INTHEBLACK August 2024 - Flipbook - Page 60
WORK SMART
Don’t be lonely
at the top
Even the most senior leaders need to
seek feedback, coaching and support
in their roles. Two experts discuss the
benefits of peer mentoring.
Words Nicola Heath
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60 INTHEBLACK August 2024
BEFORE BECOMING AN EXECUTIVE COACH,
Sue Rosen worked for more than 25 years in
the finance world, including several years
as a CFO.
“The CFO role can be a particularly lonely
one,” Rosen says. “You can feel quite isolated –
that was my experience.”
Many people find their support networks
narrow as they ascend the corporate ladder.
“You are in a senior leadership position,
so you inevitably have a smaller peer group,”
she explains.
“CFOs have a particular range of challenges
that they find hard to share with somebody
else. There is a lot of work that finance people
do that is highly confidential and very sensitive
that cannot be shared widely.”
The sense of isolation Rosen felt in senior
leadership roles – a feeling “exacerbated when
you are one of a very small number of women
around the leadership table” – prompted her
to establish the CFO Women’s Circle in 2020.
The circle features peer advisory groups of
four to six female senior leaders who meet
every month to discuss issues such as purpose,
imposter syndrome, gaslighting and wellbeing.
The goal is to foster personal and professional
growth through the construction of a robust
professional network.
This type of peer mentorship can deliver
a raft of benefits. Writing in the Harvard Business
Review, Brenda Steinberg and Michael D. Watkins
argue that peer coaching offers insight to leaders
on different perspectives, the chance to perfect
new skills, a greater capacity for collaboration
and the confidence to take risks.
TRUST AND DIVERSITY
Traditional mentorship pairs an individual
in a junior position with a more experienced
counterpart, such as an aspiring CFO with
a veteran of the role.
“A mentor is somebody who has been
through a similar career journey and can
help you by sharing their experiences with
you,” Rosen says.
Peer mentorship – which can take the form
of groups or one-on-one relationships – allows
leaders to call on lateral sources of support.
Lyn Harding FCPA is based in Western
Australia and is the chair of The Executive
Connection. This international membership
organisation offers coaching and mentoring
for CEOs and has recently been acquired
by Vistage, a global CEO coaching and
peer advisory firm.
For the last 10 years, Harding has led peer
advisory groups of CEOs and owners of small-tomedium businesses, ASX-listed companies and
not-for-profit organisations.
These business leaders have diverse
backgrounds and experiences.
“Some CEOs are fairly new in their career,
others are very well established and gaining
