John built Garrisons Financial Planning which grew nationally to have more than 80 offices. His own frustrations during challenging times, with a lack of people to turn to for mentoring and leadership advice, caused him to try and find a better way.

Business leaders and business owners need someone to turn to; someone with REAL experience and not just training. John founded 2significance in 2005, with the purpose of giving business leaders and business owners access to a board of experienced mentors who are on the significance journey.

By the age of 40, John Sikkema was well on the road to success. His vision and determination had seen him build and lead Garrisons from a humble financial planning business in Tasmania into an Australia-wide business. Garrisons was later merged to form Genesys Wealth Advisers in 2005. Genesys has a network of over 400 wealth advisers across Australia, has more than $8 billion in investments under advice and is one of Australia’s largest and most respected financial planning firms, serving over 100,000 clients.

John’s ability to lead teams and synergise enabled him to become a highly respected and approachable business leader in the industry.

Outwardly John might have looked like the picture of success, but he was unfulfilled and frustrated. John was obsessed with work (working 80 hours a week), suffered debilitating health issues and was under substantial financial and relationship pressures. He really wanted to change his life, balance his priorities and achieve more than success.

In a defining moment during a talk he heard, John was challenged; did his life reflect the REAL PRIORITIES he wanted it to stand for? He suddenly had a real clarity about his life and realised that there was more to life than chasing success.

Within an hour of arriving home, John had written down 13 things that he knew he just had to do to get his life back on track. He knew he had to align his career and business priorities with his own life purpose and priorities.

From that moment on success had a different meaning for John, success on its own was empty. Success now became a stepping-stone to significance. In practical terms it meant that he cut back his hours and focused his energy on pursuing the vision, growing a positive corporate culture and developing a servant leadership management style. As a result, Garrisons experienced incredible growth, which led to its highly publicised and lucrative sale to Challenger.

Today, John is passionately building 2significance, a company which is dedicated to seeing other leaders embark on a life-changing journey beyond success, a journey of significance!