In honour of the UN’s International Women’s Day theme ‘Cracking the Code: Innovation for a Gender Equal Future’, we hosted an all-female panel discussion and had a chat with three ladies who are paving the way for progress - Kammron Cran, Founder and Managing Director of The Team Space Australia, Tiffany Davis, Digital Channels Manager at MLC Life Insurance and Lucy Wilson, Chief People & Culture Officer for Gumtree, Carsales and AutoTrader. 

Our insightful discussion took us across their challenges, milestones and some of the lessons they’ve learnt along the way. 

Defining Executive Presence - more than just a job title 

This term executive presence - what does it even mean? 

For Lucy, there’s the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. In terms of ‘what’ an executive is, they ‘can be seen as ‘someone who's tasked with making big decisions … [that] impact the business and its people, its culture, what it does [and] how it sells”. 

But ‘how’ do you lead? How are you taking accountability and owning your leadership? For Lucy, it’s about ‘how we inspire others, how we empower people’ and doing so with purpose. How does that executive make those around them feel? Lucy asks "when I'm around this executive or this leader, do I feel empowered to do my best work? Are they bringing out the best in me? Do we vibe right?” A strong executive should leave people feeling hopeful, motivated and empowered. 

Being comfortable with the uncomfortable 

Pretty much all our guests could agree the biggest challenge to cultivating their executive presence was self-doubt. 

For Tiffany it was “realising my true value and what I can bring to the table”. Confidence can come in waves and as you move through your career and step into roles where you have less experience, that ability to back yourself can be tricky. But as Tiffany discovered, it’s about “being comfortable with uncomfortable situations”. 

Don’t shy away from a challenge. This is your opportunity to show “your leader and other stakeholders that you’re actually confident and able to handle tricky situations” - show them the boss you are. 

With this in mind, Kamm highlights her number one rule of leadership, ‘no thyself’. This military mantra is all about understanding yourself and how you react to stressful situations in order to effectively manage yourself and others in the situation with you. 

You can’t lead others until you can lead yourself  

While we may struggle with self-belief, the reality is we need to find that confidence in ourselves before we can strongly lead others. That means shaking off the imposter syndrome. 

For Kamm, this comes from understanding that self-discovery is a lifelong journey. It’s important to be ‘constantly learning about yourself and constantly having mechanisms in place to get feedback’. 

However, Kamm explains, it ‘can be a double-edged sword because you can go into the overthinking - listening to the self-talk rather than just noticing that there is self-talk’. 

Mentors and Role Models 

A vital part of this self-discovery journey is having a mentor or role model.  

As Lucy highlights, it’s important to have people surrounding you “that really see the value in not only what you do, but who you are and how you show up”. Having someone to ‘help steer you and get you back on track’ when you feel lost and challenge you ‘to rethink how yourself talking’  

For Tiffany, having a mentor helped her to realise her potential and find the courage 'to take those opportunities where otherwise I wouldn't have been confident enough to do so’. 

While most role models are here to help us, we can also have anti role models. As Kamm highlights, when observing other people in the workplace, particularly those whose behaviour and choices you don’t agree with, it can be hard to ‘put a stake in the ground and do it very differently’. Sometimes it can feel easier to just ‘mimic the behaviour that [you] see at the top’, but putting your game face on and using those people as inspiration to pave a different path will see you stand out from the rest. 

Show, don’t tell 



So how do you showcase to others just how effective a leader you can be?  

For Lucy, there’s two parts - first is about holding up a mirror.  “I like to start with some data [to articulate] what it is professionally that we bring from a value perspective and how we are really good at that. I look at engagement, consult with all of our people. What is it that they're telling us?” The second part is taking that data and using it to drive further action, ‘looking at how we can get people to own that and really be invested in driving it throughout the organisation’. 

In a similar vein, Kamm feels you should ‘show, don’t tell’. As a woman never short of an inspiring quote, Kamm says ‘seek first to understand before seeking to be understood’. For her ‘articulating your value is being able to ask really good questions and listen’. Simply sitting and just telling people can across ‘salesy and a bit disingenuous’. Instead, it should be about ‘how [you] show up and how [you’re] interested in supporting their business’. 

Conclusion  

Proving yourself as a female leader in the world of big business can be tricky. However, by practising self-belief, finding great mentors and simply using every day as an opportunity to showcase your skills, you’ll be on a path to success just like these inspiring women. 

Want to dive deeper into our discussion? Be sure to check out our webinar recording here.