what you stand for. When you don’t
know what you stand for, you can’t stand
for anything. Another reason is that
women are very busy getting stuff done
without pulling up and looking at the
big picture.”
To help the ANZ’s leading women see
the big picture, Gome asked them a
simple question: what are you an expert
in?
“This is a very different way to think,”
Gome says. “We know what their jobs
are, but they are also experts. ANZ is
in top 20 companies in the world by
market capitalisation. This made these
women global experts. They went from ‘I
have a job’ to ‘I am a global expert’.”
It wasn’t a big jump for these women to
reralise that by sharing their expertise
they could help customers, inspire their
staff, and act as role models for young
women in the bank. They saw
immediate benefits.
In public, many women are even more
reticent. They turn down opportunities
to speak at events, to comment in
traditional media or to participate in
professional social media.
Why do women hold back?
Jacquie Molloy, a leadership consultant,
says: “Two o r three areas hamper
women’s visibility. One is that chatter
in the head: second-guessing, the storm
of thoughts. There is also not knowing
“This was the beginning of tremendous
change,” Gome says.
NOTABLE WOMEN
It took only four sessions for the 50
women in the room to become ready to
step up and become the ANZ’s Notable
Women.
They now regularly write for ANZ’s
news site, BlueNotes, speak at events,
and use social media. ANZ’s
GLOSS JULY 2015 29