When Maria Palazzolo started at not-for-profit organisation GS1 Australia, she never expected it to become a life-long passion — or career. Nor did she expect, as their CEO, to find she is often the only woman in the room. Here, Palazzolo speaks about her career, her advice for women seeking leadership roles and her proudest
Recognised with an Order of Australia for her leadership roles in medical administration at a state and national level, and to the discipline of psychiatry, Dr Peggy Brown is former CEO of the National Mental Health Commission. She shares her journey to success and the lessons she’s learned during her 30-year career as a woman
As a young mother and sole breadwinner, Australian College of Nursing CEO Kylie Ward was motivated by both need and ambition to pursue a career in nursing management. Now she’s in a position to give back to the profession she respects so much. Adjunct Professor and Australian College of Nursing CEO Kylie Ward is often
Dr Lesley Braun, Group Director of Blackmores Institute, talks about juggling multiple careers in parallel, and her lessons learned. Dr Lesley Braun was working in Monash University’s Faculty of Medicine and Surgery when she encountered the then CEO of Blackmores, Christine Holgate. She was meeting with Braun and a surgery professor about research they were undertaking into complementary
Jo* was a relatively inexperienced people manager when she was promoted to take on a larger team. “I was very excited at being given the opportunity, but also a bit worried,” Jo said. “Most of my direct reports were older than me, some by two decades, with significantly more knowledge and experience.” Initially, Jo got
Sarah* got on really well with her direct report and they soon became friendly outside of work, hanging out with each other’s friends and family. But after a while, Sarah’s direct report stopped performing; she kept making excuses for her poor behaviour and performance. “Initially, I believed her excuses, because I trusted her as a
Bec* was thrilled to have her first management role. Albeit, she had one direct report and two contractors, but it was a good start. Six months later, the company underwent a major restructure and she was promoted to manage a team of 16 people. “I was warned that some of my new direct reports were