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december/january 2009
19
"There is no time to stew
on things. We are open
and honest with each other.
If there is a problem we
discuss it and deal with it"
Juliet Bourke
Room to move: Aequus Partners
For Juliet Bourke of management consultancy Aequus
Partners, the success of her business partnership with co-
director Graeme Russell is the result of a happy mix of
differences (professional and life experiences), similarities
(of values and interests), trust and respect.
"We're very different people: I am a lawyer and a
woman with a younger family, Graeme is an organisa-
tional psychologist and a grandfather, but that works
to our advantage. We bring different ideas to the table
and because we respect each other's intellectual con-
tribution, those differences are a point of value and
not conflict."
Both allow the other room within the partnership to do
what is important to them. "In my case it was spending four
years working pro bono part-time on Taskforce on Care
Costs as well as full-time on the business, and for Graeme
it is being able to work from home and work around kindy
pickups for his grandchildren," Bourke says.
"I suppose having a lasting business partnership is a
bit like a marriage ­ you have to be committed and flex-
ible to let the other person grow. Certainly I have had a
great time working with Graeme over the last 10 years
and we have achieved things together that we wouldn't
have done individually."
L