The Melbourne office hosted a Q&A session with Katie Lahey, MD Australasia at Korn/Ferry International on the topic ‘Lessons learnt from a long career’.
Katie spoke about the challenges of being the first woman to occupy most of her executive leadership roles, and how she had responded to these. She described some of the unique challenges of her leadership roles and the importance of resilience, with her characteristic down-to-earth good humour.
Katie was also able to offer practical advice to women in the audience who were seeking to build or expand their portfolio of board directorships, and how best to position themselves in the marketplace. These included:
using and creating opportunities for profile-raising in the right places
building the right kind of executive / front-line experiences as ‘stepping stones’ to new or larger board roles
obtaining relevant qualifications where appropriate
finding suitable mentors who can help guide career decisions and development
Career History
Katie Lahey was Chief Executive of The Business Council of Australia (BCA), established in 1983, an association of the chief executive officers of 100 of Australia’s largest companies.
Previously, Katie was the Chief Executive of the State Chamber of Commerce (New South Wales) from 1995 to 2001, Chief Executive of the Sydney City Council from 1992 to 1995, and Chairman and Chief Executive of the Victorian Tourism Commission from 1989 to 1992.
Currently, Katie is a Director of David Jones, Chairman of Carnival Australia (part of the world’s largest cruise company) and an Ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. She is a former member of the Australia Council Major Performing Arts Board, Director of Australia Post, Hills Motorway and the Garvan Research Foundation.
In 2003, Ms Lahey was awarded a Centenary Medal for her contribution to Australian Society in the area of Business Leadership.