Becoming the leader I always wanted to be thanks to Vodafone

I joined Vodafone Ireland in 2016 as the Finance Director but I was explicit about the fact that I wanted to do a broader business role. I was delighted when the opportunity came along to lead a team of fabulous people who take care of our business customers in Ireland.

I always wanted to be a leader, even if I wasn’t fully aware of it. I often had leadership roles during my early years in school and even organised our final year Debs ball. Today I’ve held the role of Director of Vodafone Business in Ireland for two and a half years, with a diverse set of customers from sole traders right up to international organisations. It’s a complex and wide-ranging portfolio and a real privilege to work on.

Leadership inspiration

What I love about leadership is working with different people and helping them to be the best they can – accentuating their strengths, guiding them, and celebrating success with them. I’ve always admired leaders who are humble, honest, open to learning, and authentic, so I would like to think I have those attributes myself. I know I certainly bring ‘my whole self to work’. I openly share who I am and how I’m feeling with people.

I think that to grow as a leader you need to take risks – and I certainly took a risk moving from finance to leading a business unit. Vodafone really supported me to make that change. It definitely challenged all aspects of my leadership – leading a Sales,Product & Marketing Team  was out of my comfort zone but it was energising to learn, build new relationships and create new plans with them! I was extremely lucky to take over a very experienced team and I spent a lot of my time listening to them, understanding the business and then building a clear plan with them.

It has by far been the biggest learning experience of my career. It wasn’t always easy but the learning was exponential and when you come out the other side you can look back, reflect on your learnings and how far you’ve come. I am extremely proud of the last two and a half years and of what my team and I have achieved together!

Flexible lives at Vodafone

The culture at Vodafone was the main reason I joined. I had an 18-month-old and a two-and-a-half year old and I wanted to be the best mother I could be, but also the best finance director.

I needed flexibility and an organisation that trusted me to get the job done in a way that worked for me, my family and my team, and Vodafone didn’t disappoint in that regard. Work/life balance is always something I will be working on, but I am grateful that Vodafone provides such an open, collaborative, flexible environment for people to thrive in.