his career. I think I tried to have some spiritual conversations with him during this period and that also led to him eventually becoming a believer, and so for me, success is just seeing people grow in all aspects of their lives, not only professionally, but spiritually as well.

Lisa Peters: 13:22

Yeah, listening to you and then knowing a little bit about just welcoming into your house two adopted boys, making a difference in their life, making that impact and, you know, just talking about people growing, you've definitely lived that out. Your principal success definitely lived out in your personal, professional, and spiritual, yeah, so thank you for sharing that story, thank you. So want to go back to a little bit about failures, failings and mistakes, and you talked about you entered the frozen food world and it didn't work and you kept moving on. So I want to talk a little bit about we know that failings and mistakes those can be our successes. So if you'd share one of your greatest failings or mistakes and what you learned from it.

Sean Mooney: 14:16

You know, as I said, I mean I've had some failed businesses, especially within the entrepreneurial space. I guess I've moved better within the corporate environment and progressed faster, but certainly I had some failures within the entrepreneurial space. I recall losing, especially within the frozen food business. I mean I lost a couple of million rand trying to establish that business. So some hard lessons that I've learned and money that could have been utilized well elsewhere.

Sean Mooney: 14:54

But there's a few lessons that I've learned from this that I'd like to share, Lisa. The one is, you know, first of all, seek counsel with other trusted persons before making any life-changing decisions. You know, even if you think that you're on a good, this is a good opportunity. Seek counsel before jumping into it. The second key lesson for me is do not make any hasty or pressurized investment decisions. You've got to make sure that you have peace in your heart before making that investment decision.

Sean Mooney: 15:35

The third point for me, or third lesson for me, was choose your partners very carefully. Do not just partner with anyone in a business venture. It could be fairly harmful in the long term. And I think I mentioned earlier make sure that you've got peace in your heart before making these major decisions. Any anxiety that you might experience is normally an indication that that business opportunity is not going to be the right one for you. Another thing is sometimes we don't listen carefully enough to our spouses. So make sure that you and your spouse are in unity about the decision that you need to make. Don't bulldoze your wife or husband when needing to make a key decision. And then, finally, make sure that you spend time in prayer. You need to see guidance from God in the decision that you need to make and don't really not don't be hasty in jumping into any opportunity that you can find.

Lisa Peters: 16:43

Yeah, Sean, when you first said seek counsel, my mind went right to the highest counsel you know, and I know you meant you know seek counsel of the people around you, like the smartest people you know, and then you had talked about time and prayer. And then I also laughed when you said choose your partner, because that could be your partner in life, your partner in business, like your partners who you surround yourself with. But yeah, you need, we need to be talking more about what we're doing versus keeping it in. I think sometimes we think we're alone as leaders of the talk. We don't want to talk, we don't want to admit, we don't know the answers.

Sean Mooney: 17:26

Yeah, for sure.

Lisa Peters: 17:28

So it's good to hear it's always good to hear people who have lost millions to say that, like, these are still smart decisions and I have won and I have lost.

Sean Mooney: 17:38

Yeah.

Lisa Peters: 17:39

I will still go back to these principle. Yeah, so it is always interesting to interview people like yourself, Sean, who are from a different country than myself, and we want to ask you the question about what makes a great leader in your country, and do you feel this is unique to your country?

Sean Mooney: 18:00

I think we've been privileged by having a leader in the form of Nelson Mandela, who was our first democratically elected president.

Sean Mooney: 18:12

For me that he really stands out as a great leader, and what I personally admire about him, Lisa, is that, despite being in prison for more than 20 years for a cause that he believed in, he emerged from prison, took up office at the highest level in our country, but with no bitterness or hatred for the years that he had lost. Instead, he tried to unite the people in our country. He demonstrated forgiveness and sacrifice, personal sacrifice and also understood the bigger picture of rescuing our nation from the brink of a civil war. You know many, many countries that have gone through a transition like this would have certainly experienced major civil war in the change of power, but we really have been blessed to have a leader like Nelson Mandela, who was able to make this transition, not easy, but still free from war, if I can call it that. But I don't think this is unique to our country, but it certainly demonstrates some of the characteristics that I see in great leadership.

Lisa Peters: 19:39

Yeah, Nelson Mandela is a great example, and I think, when I think of him, I think of 27 years in jail and to come out and then being elected the first president of South Africa. How do you let go of that anger right? We had a conversation weeks ago about joy in my care group and talked about what brings you joy. And in times of such trials. How do you find that joy?

Sean Mooney: 20:13

Sure.

Lisa Peters: 20:15

And Nelson. It wasn't on earth that joy for Nelson. He found a bigger joy, and he stuck to it.

Sean Mooney: 20:24

Absolutely.

Lisa Peters: 20:25

You know that is a great example. So you've been involved with Leader Impact as your bio, as your introduction had said, you are on the global council. Yes, so at Leader Impact you know we want to grow personally, professionally and spiritually to increase impact. So the question is would you be willing to share an example of how the spiritual makes a practical impact in your life as a leader?

Sean Mooney: 20:52

Absolutely, I think, for me growing spiritually in my relationship with God and our Lord Jesus Christ has had a major impact for me in my life as a leader. In some instances it has meant that I had to forego certain career opportunities by not being willing to play the political game within the corporate world. In other instances it sometimes has meant that I've not been as popular, you know, as being one of the guys or being in the in crowd, due to not willing to compromise my integrity or living contrary to the principles in the Bible. So these were some of the sacrifices I think that one has to go through within the corporate environment. Should you, should you wish to live a spiritual life.

Sean Mooney: 21:48

My relationship with God has definitely been, for me, a firm foundation. It's kept me stable in so many situations that I've had to go through. I mean, I've mentioned some of my failures. You know I've made some wrong investment decisions and some instances even made some poor career decisions. But despite making some of these decisions, my experience has been that God has just been faithful in guiding me and helping me through those difficult situations. You know as a father would help his child, even when that child does go amiss or astray, he's there to give you that helping hand and not allow you to drown in the mistakes that you've made. So I've learned as well the importance of not compartmentalizing your life by, for example, separating your professional life from your spiritual life, because you can so easily do that. So I say that you know what I go to church on a Sunday, but for the rest of the week, this is I'm leading and living a different life.

Sean Mooney: 23:04

So before becoming involved with Leader Impact, I never understood that importance of saying that I need to live an integrated life. I need to be able to be a. I need to understand that my workplace is also my mission field in a sense. I need to be able to positively impact the lives of people within the work environment, and so I began to understand the importance of that, and for me it started off by just praying, just praying for people in my organization and then, later on, being bold enough to even have some spiritual conversations with them, and I know it's not easy. You need to be bold to do that. In my last organization, and that organization is a large one.

Sean Mooney: 23:52

We employed over 9,000 employees within the mining group. I was able to share the gospel with two really senior executives in the organization the CEO of the organization, as well as the COO, the chief operating officer and I'm really trusting that the conversations that I've had with them while I was there would have landed, would have had an impact on their lives. So, yeah, always think about opportunities to influence people that you meet from a spiritual perspective as well.

Lisa Peters: 24:34

Yeah, I have to ask you when you're in a crisis, in a moment of a business decision that didn't go as well, I can't imagine, are you calm? When I think of when it's easy to look, my point is it's easy to look back and go. You know what I, we knew it was going to happen. God had a plan. But when you are in it, it is so hard and I, Sean, I've never lost millions. I, you know, my investments are not like that and you know, and I have, this will be okay, you know this will be okay. But there are big decisions and sometimes, when we're in them, it's so hard to find where is God in this? And maybe I don't know.

Lisa Peters: 25:24

I ask that because I think people listening are still trying to find like where is he in the bad times?

Sean Mooney: 25:35

Oh, that's such a, it's a long conversation one could have, Lisa. Yeah, when things go wrong in your life, you know. Yeah, when decisions you've made do not go as you planned, or when, or even in some instances and I wish we had more time but in some instances you're actually, living a life of integrity and you're living, you're doing all of the right things and you still are faced with a major setback in your life. You know.

Sean Mooney: 26:08

So these can be tough moments. You know, I think, if I were to relate how God just kind of sustains you through those times, how he still provides for me and my family, how he and it's really like a miracle in some instances you know that you are able to still successfully emerge from trials like that. But for me there was just two things. The one is never lose your faith, never lose your faith in him and never stop believing that he's a good father and has a good plan for your life. But the second thing is also never stop serving others, never stop doing good towards others, because he is a rewarder of those who try to sow into the lives of others. So that has been my experience, Lisa.

Lisa Peters: 27:11

Yeah, and I go right back to your principles of success and you talked about. You know seek counsel and choose your partners, and I mean surrounding yourself with the people that can help you make decisions and get you through any hard times. So thank you for entertaining that question. Well, our last question is about lasting impact. So, of course, we're dedicated to having a lasting impact, at LeaderI mpact, as you continue to move through your own journey. I was wondering have you considered what you want your legacy to be when you leave this world?

Sean Mooney: 27:46

Yeah, I think the legacy that I'd like to leave, Lisa, is, my hope is that I've influenced my. I know it's a big, ambitious goal, but is to be able to influence thousands of people for the sake of the kingdom of God. And my hope is that many of them that I've influenced over my lifetime would one day be with me in heaven.

Sean Mooney: 28:14

So that's the sort of legacy that I'd like to leave. And my involvement with Leader Impact and the reason why, I remain involved with Leader Impact is because I understand the 80-20 principle, which means that if I can influence the top 20% of influential leaders in organizations, if I can influence the CEO or the COO of an organization, he in turn, they in turn, can influence thousands of people. And so that's my hope, Lisa. My hope is that, by touching the lives of others, that one day, one day, I will enjoy their company in heaven. That's my desire.

Lisa Peters: 28:59

Thank you, Sean. I think of we are all part of someone's journey. If we're at the beginning of someone's faith journey or if we are halfway through, we are all part of someone's journey. So thank you for being part of someone's journey today because someone is listening and, you know, maybe just wants to step up a little bit, and so every part of your story is important, Thank you Sean.

Lisa Peters: 29:27

So, if anyone, this brings us to the end of our podcast. But if anyone wants to look you up, find out more about you, maybe follow up on something you said, interested in talking to you? Where can they find you?

Sean Mooney: 29:38

I am on LinkedIn, Lisa, so it's fairly easy to just search for me on LinkedIn. You'll find my profile there. I'm on Facebook as well. And if anyone, I mean more than welcome to also just pass through an email if somebody would like to get hold of me as well. But I guess LinkedIn might be the easiest.

Lisa Peters: 29:58

Yeah, isn't it technology? We can just talk to people around the world with a little click and a little video and it's lovely. Well, thank you, Sean, for taking the last half hour with us. We appreciate all your words and just your time with us. Thank you,. I

Sean Mooney: 30:14

Thank you, Lisa, and all the best for you as well. Thank you.

Lisa Peters: 30:18

Well, this brings us to the end of our podcast. If you're part of Leader Impact, you can always discuss or share this podcast with your group. And if you're not yet part of Leader Impact and would like to find out more and grow your leadership, find our podcast page on our website at leaderimpact. ca and check out our free leadership assessment. You'll also find on our webpage chapter one of Braden Douglas's book Becoming a Leader of Impact. You can also check out our groups available in Canada at leaderimpact. ca or, if you're listening from anywhere else in the world, check out leaderimpact. com or get in touch with us by email info at leaderimpact. ca and we will connect you. And if you like this podcast, please leave us a comment, give us a rating or review. This will help other global leaders find our podcast. Thank you for engaging with us and remember impact starts with you.