Jim Simpson, Graham Hansen, Tim Jensen and Don Koulaouzos have passed on the sad news of the passing of Phil Hastings.
https://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/505166/phillip-sami-hastings/?r=https://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/smh-au/
The below photo is from the funeral service booklet provided by Phil’s family for the use of those who attended the funeral service.
7 Comments
I knew and worked under him when he was GM of Maritime ….
He was a great GM – we all had a lot of respect for him. He then moved to NDC Limited as their CEO and I subsequently lost touch with him.
Tim Jensen
Very sad, great guy.
Paul Cope
I remember Phil, he was a no nonsense bloke, very easy to get along with.
RIP
Matt O’Neill
I share those sentiments. Sad news indeed.
It was Phil (who I didn’t really know at the time) that phoned me soon after he was elevated to head up the old CRS in 1987 with a view to doing something with it – then loosing some $7m PA.
Despite some early misgivings on my part (moving from Satellite TV & Broadcasting back to a past era – of ex SOR Operations, then commercial/marketing), many halcyon & unforgettable years followed, impacting all of us in one way or another.
I came both like & respect Phil for his honest & practical approach to lifting the old CRS out of a debt ridden business to breaking even in (as I recall) 2-years, painful as it was for some, and into a new leading edge , mobile Satcoms business that thrives to this day.
Albeit, under new corporate ownership that owes much to the formative years of Inmarsat & those among us, led in those early, formative days by Phil.
Time & tide wait for none.
Jim Simpson
I knew Phil in two incarnations. The first OTC Maritime, where we were challenged to become commercial. The second was when I left MS&RS and went to work for Phil when he was running Network Operations in the Network & Technology Group of Telstra. The job he had for me was a poisoned chalice. He told me that before I accepted the job. He told me it was almost impossible to succeed. He said what he wanted was someone to give it an honest go. No bullsh*t. He thought ‘we’ could do it.
At the end of 4 years we did improve things. At the request of Phil’s peer, Bob Pentecost, I moved to Network Design & Construction.
The workers in Network Ops hated Phil. They accused him of being a liar. The truth was he was anything but that. Phil was driven by his accountabilities. His boss, Doug Campbell, gave his DRs, including Phil, targets to stripe out $Ms from the NTG business. Phil did that but in a humane way. He told his workers what needed to happen and then set about doing that. There were no lies or deceit.
Phil Hastings was an honourable, gentleman. Someone who worked harder than anyone else (because he had to). His Egyptian heritage made that necessary. As Chris Maloy once said of Graeme Darley, who at that time was giving Phil a hard time in OTC, “Darley just doesn’t like Gypos”.
The Senior Management of Telstra didn’t know how to deal with Phil, so they set him up to fail then pushed him out of the company when he did.
Vale Phil Hastings, a true gentleman and valued boss
Graham Hansen
Contributing late at the end of this very sad thread feels like one of my (rare) tardy arrivals for a 7a-3p shift… making it a challenge to add anything new to all the very apt tributes paid to Phil.
So please forgive the ingemination, Phil sure was a gentleman, a brilliant businessman and a calculated risk-taker who invested in his people and was comfortable making tough decisions that were supported by a solid technical background to understand the implications of taking those risks.
Phil was one of the few, truly inspiring leaders and effective managers we had at OTC a quality that was even rarer in Telstra.
Like Gra, I have Phil (and Simmo) to thank for giving me an opportunity to pivot into a career that has been rewarding in every respect and certainly life-changing in so many ways. I often wonder what my destiny would have been if I remained as one of the last key-pounders to be rounded up and sent off to the knackery?
I recall attending one of my first staff briefings from Phil, listening to his eloquent delivery, ever so slight exotic accent, and powerful messages – all without a single note to guide him. After being inspired by this, I thought to myself: “I wish I could do that” never expecting it would become a part of my day job.
To lighten this thread, a few of you may recollect when the firm must have had too much HR budget left over, so it engaged some coaching company to indoctrinate, I mean educate us, with something that must have been so irrelevant that I just can’t remember what it was…
The only thing I do recall was being in a massive venue filled with a three-line whip of all HQ staff when the facilitator demonstrated how not to answer the phone in the required corporate manner by suddenly blurting out “Hastings!” in a loud and curt shout, followed by a cachinnation response from the audience – especially those of us who had experienced phoning Mr Hastings. Phil was close to the stage in the VIP row and took it in good humour, but I’m not sure whether he ever adopted the edict?
Phil left a great legacy and if any of you happen to be at the funeral, please pass on my sincere condolences to Barbara and the family. RIP.
Don Koulaouzos
Indeed sad news.
From the day I met Phil I had only the utmost respect for him both as a person and as a “boss”. Tough when it was required, but at the end of the day “fair”.
My sincere condolences to his surviving family.
RIP.
Regards
Tony Fisher