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Lisa Claes: disrupt yourself to get better

31 March 2017

Former ING Direct Executive Director, Lisa Claes, shared some of her insights and advice on how to make the most of your career at REINSW’s Women in Leadership event.

Lisa, currently CoreLogic International CEO, highlighted various principles which are important to progress your career at a breakfast event supported by realestate.com.au, a Principal Partner of REINSW.

She explained: “The insights I've picked up along the way you won’t read in a book, or have people tell you.

“I've learned some of it the hard way and had the benefit of sponsors, mentors, or colleagues in business that have pointed out what really matters in the end.

“These are the key stepping stones, skills and attributes that you need to have to get ahead.”

Lisa revealed the most important lesson she has learnt, and is challenged by every day, was from an Iranian taxi driver in Istanbul when she was there on business with ING Direct.

During the journey, she was busy in the back speaking to her daughter, son, Sydney office and a colleague in Spain.

She explained: “The taxi driver turned around and commented how busy I was and said ‘sometimes, you must feel like a juggler’.

“I agreed and he took his hands off the wheel and said, ‘I bet, sometimes you drop some of those balls, but that's ok, because most of the balls are rubber, and they just bounce back. However, some of the balls are glass. Don't drop the glass balls’.

“Sometimes the energy and commitment you devote in your careers can be all consuming, but you must be very careful to know what those glass balls are in your life and protect them.

“When the career carousel stops, you want to be able to have some sort of life and relationships beyond that. You can have both, and you can do them at the same time, but it's often very seductive to completely unbalance yourself in one way.”

Lisa categorised her learnings into three main pillars:

Personal impact
Experience
Leadership.

“When the career carousel stops, you want to be able to have some sort of life and relationships beyond that. You can have both, and you can do them at the same time, but it's often very seductive to completely unbalance yourself in one way.”

1. Personal impact

High performers have personal impact, they stand out. You don’t have to have a Master’s degree to get ahead, but high performers have certain attributes which are needed to be successful.

Agility
Good performers are fast, and they're agile. They get things done, and have a magnetism about them. In business, if anyone ever has to follow me up about something, I take that really personally. Do things quickly, because you develop a momentum about you, and it clears all the noise and the clutter away so that you can focus and spend more time on the things that matter.
Optionality
People are either binary, or optional, and whenever someone asks you for advice, you should give them choices. When I advise people in their careers I always give them choices. Don’t be binary or black and white in life.
External focus
Good performers know and seek out information around them. You've got to know what's best in class in your industry, who are the best operators in your industry, and what are the attributes and the metrics and the performance characteristics of those.
Executive disposition
This doesn't just apply if you're going into a boardroom; this applies everywhere. Appearance matters and there's something about the way people carry themselves, speak, their energy, the way they gesture, and the way they walk. Those things matter, and people form impressions very quickly, and you've got to be you.
Stakeholder management
It’s not just your peers, the people you manage or your boss. Know who in your business are the gatekeepers, or the people that make the decisions, particularly if you're working international networks.
Accountability
I like to hold myself accountable, but also like to know which individual is accountable for every single initiative. Accountability is really important and gives you the opportunity to be able to improve performance.
Essence / elevator pitch
Essence is about what is it that makes you different. If you're an agent, why would they go to you as opposed to your competition down the road? I learnt how important this was when the ING CEO got into the lift with me in Amsterdam on level 20. I'd never met him before, and he said you’re Lisa Claes, I’ve heard good things about you’ and then asked me ‘what is so good about you?’. I had 20 floors to give him two or three key messages about what made me different to other people! Everyone's unique and has something they're special at. Know it, work on it, nurture it, and tell people.
Confidence
This is key to your personal impact and success. We all begin at different starting points, but you can build on your confidence and it is about giving yourself opportunities. If you’re in the role of leadership you want people to follow you when times are tough and have faith, because you have to take people along with you. Confidence is being certain and decisive.
Focus
The prescription for extraordinary results is knowing what matters and taking daily doses of action in alignment with it.
Conditioning
Having rich lives takes a lot of energy, so health and stamina are very important. You've got to invest time in physical conditioning because it's one of those unsung pillars in professional life that you need.
Balance
By balance I mean doing something different to what you do every day. Away from work my passion is designing my clothes and my home. I make sure I have time for that because it is what nurtures my soul, along with relationships. What is it about you that makes you energised and feel good? Do it regularly and make time for it.

2. Experience

Get uncomfortable
Having a rick collection of career experiences is important in any organisation because these are the things which propel people in their careers. Do something tricky or hard and get out of your comfort zone.
Critical path
Often in organizations unless you are contributing to the critical path, it doesn't matter how good you are, you'll be overlooked. Know in your organisation what is important and get involved in those areas of the business. If you know how your organisation makes money and can contribute to that, you become more valuable.
Embrace vacuums
In every organisation there are things that people don’t want to do, and sometimes they don’t seem like critical things either. Every industry is currently under threat of disruption and you can’t put your head in the sand. Become the expert on it and be the person who understands it. ING was originally a phone and post bank and when we were just coming into the digital age I took it on knowing nothing about it. I made it my job to understand everything about digital and now ING is the largest and most effective digital bank in Australia. I can’t take all the credit for that, but I led and started that off because I could see it was going to disrupt our business.
Technical gaps
Know your technical gaps and try to get your employer to help fill those gaps. Sometimes doing that extra bit of study is very important to give you the skills to do a key component of your role better.
Walk the ledge
You have to take risks and be prepared to fail and own it. Michael Jordan said ‘you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take’. You need to do things that are uncomfortable in order to improve. One of my most uncomfortable things in life was when ING had its revision of strategy session set for June 2015 and I asked if I could do it, in March. This meant presenting to 18 men of the global board and it was very scary and confronting. However I didn’t fail and it improved everything for me. If I could do that and survive, and get an outcome that was good, then everything else became easy after that. It builds your confidence. I always say, what is the worst thing that can happen? No one dies. Do it and you will learn.
Support network
Make sure you have sponsors, mentors, and coaches that can help you with your career. Sponsors are the people who are in the room and you're not there, fighting your corner. Mentors are people usually outside of your organization who are people who have travelled a path that you wish to take. They can be your sounding board. Coaches are the ones who can actively teach you to improve your skills.

3. Leadership

Leadership is everywhere
A leader is not just the CEO of an organisation, they can exist at any level. Partly it's having a belief in what your organisation is trying to do, which means being very clear about it as well.
Tenacity and momentum
You've got to be able to roll with the punches and the hurdles that are inevitably going to come up. Leadership is a combination of courage, imagination and confidence.
Teamwork
Great leaders rarely say ‘I’. It is always ‘we’ or team. They unite and are very good at knowing who can do what and bring it all together.
Failure is OK
Leaders get the best out of their people, and they've also got tolerance for failure, because people stuff up. They give people space to try and to fail, and hopefully also to succeed.
Visibility
Great leaders must be visible. Be in touch and amongst your people. After all, great teams work closely together.
Humility
Leaders are human, so don't be afraid to be humble. Great leaders have a lot of humility about them, they're not perfect. But they are also constantly trying to improve.