Anna Scott – CEO, Mercer NZ (incoming)
My first jobs were for UniServices doing a scheduling project for TranzRail and then to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a project management consultancy company
I loved the variety of my role as Business Manager for Chase Bank's (then JPMorgan) FX & Derivatives trading division in London. Our team of business managers had roles from managing the trading floor seating (300 people on one floor) to implementing new processes & systems.
Working with multiple groups across a wide variety of initiatives at the same time was a great problem-solving foundation. Know enough to smell BS but don't drown in the detail.
In a big organisation, very few people are going to be the winners all the time. So being able to see the bigger picture and get others to also buy into 'needs' over 'wants' was critical to getting things done. Getting stuff done is a super power and curiosity helps.
“Will trumps skill” - the more you can understand what people are trying to achieve and what makes their work easier/harder then the simpler it is to make changes that improve the status quo.
American investment banks love a re-organisation but your brand can cut through personnel changes.
Don't worry about your five year plan, take opportunities as they come along.
I was in my mid-40s when I thought I was pretty much doing a CEO role. So I thought I'd give it a go to get an actual CEO role.
There is a lot of literature that women don't put themselves forward for roles unless they're certain they can do it. I figured I was close enough so I met with a recruitment agent to ask what they thought I should focus on/round out in my skillset/experience. That gave me some more confidence & the discussion led to some roles being sent to me, I got the second one I applied for.
By then I had worked in three countries, four industries (five including parenting which has transferable management skills!) and seven jobs. When I look back they've all had a problem-solving, build it or improve it type of theme.
I'm a big believer that companies need different styles of CEO at different points in the company's maturity so there would never be one path to CEO. Different paths will have different skills & experience whether that be startup, growth, cost control, expansion, efficiency, stability, transformation, acquisition etc
I recall people saying engineers don't make good CEOs and COOs don't make good CEOs but I'm both of those!
When you become CEO, responsibility changes to accountability and that can be a lonelier place that I had imagined as it's not a collective. Decision making visibly sits with you and you often can't toss around all the options with your team. Managing people well takes time and you have to be disciplined about making that time happen in your diary
Be curious, have courage, always communicate more than you think you might need to and be confident in your experience & abilities.
Being human, caring about people and a bit of humour never goes amiss. I'm now more secure in who I am and I'm more comfortable being that at work.
Being CEO is the art of running today while creating tomorrow. I'm excited to set out our 'why' and enrol everyone in that so we can all figure out the 'how'.
