I have certainly been very front footed about increasing our gender representation at Westpac.
— Gail Kelly
You can choose not to sit on the fence. You can choose not to criticise. You must stand as guard at the door of your own mind and choose to be positive.
When I got to be a CEO, I said: 'Right. I'm now going to tackle gender inequality head-on. I'm going to make a difference and lead by example and actively put in place policies and practices to support women.'
One of the joys of being at St. George is you were operating under the radar screen a lot of the time, and you could actually get on with things a lot more quickly and easily.
Living in South Africa has had a very profound impact on my career.
In this digital age, there is no place to hide behind public relations people. This digital age requires leaders to be visible and authentic and to be able to communicate the decisions they've made and why they've made them, to be able to acknowledge when they've made a mistake and to move forward, to engage in the debate.
I'm a big believer you should design work around a vast majority of people who want to do the right thing rather than around the tiny minority who might take advantage.
42% of our management team are women. So we've reset the goal to 50% by 2017. Because that's when Westpac becomes 200 years old as an institution - the oldest bank, and indeed the oldest company in Australia. So that's a lovely point to reflect on.
I have a very genuine care for individuals; I have a very genuine sense of the power of individuals to make a difference, a very genuine belief that people matter, a very genuine belief of wanting the very best for individuals.
Whatever you are doing, give it all of your attention. Prioritise what you're going to do carefully, and then be in the moment.
Nelson Mandela was an outstanding leader and a mentor for me. I was in South Africa at the time he was released. I was in South Africa when he was inaugurated as the first president.
I grew up in a very strong, nuclear family. My father was a sportsman. He represented South Africa in a couple of sports, so he was a very positive person and someone who encouraged you to be your best and give your best with everything that you do.
I'm a very consistent leader, and people won't find me different day to day. You won't have to have the sort of conversation that says, 'How is she today? Is this a good day to have this conversation?' You won't find that situation with me. I treat people with respect.
