Graham Moore believes in the power of dreaming. A script editor, actor, casting director, producer and now executive coach, he says it’s something that can expand the mind. “I remember my teachers in school used to say, ‘stop daydreaming’ whenever they spotted a student lost in his thoughts.
What they should have been saying is, ‘Put down your pen and start daydreaming’,’’ says the Dubai-based professional speaker and motivator who heads Moore Success ME FZE. “It’s a very powerful aspect of life and many wonderful, creative ideas can come out of the daydreaming process. Teachers and parents should encourage children from a young age to think creatively and allow them to explore their imaginations.’’
Graham is proof of what a person can achieve if allowed to dream. As a senior executive at Crawford Productions, an Australian television drama production company, he made more than 450 hours of television drama. He’s worked with stars such as Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, who he cast in an episode of a series called Skyways in 1979. And in the early Eighties he was offered the position of CEO for Crawford Productions, but due to some internal management changes that failed to materialise.
He later moved to Singapore where he produced Medium Rare – the country’s first English feature film for the international market. “When I received an offer from Singapore to produce a film, I took it,’’ he says. However, his short-lived tenure in Singapore came to an end when the company he was working for ran out of funds for development, so he quit and returned to Australia, “where the TV scene was not the way it had been’’.
There were very few openings at a senior level for a person like him, and rather than starting in TV from scratch all over again, Graham decided to try his hand at something he had never done before – driving a taxi. “I didn’t want to while away time waiting for something to fall into my lap, so I decided to make a living as a taxi driver,’’ he says. A few months later, on the advice of a friend, he enrolled on a course in hypnotherapy, which in many ways was a turning point in his life. “I’ve always wanted to help people and I realised I could help bring about positive change in people’s lives through hypnotherapy,’’ he says.
After taking courses in professional speaking and training in hypnotherapy at the Australian Academy of Hypnotic Sciences, Graham became a professional speaker, trainer and executive coach. Now a fellow of the Academy, he runs a business that focuses on leadership, emotional intelligence and customer service. He is also a ThinkBuzan-licensed instructor and was trained personally by Tony Buzan, the person who came up with mind mapping.
“Mind mapping is a way of putting down your thoughts and ideas simply and clearly on one page in much the same way as the brain works, rather than writing out all the details in the traditional ‘word-for-word’ process,’’ he says. “Condensing an idea into bite-sized chunks helps clarify our thinking process. Importantly, mind maps enable us to significantly improve information recall.
“Mind maps can be used in business – taking notes in meetings, planning, organising, developing strategic plans – they are also very useful for students as they increase their ability to recall information in exams. “There are plenty of uses in personal life as well,’’ he says. “Mind maps are used for planning, creating to-do lists, even to do the weekly shopping list. In fact, they can be used anywhere you need to capture information.’’ In a long and successful career, Graham has made presentations to more than 26,000 people in several countries including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, UAE, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Work
I grew up in Canberra, Australia, but was always looking beyond my home town. From an early age, I wanted to be an actor or scriptwriter. I got a pen-pushing job with the Australian government, but gave it up to try acting. I went to Melbourne and was a ‘freelance actor’ for a while, which is another way of saying an ‘out-of-work actor’. Then I was offered a job as a script editor by Australia’s top television drama company, Crawford Productions. I thought it was a way into acting by the back door, but within a couple of years I was producing prime-time television drama.
I also worked as a casting director for a while but returned to producing on The Flying Doctors in 1984, and a very successful series called Cop Shop. Then in 1991, I was offered a job in Singapore to produce the country’s first feature film for the international market. It was a forgettable movie called Medium Rare. After a year I was offered a senior position for a Singapore-based Australian feature film company called Legend Media. We were allocated some land by the Singapore government to build a studio, but the company ran out of funds so I returned to Australia.
However, things were not as good as before. The TV industry was going through a stressful phase and there were very few openings for people like me at a senior level. I dabbled in a few jobs related to the arts including one at an arts, tourism and recreation centre arranging theatrical performances. But they were not permanent positions and I was looking for something long term. Instead of sitting and waiting for work to come along, I decided to take a job driving taxis in Melbourne. One day another driver found out about some of the things I’d done.
He was more than a little surprised and said, “You’ve done all that, and now you’re doing this?” I responded, “If all that was left for me to do was to be employed to dig a hole in the ground, I would still be learning. I’d be learning about engineering principles, about how best to dig the hole; and if I was with a team, I’d learn how to work more effectively in a group.” It was a friend of mine in Australia named Derek who got me to learn about hypnotherapy. One day, I was feeling particularly low and drained of all energy when he suggested that I do a course in clinical hypnotherapy. “That’ll help you,” he told me.
I was always interested in the power of the mind, and my belief in the power of dreaming was strong even then, so I took his advice and joined the Academy of Hypnotic Science in Melbourne. After completing the course, I was offered the chance to do some corporate training. I loved it and stayed in the training field. I also run mind mapping programmes. I was intrigued to get into mind mapping because it works in a similar way to the brain itself. The structure of a mind map looks very much like the interconnected brain cells, all linked in an organic manner. We call this ‘radiant thinking’.
Also, just as thoughts are interconnected in the brain, a mind map works the same way. Ideas are joined together – one idea leads on to another, which in turn is linked to another, and so on. Effective mind maps are colourful and clear. They contain images as well as a key word on every line (which technically speaking is called a ‘branch’). Most people today have lost the ability to think creatively because they are too concerned with meeting their deadlines and are not conditioned to think creatively. Traditional schooling and societal pressure makes us ‘unlearn’ creativity.
In my workshops and training sessions I show people how to develop their creativity. Mind mapping is a powerful tool for this, and many organisations – big and small – are using it. I came to the UAE for the first time in 2007 to present mind mapping at a conference and saw what I believed were opportunities in the region. I made frequent visits – 12 trips in 18 months – to see clients, and finally moved to the UAE in 2008 to set up business here.
Empowerment is one of my favourite words and a word I think is extremely important from a leadership perspective. If you empower others, that in turn empowers you. I believe it’s hard to motivate a team, but you can help motivate individuals easily if you understand what their drivers are. In this way you can get the best out of them.
Every individual has different factors that motivate them – most are driven by money, others by position, authority or recognition. As a leader, it’s important to recognise and find out what can help the individual stay motivated. Have a positive outlook towards life and others. It’s essential to build people up rather than put them down to help people feel good about themselves.
Play
I was very shy in my childhood, so my mother never understood how I chose to become an actor. But for me it was like becoming another character. I didn’t come from a creative family but I learned storytelling from my father. He worked for the government and was nearly 60 years old when I was born. As a child I was delighted and fascinated by his stories. He taught me the art of connecting with people. He could walk into a room of strangers and make friends easily. I took time to learn this, but now I find it easy to connect with people. What I do is find a common interest and then conversation happens naturally.
From my mother, I learned about commitment, hard work and devotion to the family. My parents gave me a great sense of family and togetherness. I started speaking to my children positively when they were very young. I remember when my son Adam was a baby; I would change his nappy or put him to sleep, often telling him that he is the best boy in the world. This didn’t turn him into a self-centred young man, but it gave him self-esteem and turned him into a gentle, quiet and smart boy.
A journalist friend asked me about three years ago, “What was the biggest challenge in bringing up children?” My answer was, “Climbing a mountain is a challenge, but being a father is a gift.” I am truly blessed and inspired every day by my three children; Katrina Conrad, 29, a health economist working for a healthcare company; Fiona Moore, 27, manager of an international recruitment company, and Adam Moore, 25, a lawyer.
So why would I consider parenting as a challenge? I influence my children, I don’t tell them what’s to be done and I get some fantastic results. I like photography and enjoy cooking. I used to make 12 varieties of cheese in Australia at home in my own kitchen! I also love walking because it keeps the mind and body fit.
Dream
I want to spend more time working with a charity that builds schools for third-world countries and educates young women. In addition, there are a couple of books that I want to get published – one is a leadership fable and another is a novel I am working on – and I am writing a feature film too. I’ve also recorded 30 audio programmes on hypnotherapy and my goal is to reach at least 50 before I put them on the internet.
I want to develop a website that will help people achieve their goals and dreams. To me, it’s a wonderful world full of opportunities and I want to work on making a difference in it. I want to help develop leaders and continue presenting mind mapping programmes. There are lots of things that are still to be done.
