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How to resolve AdBlock issue? Hub Australia co-CEO urges women to move up and not wait to ‘feel 100% ready’
By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>
GETTING AHEAD in the corporate world has its challenges for women.
New data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency is out, and it shows we’re seeing more women moving into management roles.
The problem is, in the highest-paying industries — such as construction and finance — only 1-in-10 workers in the highest-earning bracket are women. And across the board, men are nearly twice as likely to be in that top 25% of earners. 
So what’s the secret sauce?
Women should not ‘wait’ for the job
Speaking before International Women’s Day on March 8, Rebekah Murphy, the co-CEO of Hub Australia said women should not wait until they “feel they’re ready” for the job.
“In each role I’ve moved into, I haven’t necessarily felt I was 100% ready and I think, in my experience, lots of women wait until they feel really confident they are 100% ready for the role they’re going for before they put themselves forward,” Ms Murphy told Talking Business.
“Often times, men don’t do that.
“I think if you have the core capability, the opportunity and confidence can follow action, not the other way around.”
Ms Murphy said she did not know anyone, man or woman, who did not suffer some form of imposter syndrome when they went into a new role.
However, the key was to back oneself, learn fast and keep up.
“A lot of my experience sitting in board rooms, or sitting in meetings with more senior executives, is obviously a lot of what looks like confidence – (but it) is just this comfort with uncertainty,” she said.
“Most of us are figuring it out as we go along.”
Ms Murphy said this applied even when sitting in established board rooms and with key executives. There is a lot they also do not know, she said.
“Business is always thrown into new and different situations” she said.
Testing situations
A key example of that was when business suddenly had to deal with COVID.
“Businesses were having to navigate things they never navigated before,” Ms Murphy said.
The challenge for her was that she had come through the marketing disciplines, which has not been the traditional path for the CEO role.
As a result, she said, the biggest learnings for her were getting to understand the commercial side of the business and understanding the numbers. Making friends with the CFO also helped.
“I think it really came down to that commercial acumen that I built through that,” she said.
“How is revenue generated? How do margins work? How is business risk assessed? What are the decisions driving the P&L?
“You are forced into the territory, anyway in the exec team you are sitting on. Those are the conversations being had,” Ms Murphy said.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing CFOs. I could ask silly questions, and ask the ‘why’ behind it, and not feel like they were silly questions.”
At the same time, she said, marketing was commercial.
“It’s all about understanding customers,” she said.
“You’ve got to be spotting trends and shifts in the market. You’ve got to align the business where the market is going.
“That lens has been invaluable in my journey to being co-CEO.” 
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness
https://shows.acast.com/talkingbusiness/episodes/talking-business-5-interview-with-rebekah-murphy-from-hub-au
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