Louise Adams on the power of visibility for leading in a new era

<p>This episode, Shadé Zahrai interviews Louise Adams, Chief Executive – Australia and New Zealand of Aurecon. She is also a Mentor of the Minerva Network, National Advisory Board Member of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, Member of Chief Executive Women and Board Director of Aurecon Australasia.</p> <p>She was named 2020 CEO of the Year by The CEO Magazine, a 2018 Scholar by the Chief Executive Women and received a High Commendation as one of the Champions of Change Female Leadership Award by Consult Australia.</p> <p> </p> <p>Valuable Discussion Points </p> <p>(01:21) What is the story of Louise’s leadership journey?</p> <p>Louise felt that her leadership journey started out quite accidentally. Her passion was to travel and she wanted to link her career with her ability to travel, having some opportunities to travel with the work. One of the directors of Aurecon wanted to open an office in Western Australia and offered Louise the job of leading the office there. As the office grew, she grew with it. She continued to jump at opportunities that took her overseas. She headed overseas to the UK, the UAE until she was offered another role back in Australia.</p> <p> </p> <p>(05:16) What is the “what next” moment for Louise?</p> <p>When Louise was starting her career, whenever an opportunity was given to her, she would jump in without really knowing where it was heading. Now, she is at a point in her career where she can visualise where she wants to be next, what she aspires to become and where she wants to be in 10 or 15 years. This is her "what next" moment. She has built herself a bank of experience, connections, networks and professional reputation that rather than just taking in the opportunities as they come to her, she can now start to design opportunities and create opportunities for herself in areas that she wanted them to be to put her on the right path for her planned future endeavours.</p> <p> </p> <p>(16:02) What are her thoughts on young people who are really driven, ambitious and want to