Cecily McGuckin on Building Leadership Confidence

<p>In this episode, Rebekah Campbell chats with Cecily McGuckin, CEO and Managing Director of Queensland Steel & Sheet. Cecily is the first and only female CEO in the steel manufacturing industry. She was awarded the 2020 National CEO of the Year and was selected to be featured in 2020’s Top 100 Women.</p> <p> </p> <p>Key insights </p> <p>(01:17) What is the story of Cecily’s leadership journey and what does she do differently?</p> <p>Cecily brings three key areas to the table. She focuses on her gut instinct, her emotional intelligence and on asking a lot of questions. When she got involved in the business, one of the things she started off with very early was asking questions and getting perspectives from everyone. Cecily travelled the world, saw steel mills, and all of their customers. She also spent time with her staff so she could understand every aspect of the business that she was walking into.</p> <p> </p> <p>(05:55) What was the reaction from staff when Cecily started rising through the ranks?</p> <p>In a very male dominated industry, when Cecily came on board, the company didn’t have any female members of staff. She faced a number of challenges including the fact that there were no women in the business and the fact that she was the owner's daughter. So these were two areas which made it really challenging when she joined the organisation.</p> <p> </p> <p>(14:37) How does Cecily navigate between letting people go and supporting her team and company culture?</p> <p>Cecily makes sure she looks at all the facts to ensure she is making the right call for the business as a whole. When she looks at letting someone go, it’s about making sure the business is best placed to keep on succeeding. She communicates with the rest of the team and gives information as to why the decision was made.</p> <p> </p> <p>Key Learnings</p> <ul><li>It’s really important to be able to lead with your emotional intelligence because you need to be able to understand where people are coming from. Everyone has different pe