What an amazing session at Commerce Ballarat’s NextGen Next Steps last Thursday. The event was a part of the Next Gen Collective, an initiative of Commerce Ballarat dedicated to Ballarat’s young professionals, helping them to grow and develop their careers. This event was hosted by our Director Ange Connor, who facilitated a panel of 3 young business leaders in the Ballarat community.
- Will Munro – Director of Ray White Ballarat
- Larelle Kuczer Youth and Community Impact Manager at The Y Ballarat
- Steve Allen – Director of Nicholson Construction
My first thought was that we are so lucky to have elite leaders like this in our Ballarat community! The panel was genuine, authentic and provided real insights into their leadership journey.
Speaker highlights:
• Will Munro spoke openly about his transition from rookie sales agent through to business owner at Ray White, 5 years of planning lead him into ownership. Will reflected on the importance of communication when navigating through change (you can never have enough!), along with how as a leader the most important thing you can provide your team is your time.
• Stephen Allen shared with us his journey from apprenticeship to Director of Nicholson Construction, and spoke through the challenges of overseeing more experienced individuals as a young leader. Stephen openly shared his own personal trademark (developed with Leading Teams) and how he consistently refers back to it during challenging moments to guide his approach.
• Larelle Kuczer initially was set on becoming an architect before realising that helping young people through social issues was what charged her battery. Larelle’s selfless approach to her work is simply inspiring. She spoke about the importance of not assuming what people know when leading a team, and reflected on her belief in the stark difference between leadership and management.
My personal takeaways:
• Be yourself – all 3 lead in their own authentic style. They don’t try to emulate someone else, in fact, they lean further into who they are when approaching a challenge. Dive deep into on your own personal values to guide you.
• Commitment to communication – this message was consistent throughout; it’s something I place the highest value on with leadership. It made me reflect on my own experiences where things haven’t gone as well as initially planned and how open communication could have been the proactive fix!
• Lean into adversity, don’t back away from it. Train yourself how to work through adversity as it is how you grow. The more you work through it the better you become at dealing with it. Stephen Allen concluded with this sentiment and I loved it.
On working within a team:
• Our strength is in our diversity – a high performing team leverages and looks for each other’s strengths. This message reminded me of Commerce Ballarat’s Business Day Out. I can’t recall the exact quote, however Jason Clarke said something along the lines of… “If someone/something is pissing you off, you just aren’t using them/it correctly!” – reframe frustration into opportunity. A great strength might be staring you right in the face, and it can likely help you and your team.
Thanks to Ange, Commerce Ballarat and the NextGen Collective team for putting on such a great event. Looking forward to the next one!
