Last week we hosted the FY27 LEAD ANZ Leadership Summit, bringing together our FY27 cohort in Sydney for 2.5 days of learning, connection and growth.
This is our second year running the program and it's one I am so proud to be a part of. LEAD, which stands for Leading, Empowering, Advancing, Developing, is a program designed to invest in, develop and retain talented women leaders, building the pipeline of future leadership across ANZ.
A few things I shared with the cohort this week:
Do you have someone in a room who would advocate for you? A sponsor isn't just a mentor. They open doors, speak up on your behalf and fight for you when you're not in the room. Find yours.
Sitting still is the worst thing you can do for your career. Approach it with agility. Get out of your comfort zone. Open your mind to what's possible.
Be bold. Be brave. Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself.
One of the highlights of the summit was an interview with
Andrew Stevens of the Champions of Change Coalition. We are so honoured to have Andrew join us for a session on AI, Equity and the Future of Work, which sparked some of the best conversations of the summit. One line that really landed:
"The threat of inaction is greater than the threat of action."
In a market where not enough risks are being taken on AI innovation, that's a message worth sitting with. Intentional leadership matters and that applies to how we embrace AI just as much as how we develop people.
To the FY27 LEAD ANZ cohort: be bold, be brave and ask for what you want. The world needs your leadership.
Thank you to
Luanne Sequeira and the Equality, Quality & Education team for building a program that is genuinely moving the needle, and to
Frank Fillmann for your sponsorship of this program.