Michael Connory
Michael is the CEO of Security in Depth, prior to that he had roles with Oracle, the NCC Group and was Country Director for Gemalto Australia, Michael has also had roles as Executive Director of Triathlon Victoria, CEO and founder of TriNow and CEO of the Camino Group. Michael has a passion for Security, is sports crazy and has a serious passion for coaching and helping both individuals and organisations achieve their best.
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
The Darkness of The Web
Monday, September 10, 2018
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Back into Training
For me, I have started so many times in the past two years and things have fallen apart and I have some great excuses:
- Tore my calf (well - I did do that three times and swore at my physio at each occurrence)
- Tore my adductor - now that was painful
- Changed careers
- Family issues
- Travel (Lot's of travel - USA, France, Taipei, Singapore....lots of fun)
All excuses though...if I really wanted to train I could have....I heard a nice little quote the other day
"Life will knock you down, it's up to you if you want to get back up!"
So I have started again - different program now, different methodology...no more excuses.
Started focusing on strength and base, throw in some martial arts (been 15 years), not so much running this time (too many injuries in the early stages), basketball, swimming and cycling.
So - my goal was always to complete the Hawaiian Ironman. My daughter keeps asking when I will compete again. Hard looking here in the eye and letting her know that I just don't have the passion anymore. I always loved the Ironman event, endurance racing, nothing like running down those final 50 metres...but the effort is immense. Right now my goal is just to get through the next 21 days with some form of activity....get into the habit of training. Of course, in the next month I will be travelling again - NZ, Singapore, Perth and Qld....Lot's to do with work and I have to prioritise time with my unbelievable great kids....
So, thinking out loud (well typing out loud)...
- Balance work, life....focus.
- Set goals and make them compelling - why, why why????
- No excuses
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Balance and Focus
It's a great question and many, many people struggle with it. For me, it's about focus. What should I focus on? what am I focusing on? What am I thinking about?
2010 was the year of enlightenment (It was a crap year actually, but need to focus on what I learnt). I got older and my body just didn't respond as I hoped. I changed jobs. I lost good friends. I forgot who I was and my focus was either in the past on some event or projecting into the future looking for better times ahead. I was rarely present in this moment - and that hurt. I don't know how we can simply live in our heads, looking backwards, looking ahead but forgetting where we are this moment.
How do you get out of your head and focus on now?
I use different methods, and it does depend on where I am at. A yoga teacher suggested to focus on the end of my nose. My priest suggested, and this worked wonderfully well, to sit down and just feel my body. Other activities that have helped - boxing (if your not in the moment whilst boxing your in big trouble), running, diving into cold water...Lot's of ideas. Right now, yoga helps most.
Balance is a completely different beast...this is based totally on your values and what is important to you. Family, career, fun, safety, children, sports, love....what is important to you differs from your colleague, from you husband or wife, from your friends. Again it's about focus, the question to ask yourself...what do I really care about? What is important to me? What do I like doing? All good questions, and I'm guessing questions that are not really answered all that well...it's only then that you can start to achieve balance.
Anyway, off to yoga.
M.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Lessons From The Camino

I started my trip with the following:
• 18kg Backpack - filled with everything I needed and then some.
• The most expensive, all encompassing hiking boots available on the planet
• All encompassing, all weather jacket
• Basic fitness (I was fit - but try walking 25km everyday for 30+ days)
When I eventually reached Santiago I had the following with me:
• 8kg Backpack with only essential clothes, a book and a MP3 player
• A basic pair of walking shoes
• Basic, light all weather jacket
I remember being nervous, excited, enthralled about the journey in front of me. Being extremely competitive by nature I couldn't help myself - I needed to compare with those also around me and taking the journey. I couldn't help myself - I wanted to walk faster, carry more, be more focused than the other people who had decided to follow the same path as me. For the first five days I struggled - at one point I could barely walk (spraining my ankle coming down a hill outside of Pamplona.
So what did I learn:
Lesson 1. Don't carry too much baggage
On your life journey you simply can't carry too much baggage - you just can't make the distance carrying the baggage, you will probably make yourself sick and it's just difficult to learn and experience new and wonderful adventures.
I tried to carry everything, I wanted to carry everything - in the end it would have almost killed me. The ability to let things go is one of the most amazing and profound lessons I have ever learnt.
Lesson 2. Travel at your own pace
You have to walk at your own pace - the moment you start to compete against anyone else (they have better clothes, are faster walkers, better backpack....yada yada yada) you will only do yourself harm. The moment winning or being better than others becomes your priority, the entire journey stops and a mind game begins - one in which no-one can ever win - from my perspective you miss the beauty of the journey, the most amazing relationships – and, in my opinion, most importantly you miss having fun.
Lesson 3. It's about the journey
I so wanted to finish - that was my primary and driving goal; reach Santiago...but the most amazing part of the trip was the journey itself, every step, every sight, every smell, every friendship, every thought. That is what made this one of the greatest adventures of my life.
Lesson 4. People
I naturally trust others - I believe that people are essentially good and will always want to help. On my journey, I met so many wonderful, amazing, incredible people from all walks of life. All these strangers, helping, sharing, supporting each other - all in a new country for most. I could not have finished without the people around me….people and relationships mean everything.
Lesson 5. Faith
At some time you just have to trust that the journey you are on is right, that it has meaning - even if you aren't aware of it at the time - especially if you aren't aware of it at the time...having faith in yourself and the path you have taken is everything.
Lesson 6. Persevere
There are always periods when you feel like giving up – and I experienced many of those. It is amazing what happens when you persevere, when you just keep trying – something miraculous happens, you find you have reached your goal, had an amazing experience, learnt a lot, met a lot of interesting people and feel good about you.
Cheers,
Michael
Sunday, October 4, 2009
A Beginning
My first blog. I've read that like anything it takes time to develop your skills in writing blogs that are worth reading. I'll be interested to observe the responses I receive from my words and I hope that what I can contribute is viewed as valuable, informative and well thought out.
A little about me - who am I? What do I do? What are my values?
I'm Michael Connory, at the moment I'm a 44 year old, with an incredible wife and two amazing kids. I'm a director of 4 different organisations - Camino Consulting Group http://www.camino.com.au/ also TriNow http://www.trinow.com.au/ / http://www.trinow.net/ and http://www.trinow.co.uk/ also Triathlon Victoria http://www.trivic.org.au/ and I would say I have three major business skills:
- Sales and Sales Management
- Marketing
- Organisational Performance Management
I love sports, I hold professional coaching qualifications in Triathlon (and that's a surprise considering what I have already written), love AFL, Basketball, Cricket....pretty much all sports.
My values
- God
- Family
- Team
- Customer
- Organisation
- Vendor
I struggle constantly with God - I guess that is best left between myself, my priest and God.
So, my goals with this blog is to have a social commentary around business, leadership and the sport of Triathlon.
Thanks for your attention,
Michael