Leadership used to be associated with being a dictator and an unkind person in order to get the best results from people.
That's not the case anymore, Medibank CMO Lisa Ronson said on stage at AdNews' Emerging Leaders awards. Instead the best leaders have authenticity, empathy, and effective communication.
Despite getting advice earlier in her career to not lead like a women, Ronson stresses the importance of listening, not sweating the small issues and being kind.
"A lot of crappy things will happen in the course of the day," Ronson said.
"But true leaders rise above it, they think about the impact their actions are having on the team, rather than the little things that are going on that day.
"As leaders we cast really long shadows and sometimes when we get really busy we forget that. Having empathy for people and really listening is how you can make a difference."
One leader that Ronson is inspired by is past employer, Westpac former CEO Gail Kelly and the first female CEO of a major Australian bank or top 15 company.
"I was fortunate enough to hear her farewell speech ... she achieved a lot of outstanding business things from a financial perspective," Ronson said.
"But she said the legacy she leaves is the culture of the business. She was so right because that culture was so strong particularly for a bank."
Kelly was giving with her time, kind and just got on with it.
Earlier in her career Kelly went for a job interview as the COO for a bank in South Africa. She had just had triplets.
"She knew how to do the job but she kept saying 'I can't put these kids in a cupboard.' When the job interview came, she took one of the kids and popped the 18-month-old on her lap," Ronson said.
"The boss was taken back and Kelly said 'If I'm going to do this job, you need to take the whole of me, not just the bits that you want'.
"I thought, 'Wow, how ballsy is that.' She lived by her word, and she cut out all the crap."
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