Episode 43: Why it’s critical to know the environment you’re going into to increase success, with Donna Stace

Leadership Amplified by Dr Karen Morley

It can be challenging knowing what it’s like to work in a particular role, industry or organisation. Not knowing is one of the real impediments particularly for women moving into male dominated work. This is something that Donna Stace mastered very early in her career. Donna is an Operational Specialist in a Functional Safety Team at Rio Tinto. Growing up in The Pilbara as she did, she was exposed from an early age to various trades and to the mining industry, and that sparked her interest. She fed her interest by getting out and finding work experience and became known, which of course helped her immensely when she started looking for work roles. She went on to complete her Mechanical trade qualifications and over her career moved into operational leadership roles and has worked across a range of industries. Her approach remains a key part of the advice she provides to others, especially young women, to encourage them to find out more about joining trades as career options. She encourages women to get out and find work experience options, and to challenge the people doing the hiring – ‘make sure you find out about culture and leadership style, what they are like and whether they will suit you’, she says. She’s a great advocate for women in trades, becoming more so after returning to the maintenance area after many years and finding that the dial just hadn’t shifted. To do something about it, because she likes to be active, she co-founded Women in Rail. WIR continues to focus on increasing gender-balance in apprenticeships and trades. There’s been real success there, with numbers approaching parity over the last couple of years. Great work Donna! Donna’s advice for increasing inclusion at work is for leaders to identify the value that diversity can bring to a team. There are benefits, and leaders should know what they are. Donna says ‘It’s important to challenge yourself about what are you actually after, what do you want in this team, what are the skillsets, what are the gaps in your team? Do you need another person that looks exactly like the three other people in your team? Everyone wants to hire themselves, it's easier.’ To make it easier for leaders to be more inclusive they need a good support team, including people who’ll challenge their thinking.