I have seen many overly ambitious plans for new initiatives. This is especially true for start-ups. It is often underestimated just how long it will take to establish a new business or a new operation or service in an existing business. That in turn impacts on establishment cost and potentially success or failure.
Do you think that what you have learned in the boardroom over your career has influenced your life outside business?
I've learned a lot from those I've shared a boardroom with. How to evaluate situations from different perspectives; how to sum up a range of views; when to be diplomatic and when to be direct.
I particularly admire colleagues who can clearly and succinctly articulate their position. These things I've learned I apply to life outside of business. One thing I'm still trying to work on in my personal life is how to succinctly articulate my thoughts – something I'm sure my husband will likely attest to.
What would you like to see happen to ensure more women are represented in New Zealand's boardrooms at the top level?
For more women to be represented in the boardroom, women firstly need to be well represented in senior management. We must enable more women the opportunity to reach executive levels and to succeed in those roles.
These women are potential future directors, so failing to elevate and retain more women at senior levels will impact the number of women who hold board roles in the future.
I don't believe in a quota system for getting women into board roles but if organisations are serious about diversity they may need to think about breaking down any barriers (perceived or real) that may exist to attract and retain women.
Some initiatives that may help attract a woman on to a board (especially a first board role) include; offering an associate director or observer programme so she can observe the board in action; arranging a mentor when she first joins the board; supporting her development through professional education; buddying up with a fellow director for informal discussion; and regular catch-ups with the chair in between board meetings.
What is the thing you are most proud of in your business career?
There are many things but two highlights are; Establishing businesses in the US, Spain and New Zealand for BMW Oracle Racing (America's Cup team) and running this 'multinational' with a very lean team. I learned a lot along the way, especially about my own capabilities.
Also, being on the board of the World Masters Games Auckland 2017 event which delivered 26 sports across 45 venues in 10 days in April 2017, achieving more than 250,000 visitor nights for New Zealand and more than 25,000 participants in the Games. The event was named the "best games ever" and returned a profit in excess of $800,000 which is going to be reinvested back into the sports that took part in the World Masters Games.
Do you think enough is being done to teach business ideas at New Zealand schools, and what would be the first thing you would add to the school curriculum?
My personal view is that school is a time to try a broad spectrum of subjects, from economics to history, food technology to media and graphic arts. I've encouraged my children not to get too narrow in their focus at school as there's plenty of time to "specialise" in an area such as business at university and beyond.
What I would add however to the school curriculum is personal finance and budgeting. I think this is missing. Many people go their entire lives not really knowing how to manage their own financial situation, let alone teach it to their kids.
My parents owned a kiwifruit orchard and times were pretty tough in the 80s with high interest rate and low returns. There were frequent conversations about controlling spend and prioritising development, with trips to meet with the bank manager commonplace.
The realities of running a business were just part of everyday life in my childhood. To this day I've never met someone who was able to make a budget work as well as my mother. She was very good at it, probably because it was a case of having to be (being half-Scottish likely helped).
If schools taught kids skills to help them understand how to manage their own financial situations and decisions as they mature, this could impact greatly on their financial future. It may also impact our economy through better and more informed personal decision making. Just maybe, more business leaders might evolve too.
