KEY POINTS:
Following the announcement of her resignation as head of Telecom New Zealand and the companies half year results, Theresa Gattung answered questions about her decision to step down and future plans.
Question: Was your decision to step down one you came to or was it a decision of
the board?
Theresa Gattung answer: Well you know, I wasn't crowned emperor for life and when I took on the role I actually said, and it was widely reported, that I saw the timeframe to be around five to seven years.
It's been more than seven years and as I publicly flagged last year I saw myself probably doing only one more year.
So, this is not unexpected.
Q: You're arguably New Zealand's most well known business women. Do you think you will have made it easier for women following in your wake?
A: You know I hope it has made it easier. But I see myself as part of a cohort of women in leadership positions in New Zealand and where ever I go in the world, if I speak to any audience - including business audiences - somebody in the audience will ask me "what is in the water in New Zealand that does lead to the environment that gives women a fair go".
So, I don't see this as a solo act at all. I think I've been privileged to come through in a time where there was a cohort of women in leadership positions in New Zealand society and it's fantastic and I hope that has made it easier for anybody - male or female, any child growing up - to say 'yes, I can do whatever it is I set my mind to doing'.
Q: Do you think it's different for women operating in the business world at the level you've reached?
A: Well of course it's different. Sometimes it's better, sometimes it's easier.
Look, I still think it's harder for a woman to get to the top, I think it's harder for a woman to get to the top. It's harder to become CEO.
I think the image of a CEO is still a hard-driving male.
But once you're CEO I think it's a challenging, stimulating, fantastic but tough job for anybody and I don't think the criteria once you're CEO is very different, male or female.
Q: What sort state do you feel you're leaving the company in as you depart?
A: Well, I feel really proud of our achievements. I feel really proud of the team.
The culture in Telecom, what we've done together.
If you think about when I joined the company, no one had heard of the internet and hardly anyone had mobile phones.
You fast-forward to today and you look at the launch, the growth of mobile broadband, what we've done in terms of re-energising our mobile business, what we've done as a team in terms of really taking Telecom from nowhere to number one in the IT services market.
You know, I feel enormously proud of what we've all done together as a team.
It's been an unpleasant time of change and that's going to continue. The pace is not going to slow down. There's going to be so much for the next person in this team to carry on focussing on.
Q: What sort of challenges does your successor face?
A: Well, technology first of all. How many of you had heard of WiMAX two years ago?
Now that looks like the next big thing. In our business there's always a 'next big thing'.
So that's going to be relentless.
And the intersection of technology with customer demand is always hard to predict, so that's going to continue to be a challenge.
It's great to work for Telecom - it's a great place to work because it's always a fascinating industry.
Q: What do you think you'll do now?
A: Well, you've known me for a long time
I'm a pretty full-on, hard-driving person. I've been really focussed in this job. I'm going to really focussed on it until the day I leave and I haven't decided what I'm doing next.
Q: Do you think you'll stay in New Zealand?
A: Look, I haven't decided.
Q: Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
A: I don't do regrets. You know, I've given it everything, I've given it to the max, I've done my very best in every situation with the information I had.
I have done my best to recruit and maintain a fantastic team. We've had almost no involuntary turnover in the top hundred people in Telecom for the last few years.
We have given it everything and I don't have regrets - I move on.
I'll do my very best while I'm here.
We've had enormous challenges. There have been difficult times for sure and I'm really proud of what we've achieved as a team. I think the company is well positioned for the challenges that the next few years are going to hold.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
