Leadership Started Long Before the Job Title

Long before I became a CEO, I was learning what leadership looked like….I just didn’t know it at the time.

Growing up with a role model has been one of the greatest gifts in my life and for me, that person has always been my older cousin, Jessica Greenland . 🤍

We went to school together, spent family holidays and weekends together, went to the footy and every year as kids went to the Australian Open. I grew up wanting to be just like her. Both of us had brothers so we were closer than sisters.

Jess was great at sport. I couldn’t run or participate in the same way, so we took up tennis lessons together. I still couldn’t run around the court, so Jess basically did enough running for both of us….

She never made a big deal about what I couldn’t do. We just found a way to do it together.

Looking back, I think some of my earliest lessons in leadership were happening right there.

Include people. Look after them. Work hard. Be loyal. Find solutions instead of focusing on limitations. And never forget the importance of family and the people around you.

We were incredibly lucky. Our mums were sisters, our dads were best friends, and we grew up in a safe, happy family surrounded by people who demonstrated those values every day.

I even copied Jess’s handwriting because I wanted to be just like her so much. We never looked alike I was definitely the European-looking one, taking after my Greek dad but people would tell us we sounded the same on the phone and somehow even our handwriting became similar.

As adults, our careers took different paths. I’ve watched Jess build her career at MKT Communications and now begin her newest business venture, Quill Communications & Co .

Recently I was driving back from a meeting and randomly called her. I thought, I’d love to go and work from her office today.

Really, I just wanted ten minutes with my big cousin because I’d missed her.

Sitting there together, both working and running our own businesses, made me realise how much of who we become is shaped long before we have a job title, lead a team or run a company.

For me, leadership didn’t start when I became a CEO.

It started growing up around people who taught me to work hard for what I wanted, include others, stay loyal, care deeply, show up for people and always remember where I came from.

Some people meet their role models later in life.

I was lucky enough to grow up beside mine. 🤍

And all these years later, sometimes I still just want to turn up at her office and steal ten minutes together.