Alison Mirams cheerily refers to herself as the poster child for sponsorship in the workplace.
Early in her career, the executive chairman of construction company Roberts Co, was working on construction sites as a contracts administrator, where she came across Jim McGreevy, whom she describes as “the most incredible human being”.
McGreevy became Mirams’ sponsor and pulled her up the corporate ladder as he was promoted. Along the way, Mirams, who was speaking on an International Women’s Day panel at this week’s The Australian Financial Review Business Summit, turned down an offer to move to head office.
Alison Mirams says she is the poster child that sponsorship works. – Natalie Boog
A year later McGreevy asked her again, telling Mirams it was time she made the jump. After three lengthy meetings, Mirams agreed to the move, but only on the basis that she trusted McGreevey. Six months later he made her a director of the business. It was highly stressful at first, but she succeeded and never looked back.
Years later, Mirams was offered a job as chief executive, to build Roberts Co from scratch. The construction executive turned it down, thinking she did not have the pulling power to lure talented people to work with her on the venture.
Rocks in her head
It wasn’t until people she trusted stepped in that Mirams changed her mind.
Her husband told her she had “rocks in her head” if she turned the role down, and a friend said: “I’ll ask you one question. If you don’t do this, and it’s a screaming success, will you regret it? Because if your answer is yes, you’ve got to resign and do it.”
Mirams recalls: “And I was like: ‘Damn.’ So I resigned and I went and became CEO.”
Says Mirams happily: “I am a poster child that sponsorship works.”
Mirams was joined on the International Women’s Day panel by Caroline Cox, chief legal, governance and external affairs officer of mining behemoth BHP; Alison Watkins, director of CSL and Wesfarmers and a member of the Reserve Bank of Australia board; and Deanne Stewart, chief executive of superannuation fund Aware Super.
Deanne Stewart didn’t believe she was capable of running business unit at Merrill Lynch. – Natalie Boog
In her late 20s, Stewart landed a job at Merrill Lynch, now part of Bank of America, in New York and was asked to ascertain whether an underperforming business unit should be retained or shut down. Ms Stewart concluded the business had much potential and proposed a turnaround strategy. The investment bank’s chief operating officer agreed and offered her the job of running it.
“My first words to him were: ‘No way. That is not me.’ He said: ‘Yes, you can do it’,” says Stewart, who has been chief of Aware Super since late 2018 and is also a former CEO of insurer MetLife in Australia.
Champion of women
She took the role and said the international experience she gained was invaluable.
Watkins, who is also a former chief executive of Coca-Cola Amatil and Graincorp, found a sponsor in Westpac chairman John McFarlane.
The Tasmanian-born executive – whose original aim was to marry a farmer and remain in the island state – had spent a decade at McKinsey, but she wanted to move from giving advice to working for a client and came across McFarlane, who was CEO of ANZ Bank between 1997 and 2007.
“He was an amazing champion for women and improving the diversity in the bank at the senior ranks. He paid a lot of attention to culture,” Watkins recalls.
McFarlane offered her the role of group general manager of strategy. Watkins took it but let it be known that she wanted to run a business unit.
Watkins was later offered a job running regional banking.
“I look back on that as a huge opportunity and a risk that [McFarlane] took. That gave me the opportunity to establish my credentials and get experience running a business and that then led to the other line opportunities,” Watkins says.
Alison Watkins was chief executive of both Coca-Cola Amatil and Graincorp. Natalie Boog
Finding a sponsor is a piece of advice that other senior businesswomen readily offer.
It is a tip that is readily given by Alexis George, chief of wealth manager AMP.
“Believe in yourself and find people who believe in you and will help you and mentor you and push you,” George says.
Diane Grady, a director of professional services firm Grant Thornton Australia and a former management consultant, offers slightly different advice.
“Let people know that you are interested in opportunities. Don’t go into corporations and sit in the back office and do a really good job,” Grady says.
“You can’t expect senior people to go around, turning every rock, to find your bright light. That’s not going to happen. You have to let people know of your interests, your aspirations.
“Sometimes women feel that meeting with people who are more senior is political. Letting people know who you are, and what you want to achieve, is not being political. That’s just being normal,” Grady says.
Editor Sally Patten edits BOSS, and writes about workplace issues. She was the financial services editor and personal finance editor of the AFR, The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. She edited business news for The Times of London. Connect with Sally on Twitter. Email Sally at spatten@afr.com
