Michele Adair, CEO, Housing Trust, Chair, Homes Tasmania and non-executive director on forging her purpose-led career through the grace of accidental life lessons

Michele Adair, CEO, Housing Trust, Chair, Homes Tasmania and non-executive director on forging her purpose-led career through the grace of accidental life lessons, dedicating her work and life to advocating for housing as a human right.

 

Key Insights

(01:45) How did Michele start her leadership journey?

Michele’s leadership journey has been non-linear compared to most. She entered the workforce after completing an AFS exchange student program and then left to have two kids. Michele wanted to re-enter the workforce but knew she probably needed a degree to do so. After unexpectedly splitting with her husband, the company she worked for went into receivership leaving her without a job and homeless. Trying to make ends meet, Michele took on part-time teaching roles, and was eventually introduced to consulting opportunities through a friend. After 20 years, she got to a point where she was able to take on full-time executive roles until she got to where she is now, CEO and Chair.

(11:19) How did Michele hone her justice-fueled influence?

For Michele, it’s always about the audience and the message. It is not enough to talk to the statistics, but we must talk about the human cost and the human right to have access to housing.

(25:33) What tool can Michele share to the audience to add to their Leadership Toolbox?

Michele shares the book, Leadership on the Line, with the subtitle Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Change. The book is full of tools, tips and techniques to help us when we’re leading organisations, driving change, trying to create influence and understanding what pushback looks like.

 

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, Shivani Gopal is a serial entrepreneur, speaker and advocate on a mission to create a more equal world. She’s recognised as a leading business thought leader helping professional women navigate their careers, businesses and financial success.

As the Founder and CEO of Elladex and Co-Founder of Upstreet, Shivani was recently awarded the 2022 NSW Excellence in Women's Leadership Award and the Top 50 Small Business Leaders award, As a dedicated advocate for gender equality and for closing the wealth gap for everyday Australians, Shivani launched “Equality 2050”; a campaign to achieve gender equality within our lifetimes. If you’re interested in learning more about Shivani visit her website: https://www.elladex.com.au/

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.