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Dianne McAteer
Dianne McAteer  Dianne McAteer McAteer is the new chief executive of business-to-business office product suppliers Office Products Depot (OPD). Past experience includes senior marketing and general management roles at Cadbury, Sealord and the House of Travel Group and five years as general manager of Visique Optometrists. What was your first significant business experience and what did you learn from it? I started my career as a marketing graduate with Cadbury Schweppes Hudson, in the days of great marketing budgets where marketing was locally controlled and when companies invested in the development of young people. The management development programmes that Cadbury put me through gave me life skills that have stood me in very good stead both personally and professionally – dealing with difficult situations and different personality styles, negotiating through conflict, goal setting, different team working styles, to name a few. The most significant experience since then has been the start up and evolution of the Visique Optometrists group, which grew to over 100 fulltime practices, and was the first health services franchise in New Zealand. My role as general manager at Visique exposed me to some of the challenges of a start-up organisation, gave me confidence around cold calling, and really tested my flexibility around communication styles. It also helped me develop a great deal of resilience and nailed any fear of public speaking I may have had! If you could start your corporate journey again, what key business skills would you make sure you had in hand to ensure your success? Balancing skill sets is really important. If I had my time again I would try to gain broader experience earlier in my career, especially picking up some of the financial management skills to complement the marketing skills I started out with. Seeking early opportunities to lead helps develop the soft skills that are vital. What were some of the challenges you had to overcome on the journey to achieving your personal and corporate goals? I don’t really feel there have been any challenges other than managing workloads and maintaining a balance between work and play. I’ve never felt held back by my gender, and have found that working hard and smart, being enthusiastic and approachable and maintaining my integrity has been fundamental to my success. I’ve worked very hard, been trustworthy, delivered what was asked, and tried very hard not to let myself or other people down. In the co-operative/franchise environment, which I have worked in with Visique, House of Travel and now Office Products Depot, the biggest challenge is personal resilience. You have as many ‘bosses’ as you have franchisees/members, you can never please everyone all of the time, and not everyone has the emotional intelligence to give feedback in a constructive way – so leading the support offices for these types of business takes flexibility of style, and a very thick skin. What got you through the ‘tough’ times? The sense of achievement and personal challenge gained from taking on big challenges has made me persevere through the tough times – a sense of never, never giving up, and to be honest, a desire to prove the nay-sayers wrong! I set high expectations for myself so the tough times are often brought on by me! What do you think are some of the essential characteristics of a successful CEO? Being a CEO is like being an orchestra conductor – you are there to bring together many different skills sets, intensities and passions, to provide balance, to deliver appropriate outcomes for the audience. Integrity, tenacity, clarity of thinking, a good sense of humour, a genuine interest in people, a collaborative approach to business partnerships throughout the supply chain and strong strategic capabilities. For me, enjoying my work is as much about the relationships I experience in my work as it is about success with numbers and KPIs. What challenges do you think women face when seeking advancement in corporate roles? You might be shocked when I say other women can be a roadblock or impediment for young women coming through the ranks. There is an old guard, tough, possibly with a chip on their shoulder who think they’ve had it pretty tough getting to where they are – and that may well be true – but I have seen this play out to them feeling threatened by young people coming through and holding young women back. I would go as far as saying I’ve been bullied by other women early in my career. They can be poor role models – demonstrating brutal and bullying behaviour, rather than being ‘hard on the problem, soft on the person’ in their approach. I also think women can make the mistake of taking an extreme – either an extreme of being hard nosed, tough, and uncompromising or the extreme of playing up their gender, in a way which is hard to take seriously. What do you think holds women back from becoming successful in the corporate environment? I consider myself very fortunate that I have never felt held back by my gender. You have to set out to be the best you can be – get the education you need to set you on the right track. Don’t be afraid to switch careers. Keep reinvesting in your own education. I had a senior and high profile business leader accuse me of being a ‘course junkie’. But a question that is useful to ask is, Are you a learning person or a knowing person? The latter leads to a closed mind and a failure to keep your skills and knowledge current. Work hard. Deliver value. Value people. Value yourself. And if after all that, you still can’t get where you want to be – change businesses! What’s the best thing about being a business leader? The wide variety of people you meet, lead, work with, work for – being part of great teams is the best things about being a business leader. I also have been able to travel with my work, and having international business relationships is very enriching. I love the sense of responsibility. I love the variety in my role. I love seeing young people blossom. What were some of the core values you built your career on? Have these changed over time? My values have been consistent and when I look back even to my school days, the things that made me buzz then still make me buzz in business – from captaining sports teams and being in leadership roles at school – to having a sense of responsibility and being part of the fabric of the school – those feelings are the same in business. What has stood me in good stead? Integrity and professionalism, a very strong work ethic, a strong sense of responsibility to all stakeholders, being reliable and maintaining a sense of enjoyment. You work in a very competitive market. What have you done to stand out from the crowd to gain positions of greater responsibility? Delivered value as best as I was able and recognised when it was time to move on. The relationships I have built through the years have meant that I have people who will champion my cause, or refer for me if needed. I always find people very willing to help – it’s amazing what people will do if you just ask! Just what about your current role keeps you turned on and what have you done to ensure your team is continually motivated? We have plenty of challenges to keep us motivated – being a group of independently owned and operated businesses competing with global corporate competitors means we can never rest, but we also have limited budgets – so we have to be careful with our money, clever with our negotiations, and work in partnership with all stakeholders. Keeping teams motivated is always a challenge because everyone is motivated differently so you can’t have one strategy. For some people, work is far more than a pay packet – for some it’s only a pay packet. So you have to have a flexible approach to how culture evolves and is supported. Set a good example, be accessible, be interested in the individual at a personal and professional level. We value having fun at work which helps release the pressure valve, and there is a strong sense of mutual respect generally in play here. Keeping lines of communication clear, having a strong and accessible vision helps people connect their individual role to that of the wider organisation. What have you learnt about effective leadership and managing people? That every day is different, and that human’s are very complex! Flexibility of style is vital if you want to draw out the best in people. Ensure they have clear role responsibilities and they stay in touch with their developmental desires. Reward them fairly in terms of salary and acknowledge when they go above and beyond. Ensure they have regular performance review and feedback opportunities. Praise freely. Act quickly to nip in the bud any activities that are counterproductive to a safe, respectful and hardworking team environment. How important is it to have a supportive and encouraging partner at home when setting up your own business? It’s important to have supportive and encouraging people around you no matter what you are doing in life – and it shouldn’t just be your partner. Surround yourself with bright, happy, energetic people – especially people that you respect but that are different from you in some way so that the creative thinking process is kept alive. I find these types of people challenge my thinking, are generous in their support for me personally, and are more than happy to help when called on. How do you manage a work-life balance? Not very well in a traditional sense but when you love what you do it’s not such an issue. My only issue is struggling to stay active as competitive sport has become less accessible for me. Eating well, exercising regularly, taking time out – it all sounds so easy! What are some of your current personal and business goals? My personal goals are around improving fitness, finding time to travel more. I’m thinking about further formal study and I do think about owning my own business one day but it’s hard to imagine it would be more fun that what I do now. From a business perspective, positioning Office Products Depot for a sustainable and successful future for each of our owner operators is the key goal. What’s your definition of financial freedom? Ultimately, my definition of financial freedom is to have enough passive income to be able to choose to stop working, or to change the way I work. I like working, I enjoy the stimulation and the people side of it, so for me freedom would be having the choice to turn up or not turn up, to start late or finish early, grabbing that spur of the moment whim to travel to somewhere warm or exotic or adventurous on the spur of the moment. I don’t have a strong desire for ‘things’ – I have a strong desire for ‘experiences’, so travel is high on the list. Are there any books/publications that have helped you in your career? Stephen Covey – Seven Habits for Highly Effective People: great life and business skills Walk the Talk is a great book around cultural change in the work place. The First 90 Days is useful for entering a new career phase for a big step up. Napoleon Hill – Think and Grow Rich. Great business and life skills in them – my key outtakes were around how many people give up just at that moment when they were on the cusp of success, and the importance of surrounding yourself with smart people in your chosen sphere of operation. |