There are not many things a world champion bodyboarder could claim to have in common with a jewellery entrepreneur when it comes to business – aside from, perhaps, a shared love of getting into the ocean during downtime.
But Little Black Dress Group founder Janine Garner thought to bring such mixed expertise together in order to address the topic of “courageous leadership”, given one had faced some of the biggest waves in the world, and the other had overcome a serious illness and taken a significant punt in order to establish her creative business.
At an LBDG seminar in Sydney last week, professional bodyboarder Damian King and Uberkate founder Kate Sutton joined company director Sam Mostyn, business consultant Karen Gately and entrepreneur Renata Cooper to share their experiences and outline what “courageous leadership” means to them.
It’s a topic Garner chose because she believes business and employees are calling for courage in leadership in order to manage continued and emerging business challenges. We want leaders who’re willing to stand in their own spotlight, who always trust their values and will publicly declare when they think something is wrong. Such leadership requires more than simply saying, ‘I don’t agree’ and instead confronting a challenge or the status quo and seeking to change it.
“It’s believing in yourself, trusting your opinion, knowing you’re always right and avoiding that temptation to say, ‘Bugger it! I’m just going to let somebody else make that decision’,” Garner told the seminar.
Company director Sam Mostyn didn’t want to call herself courageous, despite achieving a number of firsts including being appointed the first woman to the board of the AFL Commission back in 2005. She pointed to her childhood to explain how she learnt to ‘fit in’ early, moving from school to school as one of four sisters raised in an Army family.
She noted the courageous leadership she’s seen during her business life – including from the CEO of the AFL Commission who stood up against public scrutiny to declare that the board opening they had back in 2005 had to be filled by a woman.
And she believes leaders can take more “courageous” decisions to assist the careers of those with caring responsibilities, starting with a serious move to support flexible working. “If you’re senior enough to change something, then change it,” she said. “Have those conversations about flexibility … Remove terms like ‘part time’ and ‘full time’ from job ads.”
Meanwhile, Forming Circles founder Renata Cooper shared her personal experience with courage, escaping from Slovakia at the age of 19 and arriving in Australia with “twenty dollars, no English and no family”. She’s invested more than half a million dollars in ethical and community programs since then, and believes that being courageous requires having a “winner’s attitude” and the self-belief that you can achieve your goals.
For consultant Karen Gately, a courageous decision came from challenging traditional domestic roles 16 years ago, with her husband deciding to be a stay-at-home father (“or director of domestic affairs” as she put it) while she continued her career.
“People would ask how he would get back into his career and if I felt guilty,” she said. “It’s been an important part of our lives to be courageous and to live the life we want and can have in order to thrive.” She believes that far beyond our personal lives, those of us in business can do more to encourage more positivity at work and challenge unethical behaviour.
Uberkate’s Kate Sutton, who returned to work as a reporter during her twenties following the removal of a non-malignant brain tumour, said she’s found the courage to make the transition to forming her own business by following her gut.
A self-described “accidental businesswoman”, Sutton said she’s made every mistake in business, but by setting small goals and ticking them off along the way she’s learnt enough to be looking forward to the ten year anniversary of UberKate later this year.
“There are so many naysayers out there,” Sutton said. “You just have to have the confidence to flick them off. Courage is backing yourself constantly. Everyone’s going to have an opinion on what you do.”