About R.O. Bilkey

Author - Robert Overend Bilkey A.C.A.

Robert Bilkey (Bob) was born in Auckland New Zealand in October 1922. He had just begun university when World War II broke out and so he enlisted in the army where he quickly rose to the rank of Sergeant Major. On being posted overseas the New Zealanders came under the command of the allies and accordingly all soldiers lost rank. This gave Bob his first insight into how he could have done things better when he held rank.

Bob entered the war at the Battle of Monte Cassino and fought the Italian campaign alongside the famous and feared New Zealand Maori Battalion until the end of the war. The way the Maori functioned as a team and the way they spoke to each other and motivated each other gave Bob further insights into Paralanguage.

At the conclusion of the war Bob returned to the work force as a clerk and later studied accounting to qualify as a Chartered Accountant. Bob rose to the position of Chief Financial Officer in a company until he decided to follow the family tradition and become a teacher at what is now called the Waikato Institute of Technology

Bob began by teaching management and realised the courses on staff training and handling of staff were not what was required by industry. Bob was given a free hand to teach what he thought was required and so created his own course which was completely different to what was previously taught. As there was no supporting literature for his course Bob wrote several books on people management.

Then, first as a pilot program, Bob ran a four day seminar for industry on Paralanguage. The course was so successful that Bob ran the same course every week for 3 years until his retirement. Course participants came from a wide range of industries and included managers from small companies to companies with over 10,000 employees.

Bob's course on Paralanguage was booked out months in advance and was easily the most successful course for industry ever run by the Institute.