None
Wednesday, 20 May 2015

UWA graduate Diane Smith-Gander believes passionately that women leaders make a difference. “The battle for the boardroom is won,” she says. “It will take a long while to get mirror representation (50 per cent women on boards) but the momentum is unstoppable. The battle now needs to move to the C-suite so women get the right experiences to move into CEO roles.”


The Chair of Transfield Services Limited and the elected President of Chief Executive Women, Diane Smith-Gander is one of 10 women who chair an ASX 200 listed company. Previously a senior executive at Westpac Banking Corporation and a partner at McKinsey & Company in the USA, the graduate has travelled the globe to build her career, spending more than 20 years outside her hometown. An Adjunct Professor in UWA’s Business School, the graduate was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Economics at UWA. She is a non-executive director of Wesfarmers Limited, a commissioner of Tourism WA, board member of the Committee for Perth, CEDA trustee and Councillor of Methodist Ladies College Perth.


As a secondary student, did you have a clear idea of what you wanted to study?


I had a wonderful chemistry teacher and the inspiration I gained from him made sciences my best subjects. My expectation was that I would complete a year in the Chemistry Faculty at UWA in 1975, get strong results and head off to complete a law degree.


I didn’t execute this plan particularly well. I enjoyed chemistry so much I signed up for a second year but, sadly, soon regretted it. On advice I dropped out without penalty, memorably being told to work out what I wanted to do and not come back until then. There would be no second get out of jail free card.


I eventually came back to UWA in 1981 and enrolled part time in Economics. I was fortunate enough to study with Ken Clements in my third year. I was so pleased to reconnect with Ken when I joined the UWA Business School Advisory board in May 2011.


How did you view your future career when studying at UWA and what were the ‘landmarks’ that helped to shape your career?


I had the impression that I would work without interruption and that I should aspire to be a ‘manager’ but I wasn’t sure that I would have a ‘career’. My parents had both been educators and moved into administration while they continued to teach. Many graduates of Santa Maria College will remember my mother Betty who spent more than 20 years there and was Deputy Principal. My Mum and Dad always looked for the next opportunity and certainly gave it their best but I am not sure I would describe their mode as active career management.


During my second try at UWA I had a couple of landmarks when I met people who became mentors and encouraged me to aspire to a really meaningful, and so more actively managed, career.


Ken Clements was one of those who stretched me academically but always had a practical bent – he made it clear economics was a useful discipline that could be a springboard to many things.


Phil Glew (of Glew Corporate Communications) employed me as a temporary receptionist – I was working as a temp to give maximum flexibility for my studies – and he encouraged me to consider consulting as a career and gave me a start in the company he led. Phil became more than a mentor, he actively supported me and was my advocate when I sought roles in the company “over east”.


Moving then became the way I built my landmarks. I have worked for eight organisations in more than 15 different roles, lived in five countries and worked in more than 20. I have moved house 15 times. And often when I moved my timing was a little poor so what I arrived to do did not end up being what I actually did. I moved to Westpac in the early 90s when the bank recorded the then biggest corporate loss in Australia, moved to the US when the dot com bubble burst and back to Australia in the teeth of the GFC. Those experiences certainly built resilience and a portfolio of experiences that built the foundation of my current work as a nonexecutive director.


What are the major challenges of your current role and what are the personal qualities that have proved to be assets in your career?


My ‘role’ is a portfolio of roles so the challenges are really around balancing the demands of the portfolio knowing that what my Dad called “sod’s law” will always operate to ensure when there is a busy moment in Wesfarmers there will be a simultaneous busy moment at Transfield. So it is good that I am a skilled project manager and very organised and have a flexible idea of what work hours comprise.


As President of Chief Executive Women (CEW) I have the challenge to support the push for gender diversity without being seen as a strident feminist. I hope I am getting that balance right. CEW is an Australian organisation of 300 women leaders with the mission to enable other women leaders. We have our 30th anniversary this year and I feel a great sense of accountability to do a great job as President given it seems we are poised to make great strides on gender diversity in the next few years. I know my former economics professor would applaud my attempts to position diversity as an economic imperative – increasing female workforce participation and retaining women leaders in our corporations is the best productivity improvement lever we have available – best because it’s big and it’s immediate.


What is your working day like and how do you relax?


Every day is different. I relax by walking my dogs, getting much needed exercise and catching up with family and friends. I gain a lot of energy from my family and my friends of long standing – people I have known since my days as a junior State basketballer. They know me better than anyone and are uniformly supportive.


I really enjoy that I can maintain my networks built over 24 years outside of Perth through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@DianeSmithG). You’ll find me on all of those and I’d love to hear from my fellow UWA graduates.


What does the future hold?


For all my comments about an actively managed career I am a logical incrementalist who is always prepared to consider the next thing that is placed in front of me. Over the years I have got better at knowing what I aspire to do and leaving space in my portfolio for the very right thing. I have the patience to know that the right opportunity will turn up. It always has before.


So I am looking forward to more leadership opportunities with listed companies, in government enterprises contributing to our economy, in education and gender diversity. These four places are where I think I can best play and where I am happiest.

Tags

Groups
Uniview