Recently, I had the privilege of being a part of the Journey to Excellence panel and addressing some of New Zealand’s brightest and most dynamic women. One of the questions posed to me was on the demands of juggling motherhood and a career. I have been asked this question many...
True leaders who inspire, motivate, coach and push people to achieve more than they would otherwise do are very seldom liked by everyone they lead, at any given moment in time. Many people find it uncomfortable being stretched and challenged – even when the end result will likely be...
From marine biology to life insurance – say what? From highly paid corporate employee to start-up entrepreneur – why on earth? Why did I, a science and math’s enthusiast, go from studying marine biology at Auckland University to embarking on a life-long career in the life insurance industry? Simple really....
After all these years in business I have learned so many things and I certainly hope to continue learning new things for the rest of my life. But since 31 December 2016, I have had to very quickly learn something else. I have had to learn how to be open...
We created Partners Life to be acutely focused on leading for diversity – not because it is a new wave trend we want to ride – but because our customers in today’s world are incredibly diverse – and appealing to our customers is the golden rule for the success of...
New Zealand health and life insurer Partners Life has been making headlines around the world as it welcomes a $200 million capital injection from America’s private equity firm giant, Blackstone. Closing this deal with one of the world’s largest asset managers will see Partners Life’s growth ambitions become a reality....
I was still only very young (late 20s-early 30s) when I first became a senior executive and a company director. This meant at that time the only ‘generation gap’ I thought about was the one between me and all the older, more experienced people who were now my responsibility to...
My best ideas often come on the running trail. I am a regular mid-distance trail runner but I am not very good at it and find it quite difficult to breathe. My body is designed for sprinting, with a large percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibres and excellent anaerobic endurance over...
The job of a founding Managing Director is often a lonely one. Given the power of the position, it can be challenging to find staff who are confident to express contrary views to yours. In other words, you can never be sure that people are not telling you what they...
When should you own your own business? Conventional wisdom suggests you start your own business once you have identified a product need, have developed a well-researched business plan, and have sufficient financial backing to pay start-up costs and fund your lifestyle for at least a year while you set the...
