Zoos Victoria chief on the lore of the jungle

PAULA BEAUCHAMP
APRIL 09, 2014
HERALD SUN
THERE was a time when head of Zoos Victoria Jenny Gray felt closest in the animal kingdom to the beaver.
“I work hard and I like to shape and change things around me,” the South African-born executive says.
Today, the three-time zoo CEO believes she’s aligned more closely with the meerkat.
“I’m a more collaborative species these days,” she laughs.
“I like working together with others to achieve a common purpose, so I’d say I’m most like them.”
Ms Gray will this May share the lessons she has learned — including those from the various animals she has worked with — during her upward rise to the rank of chief executive.
As one of five women featured in the Australian Institute of Management’s Outstanding Women Series, she hopes her journey will inspire other women in business.
“When I worked at a bank nobody ever wanted to talk to me about work over dinner,” she laughs.
“But people understand there’s just so much we can learn from animals and those stories are so accessible.
“When you stop to watch animals, you gain so much insight.”
Hyenas, in fact, might help budding female executives question the status quo.
The most junior female always outranks the highest male.
“It makes you stop and think,” Ms Gray says.
In the human world, about 93 per cent of chief executive positions are held by men.
Ms Gray believes talking through issues such as the glass ceiling and work-life balance can be useful, given that few women still rise to the ranks of chief executive.
“There’s also an art in learning how to be ‘assertive’ without coming off ‘aggressive’,” she says.
“It is that kind of finessing of your style that you can best learn from other women.”
Once you’ve reached the top ranks, it helps to gather a supportive group of women around you, she says.
“It can be lonely being a CEO, especially if you are a woman and you are fighting every step of the way,” she says.
“I dine with a group of women CEOs every two months and the relationship is so incredibly supportive.”
Fellow Outstanding Women’s Series speaker Vicki Pridmore addressed a crowd in Melbourne last month.
The BreastScreen Victoria chief executive said she wanted to give back to the community.
“Hopefully hearing from me dispels some of the myths about leadership and makes success more accessible for other women,” she said.
Part of Ms Pridmore’s message encourages successful managers to look for outstanding potential in their juniors.
“There were people who recognised things in me that I didn’t recognise in myself when I was at the more junior levels,” the former woodwork teacher-turned-psychologist says.
“They put me forward for development opportunities that made a big difference to my career.”
As a former chief executive of the Cheltenham and Regional Cemeteries Trust and the first female leader in that industry, Ms Pridmore says the same opportunities are not always available to men and women.
“Even at the chief executive level, it is not quite as fluid for women to move across industries,” she said.