CASE STUDIES

Clair works with business leaders and individuals, helping them to define their own unique path, to manage challenging situations and relationships and to move towards desired outcomes and rewards. In this series Clair clients’ share some personal experiences and insights from their work with Clair.

Q&A with AMANDA CARLILE

Amanda Carlile has worked with people from diverse social, cultural and professional backgrounds and has led teams of staff and volunteers to achieve the necessary outcomes in the not-for-profit sector for 12 years. Since arriving in Australia from the UK Amanda has travelled extensively throughout Australia in various management positions to establish successful operations in the social enterprise industry. She is passionate  about working for not-for-profit organisations that supports the equality and independence of women.

What is your current role and position? 
I am currently General Manager at ‘Fitted for Work’ and I am responsible for leading a team who are fully dedicated to supporting women facing disadvantage to gain sustainable employment. My role is specifically about the client journey and our capacity to be a direct connector for women and their employment journey.

Tell us a little about your career path, and what got you where you are today?I am originally from England and arrived in Australia 17 years ago with a backpack and a Design Degree. Feeling isolated from my support networks and struggling to find a role in my chosen field, I undertook part time work in hospitality until I gained an opportunity with Australian Red Cross, working with teams of dedicated women volunteers.

This role steadily developed over nine years, taking me to some of the furthest corners of Australia, during this time I was provided with insight and appreciation for strong and resourceful networks of women that provide the backbone of Australian communities for many people. 

I saw the struggles of numerous women, particularly those from marginalised groups, in finding security and independence. 

I listened to their stories and witnessed the transformational power of women supporting and encouraging other women. 

My connection to this valuable collective, inspired me to pursue a career in the community sector and ultimately apply for a position at ‘Fitted for Work’ - an organisation that directly supports women facing disadvantage to secure sustainable employment.

What does leadership mean to you?
Leadership is about People ultimately. I believe that if you value and develop people, an organisation will reap the benefits. You'll have a joyful and engaged workforce which will filter out to your customers, clients and supporters. People will want to engage with your cause/product and you will gain a reputation as a place where people thrive.

There is a fabulous quote from Maya Angelou about people not remembering what you said or what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel? That is how I think about leadership.

On a more practical note, I think Leadership requires:

• Taking responsibility.

• Creating an environment where people feel safe to discuss challenges and ideas, with you and each other.

• Respectful and authentic interactions, making the time to listen and that means active listening.

• Developing trust. When you say you’ll do something you do it and expect the same in return

• Knowing you don’t have all the solutions and working with the people around you to gather the information needed to find the best solution.

• Communicating a clear vision and bringing the skills, experience, ideas and perspectives of individuals together to achieve that vision.

• Actively supporting growth, both personal and professional, and recognising how individuals need and respond to different types of support

• Self-care.

Who do you think is a good leader?Someone I greatly admire is Mary Crooks, Chair of the FFW Board and EO of the Victorian Women’s Trust.

Mary’s passion for progressing Women (with a capital W) is at the forefront of everything she does. She is authentic in all interactions and demonstrates empathy in decision making.

I admire the way she brings her whole self to her work. I love the way she talks about her beloved Carlton football team at every opportunity, it shows that you can let people know who you really are and still get the job done.

She is a calm, confident and action-oriented leader and I always come away from my conversations with Mary feeling valued, capable and asking the question ‘right, what’s next?’

What does success mean to you and your team?
Every women who secures work after accessing our services is considered a success for us. We measure success on knowing that when you help one woman find work, and that she is able to provide for herself and her family, that there is a ripple effect.  This one change in her life has an impact on the way she parents her children, the way she engages with her local community, the value and diversity she brings to her workplace and contributing to a collective impact on equality within Australia.

What might prevent this success?
The biggest barrier to success is generating enough funding to deliver consistent, quality, support services. As we say in the office ‘we don’t dress women in the park and we don’t dress women in the dark’.

All of our services cost money and as a not for profit organisation we rely on a host of diverse income streams such as: fundraising events, annual appeals, social enterprise activities, donors, corporates, trusts and foundations, and fee for service arrangements. 

This demands a vast amount of time and effort from everyone in the organisation and from what is essentially a very small team; from CEO to volunteers, everyone is responsible for bringing in and developing opportunities.

What leadership training techniques might be most beneficial to you and your team at this time.

I think techniques that may be beneficial for our team right now would be:

• Making the most of networking opportunities

• Effective decision making - what will need to move up and down the list of priorities in an unstable financial environment

• Managing constantly shifting priorities

• Significant relationships management across multiple stakeholder groups

Fitted for Work is currently going through a stage of rapid expansion. It is developing its Virtual Services and the SheWorks social enterprise nationally. 

To assist the team meet their business objectives they've engaged Clair to work with the leadership team, and specifically the Group Styles Inventory (GSI) framework, to support them to further develop their leadership capacity.