Join Rebekah Campbell as she chats with Cecily McGuckin, CEO & Managing Director of Queensland Steel & Sheet. Cecily leads with integrity, gut instinct and a no-ego rule as the foundations for a successful culture and talks about building leadership confidence through tough experiences.

Key insights

(01:17) What is the story of Cecily’s leadership journey and what does she do differently?

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.

(05:55) What was the reaction from staff when Cecily started rising through the ranks?

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.

(18:44) How does Cecily navigate between letting people go and supporting her team and company culture?

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.

Important Resources and Links

If you’d like to learn more about how CommBank is supporting the growth of women in business visit https://www.commbank.com.au/women-in-focus.html

Host of the Leading Women podcast, Rebekah Campbell is a high-profile entrepreneur and public speaker who spoke at TEDx Sydney (2012). Rebekah is co-founder of payments app Hey You and author of the book ‘138 Dates’ published by Allen & Unwin in 2021. Rebekah was named a Woman of Influence in 2015 and APEC Young Woman Innovator. She was the host and curator of the City of Sydney's virtual event series 'Reboot', supporting 18,000 Sydney business owners to recover from the impact of COVID in 2020 / ‘21. If you’re interested in learning more about Rebekah visit her website: www.rebekahcampbell.com

The Leading Women podcast is proudly brought to you by Commonwealth Bank. The series is produced by Nicole Hatherly, recorded at RadioHub Studios with post production by Cooper Silk and Iain Wilson.

Things you should know: Guests featured in the podcast are speaking from their personal experiences only. As this podcast has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs, you should, before acting on the content consider its appropriateness to your circumstances. CommBank does not necessarily endorse the views of a particular individual or guarantee the accuracy of the information provided.

554: Getting My Sea Legs