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Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Westpac CEO and Managing Director Gail Kelly has told an audience at The University of Western Australia Business School that generosity of spirit is one of the key traits of good leadership.

Speaking at a UWA Business School public lecture earlier this week, Mrs Kelly said leaders should strive to create a positive environment in their organisations.

"A good leader wants the very best for the people around him or her," Mrs Kelly said.

Generosity of spirit, she added, leads people to build diverse and flexible teams, be supportive, of others, and not judge quickly.

In contrast, Mrs Kelly said, "People who don't practice generosity of spirit are black and white...negative people, binary... You don't want people like that in your organisation."

The results of Mrs Kelly's leadership speak for themselves.

After her appointment to the role of Westpac CEO in 2008, Mrs Kelly set the company the goal of having 40% of senior management positions filled by women by 2014 - a target the company achieved two years early.

Now, Mrs Kelly is aiming to have women comprising half the management team by 2017.

And while Westpac ranks in the top 15 banks worldwide by market capitalisation, and services around 12 million customers, the bank was also named the world's most sustainable company at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Such strong results speak not only to generosity of spirit, but also to another of Mrs Kelly's beliefs: that we should embrace change and do the right thing, confident that choosing to do the right thing will always lead to good outcomes.

In her life away from Westpac, Mrs Kelly sits on the Financial Markets Foundation for Children and on the Prime Minister's Indigenous Advisory Council, and is also CARE Australia's Ambassador for Women's Empowerment.

These roles are in addition to Chairing the Australian Bankers' Association, sitting on the Business Council of Australia, being Vice President of the International Monetary Conference, sitting on the Global Board of Advisers at the US Council on Foreign Relations and being a member of the Group of Thirty.

If that's not impressive enough, she has been named one of Forbes' most powerful women in the world, is a qualified Latin teacher, and holds a Master of Business Administration.

Yet amongst all of this, Mrs Kelly emphasises the importance of family. With a husband and four children (including triplets), Mrs Kelly has always prioritised family - whether attending parent-teaching evenings, or going on evening walks with her sons.

With the world of banking rapidly changing as new technologies and regulations come into play, one thing remains certain: Mrs Kelly's positive outlook and generosity of spirit.

"Humans can choose how to respond in every situation," she says. "Use this to your advantage and choose to be positive."

Gail Kelly is the CEO of Westpac Group. She was speaking at the UWA Business School on 25 August 2014.

Media references

Karen Della Torre (UWA Business School)                             (+61 8) 6488 8538
Verity Chia (UWA Business School)                                     (+61 8) 6488 1346

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