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Finally, leaders need tenacity—a firm grip and steadfast belief that the change they envision, what they’re working toward, is possible. “When you try to change a company and manage a company and list a company all at the same time, that transaction is so complex. I had to just believe, despite everything, and despite what many were saying on the outside of the company, we would get there,” says Moya. “I don’t throw in the towel easily.” In October 2013, Moya’s belief was realised. The company officially entered the private sector. One of her most defining moments has getting to ring the bell on the London Stock Exchange following the privatisation and launch into the FTSE 100. “It was one of those days where you couldn’t take the smiles off our faces, we were just so elated,” she says. “This was a 500 year old treasured institution in Great Britain that five years ago was on its knees-–operationally, from a regulatory perspective, in terms of our relationship with our people, financially. Meeting the demanding tests of public markets gave the company a completely new lease on life.” All of these tools—network, communication, role models and tenacity—are crucial for great leaders, like Moya Greene, to take a plan for change and bring it to life. To put a man—or indeed a woman—on the moon. To show others what’s possible. “It’s incumbent on us to make sure that the women in our organisations are getting the experience and the coaching and the friendship…. to really grow and be stretched in their careers,” Moya says. What we accomplish now paves the way for the next generation of young women, showing them what others label “impossible” is just their next challenge in disguise.
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In order to have that level of comfort, leaders need to have more than a few tools at the ready. One, is their network. In Canada, Moya had extensive connections, built up over years of working in several sectors. “When you take on new challenges, it’s very helpful in the first six months or so to be able to sit down with trusted people who know your career, who know you, and at least some parts of this new challenge,” says Moya. When she moved to London, she arrived without all of that. “I’ve had to build a lot of networks and bridges pretty quickly,” she says. As she started making changes at Royal Mail, especially as an outsider, Moya relied heavily on constant communication with her people, taking what she calls the company’s “temperature.” To get accurate feedback from their workforce, managers couldn’t be separate; in order to report the temperature back to leadership, they had to be on the ground, where most of the change was being absorbed. Through this feedback, Royal Mail could calibrate the pace of change and its effect on employees. “Change is not achievable if the resistance is too great,” she says, stressing that communication is key to getting everyone on board. Communication also helps ensure you’re paddling at the correct speed and in the right direction. “You need to have a way to track the sentiment of people, so you can compare, in a very scientific way, what people are thinking and feeling, what’s worrying them and where they seek points of progress.” Role models are another important tool for leaders, to show them what’s possible and to provide steady pillars of advice for when things get tough. For Moya Greene, this notion conjures up many people: from individuals in her past like Richard Kostoff— “who has probably mentored more women in Canadian capital markets than any other person, single-handedly,” she says—to important figures like Hillary Clinton, “one of the most successful Secretaries of State.” One of Moya’s best pieces of professional advice came from her mother, 15 years ago, when she received a prestigious award. Her mother listened carefully to the good news over the phone before responding. “She said, ‘Don’t let any of that go to your head, darling.You can be on the hit parade one day and on the hit list the next day,’” Moya remembers. “That was her way of saying ‘stay grounded.’ I think it was very good advice.”
Dana Marie Krook is the Manager of Content & Communications at WXN.
AUTUMN 2015: THE OPINION 36