A Natural People Leader who coaches every team member.

“For me, family comes first. I hold myself accountable for achieving outcomes at work, and LAB³’s flexibility provides me with leeway to balance things. Without looking over their shoulders, I encourage my team to adopt the same approach in terms of balancing their personal priorities with professional accountability.”

Having previously worked with some of the LAB³ crew at another IT company, Justin jumped at the chance to join the then start-up when he learnt he could work remotely. His initial remit was to write policies and processes to help uplift the capability of the Managed Services team. Today he is a Technology Delivery Manager and leads the LAB³ Service Desk team.

“A few years before I joined LAB³ my family and I moved three hours north of Melbourne to be near extended family and raise our children by the Murray River,” explained Justin. “At that time remote work was more of a pipedream than a realistic option so for work, I took on roles in local government and became a disability support worker.”  

Even after his marriage ended, Justin decided to stay put. It was important to him for his children to grow up spending equal time with both their parents, and where there was a strong local community. Justin is heavily involved with the town’s basketball and AFL clubs, as a player, coach, and referee coordinator.  

“The seasons overlap, so playing both sports helps me stay fit and also keeps me connected with my children through shared passions,” said Justin who coaches his youngest son’s basketball team and plays alongside the other son as a teammate. One of his daughters is also a keen basketball player.  

As a natural people leader, Justin’s role at LAB³ quickly evolved beyond helping with the paperwork to include being the Major Incident Manager and then he transitioned to leading the ServiceNow and Service Desk teams. All this, working remotely only travelling to Melbourne every month or so for important in-person meetings. 

“My career in IT originally started with a large technology provider, at the very bottom of the Service Desk. I was primarily assigned tickets like re-setting passwords and even then, I faced a steep learning curve,” said Justin.  

Prior to this Justin had been selling bedroom furniture for a business which crumbled with the GFC. It was his strong customer-service skills which led to him being hired in a totally new industry. Luckily, his managers appreciated what he brought to the team, and gave him time to learn. 

“Having no background in IT continues to make me feel comfortable admitting my lack of technical knowledge. This has played in my favour. Too often, people think they need to know everything and are afraid to ask for help.”

In meetings Justin has observed he is often the first person to ask questions, and it is not uncommon for others to thank him afterwards, “quietly on the side”. 

Although he spent a few years away from IT, far from hindering his career, Justin credits the break as allowing him to become an even more insightful people leader. 

“Being a disability carer gave me a clearer perspective in supporting people, and the advantages of focusing on every person’s capability,” said Justin. It is this perspective he uses in coaching, not just junior basketball but the men’s over 45s AFL team. 

“My approach is to identify the strengths of each player and to help them develop these, and also to focus on the core skills which every player needs. A lot of energy can be wasted by people believing they need to be good at everything.”

“I have found it really helps people to perform at their best and enjoy themselves more when they can spend more time doing what they are good at,” said Justin.

In approaching his own training, Justin puts into practice what he preaches. This season he was awarded ‘the Most Consistent Player’ on his over 35s AFL team. He also applies his approach to coaching to leadership at LAB³. 

“We have a great team culture on the LAB³ Service Desk, where there is high regard for each other’s skills and with people being comfortable in asking for help,” said Justin.

“I am especially proud to champion career development and have found it enormously rewarding when team members progress beyond the SD to specialist engineering roles.”