People
Issue No. 32 - December/January
Vodafone calls up the three Rs
Declan O’Callaghan likes to see red - and that’s not just his passion for rugby talking.
The relatively new Vodafone SA GM is an enthusiast with a people-based vision for his very recognisable brand.
Declan was an electronics engineer in the RAF — as a boy he wanted to fly — but by age 19 discovered engineering wasn’t his passion.
While on ‘rugby holiday’ in NZ he was persuaded to combine his technical knowledge with his nascent selling skills to recruit engineering talent for an HR firm.
“That was the start of my ‘people journey,” Declan says.
He quickly tired of the commission-only rat race, however. When Kevin Hayes asked him to join software company Applied Logic he jumped at the chance to work with “a strong leader”.
Applied Logic grew from $4 million turnover to $48 million. Declan moved on to Itouch, which creates software for hand-held devices, before being attracted to Vodafone NZ.
“When they took over the Bell South network, literally over the weekend they painted the town red,” Declan recalls, loving the dynamism. “You could spot the Vodafone person at parties - the one hanging off the wall a bit.
“I attached myself to Vodafone to understand it, and saw that what they were doing was creating a world dominance.
“What did that mean from a people perspective? How would it be executed and ultimately define what the brand should look like in the marketplace?...
