Andrea Myles wants us all to talk a lot more about Australia-China relations. Despite not being of Chinese background, she can explain why in both English and fluent Mandarin.
Indeed, she believes her language skills in the latter are helping to shape her leadership career, and have seen her move to create more meaningful dialogue and friendships between Australia and China.
Myles is the founder of the China Australia Millennial Project, a major summit connecting 100 young innovators from China with 100 emerging leaders from Australia for five days, where the 200 delegates can build new connections and co-create projects that can benefit both countries.
It’s a hugely ambitious initiative culturally and logistically, but one Myles believes will ultimately drive prosperity.
“The rise of China is what you would call, kind of a big deal … It is, along with the digital revolution and climate change one of the significant definers of our time,” she says.
“What is critically important to Australia’s success in the Asian Century is having a skilled population to be able to make a great contribution to our region. Every country on the planet is competing for the Chinese market and Australia cannot rest on what we perceive as our proximity.”
Myles says her desire to think big on such projects can be traced back to somebody telling her to think small. She’s got some motivational ‘scar tissue’ from the time a manager told her she was being ‘audacious’ for requesting to attend a training course.
“I’d always figured audaciousness was a good thing!” Myles tells Women’s Agenda. The comment showed her a workplace that didn’t accept such traits was ultimately not for her.
A little later in her career, she heard a rumour she’d been described as “not CEO Material”. It hurt, but it motivated her even more.
“This label really cut and I questioned myself deeply,” Myles says. “Am I CEO material? What gives me the right to claim such a lofty position when I just feel like a punk rock kid from the bush?
“What I realised from that criticism is that self-reflection is actually a powerful thing and not to be feared as it builds robust ideas and robust people.”
Myles studied seven semesters of Mandarin at the University of Technology Sydney in a Masters of International Studies degree, before going on the do a Masters in International Management, focusing on China Studies. She’s worked as an acting general manager at the Australia China Business Council and a national director with the Engaging China Project, sending ambassadors into high schools to share their stories and experiences of engaging with China.
She believes she’s come a long way from what was expected of her as a child – to find an average job or become a housewife. While she personally had ambitions for a life that was a mix between “Indiana Jones and Grace Jones”, growing up in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, she just wasn’t entirely sure how to do it.
“All I really knew how to do was be different to the rest of my town,” she says. “It took me a while to own my rebelliousness and I’m excited that in 2015 we have a word and appreciation for misfits like me. We are ‘disruptors’ and we are here to “f” things up for the better.”
Myles is a finalist in the NAB Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards.
The short facts on Andrea Myles’ story.
Born. Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia
Childhood? I spent my childhood running through the bushes in the Blue Mountains with grazed knees, lizards and tadpoles in hand.
Leadership qualifications? I have two Masters Degrees in China Studies, one focused on Business and one focused on Culture. I’m an alumni of the Sydney Leadership Program and the School for Social Entrepreneurs, and also and have a BSc in Neuroscience. Does this make me a leader? Not really. Leading makes me a leader. I love the adage ‘Leaders create Leaders, not Followers’ and within the China Australia Millennial Project (CAMP) we have a “CAMPfire culture”, referring to leaving a place better than when you found it. We want staff of CAMP to leave with more skills than when they arrived and we want to have a deep positive impact on the China-Australia relationship
High school career ambition? I didn’t realise it in high school but in my teens I was really passionate about figuring out who I was and what I stood for, and pushing the boundaries of what a 17-year-old girl is expected to do.
And first, ever job? My first ever job was delivering pamphlets in the Blue Mountains. It came at just the right time for me because it gave me enough money to buy tickets to all-ages concerts in the city and lots and lots of time alone walking the footpaths and dirt tracks. My most pivotal job came after graduation when I was selling Central Asian antiques in Newtown. It really gave a flavour of the broader mysterious world out there and a strong desire to see all of it.
Today, who and what do you lead?
Today, I lead a conversation about a more meaningful relationship between Australia and our largest trading partner, China. Two way trade with China is worth over $150 billion dollars to the Australian economy, equal to that of our second and third largest trading partners Japan and the USA combined. So it’s no wonder that the dialogue around engagement with China is largely transactional.
But transactions don’t build friendships. Friendships build transactions so I work hard to build meaningful bridges between our nations. Did you know that Berlin is actually closer to Beijing than Brisbane? Myself and the CAMP team are leading the charge to inspire young talented Australia to get their China skills and networks up and have a great time while doing so, as our event at the Vivid Ideas Festival in June 2015. It’s an opportunity to play a part in shaping big issues which affect both of our nations via participation in ThinkTanks focusing on issues such as Food Security, Sustainable Urban Design, Gender Equality and to meet 100 of China’s top talent who will be here in Sydney collaborating with us.
How do you stay informed? To keep on top of all things China, I tune in to the Sinica podcasts and read Sinocism newsletters. In terms of domestic media I read the Daily Telegraph and The Australian….if I feel like getting angry. If not, I read The Conversation, The Guardian and the AFR. I make sure that I am feeding my brain with great feminist fodder from Women’s Agenda, Daily Life and Hello Giggles. Most of this time I’m following links to all sorts of media outlets from friends and colleagues who post things on social media.
And manage your wellbeing? I find self-care as important as it is hard to do. I make sure I work out several times per week and reward myself with massages. I’ve also started having no-device days and they are amazing! Feels like having a holiday, even just staying at home. I make sure that my social media inputs are positive and have unfollow negative people or folks who post discriminatory stuff. I also don’t keep my phone in my room and read a book before bed. It does wonders for my sleep!
First thing you do in the morning? First thing I do in the morning is convert oxygen to carbon dioxide with a giant yawn and reinhabit my body with a big stretch. Our bodies are truly amazing evolutionary entities and I like to remember that as often as I can.
An average day in the life… involves a walk through Surry Hills to work at a great co-working space called The Porter in Sydney CBD. I yoyo throughout the day between the big vision for the China-Australia relationship, meetings with the CAMP team and our external partners and introducing new people to the concept of the China Australia Millennial Project.
Leadership superpower? I believe what sets me apart is my ability to speak Mandarin, even though I am not of Chinese background. Not only is it a technical skill, which I really enjoy using, but it shows that I’ve spent a significant amount of time trying my best to get to know China in a longer-term, more sustainable way. You don’t need Chinese language skills to do well engaging with China, but it certainly makes a big difference. Imagine the difference between doing business with someone who can speak English vs needing to listen to their translator to understand them.
What, if anything, do you believe needs to change in order to better support women at work – particularly in your industry? I think in some industries, female participation numbers are mistaken as a metric for determining whether women are supported in the workplace. A large number of women in a workplace should mean that it’s woman-friendly right? Wrong. Inviting an increased proportion of women into a work environment or culture which is fundamentally unfriendly or discriminatory to women isn’t cool. Nor is the expectation that it will be up to those women to change that culture. The change I would like to see is for a culture within Australian workplaces which honestly recognises discrimination, identifies the culprit/s regardless of gender, recognises the allies of equality regardless of gender and gets on with the business of having engaged and productive staff who feel supported and satisfied.
Advice to your 18-year-old self. I would simply say Be Yourself, as much and as often as you can and you’ll go far. And don’t get a credit card while you’re only income is Austudy and scanning groceries. That’s a dumb idea.