Current role: Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Current organisation: SEEK
Last role at PwC / Strategy&: Management Consultant
How would you describe your time at PwC/Strategy&?
Intense! Overall I enjoyed my 2.5 years and learned a lot. I got to work with some impressive people and I learned a fair bit about strategic thinking and even more about operating outside my comfort zone.
How has your experience helped you in your later career?
It helped me a fair bit in my next step both in terms of the business being strategy led to a significant degree but I also I got some confidence in operating outside my comfort zone (which starting a business very much was) from having experienced that many times.
What are some of the most rewarding parts of your job? What challenges do you face in your role?
Working with good people, for a very positive purpose and having endless challenge and opportunity has kept me motivated. I could do without some of the increasingly stupid public company bits.
How has your organisation been impacted by and responded to COVID-19?
We have been substantially impacted with ad volume dropping by 70% overnight before starting to recover but after dealing with the issues we needed to in the short term we have got back to focusing primarily on the long term. We made no redundancies or pay reduction, gave clients relief on their contracts and have kept investing aggressively to prioritising coming out of this really strongly over short term profit.
What do you think the “new normal” will look like for your business and how do you think it has changed the future direction of your organisation/industry?
New normal will include a lot more working from home than previous (though less I expect than some people might want). On the latter, I think this period and the likely substantial lift in unemployment and the acceleration of disruption has really reinforced our responsibility to do the best job we can in terms of assisting people to have the best possible careers or careers at all in the case of long term unemployed.
What would you say is the highlight of your career to date?
Not too good at picking one thing out and hopefully the best remains in front. What is your personal definition of good leadership, and how do you try to implement it? Different leadership styles can be effective but the one that I try to get right is providing clear direction and putting the right people in the right roles and then after that being about supporting people to be successful in those roles as best as I can.
The best piece of career advice you’ve ever received or that you would give someone?
Not sure I ever got this advice but for me is always around following your passion – huge difference between doing something you love vs going through the motions. And probably something about backing yourself.
