Thriving in Leadership with Marina Go

Posted on 9 July, 2019

When it comes to women’s leadership, Marina Go has literally written the book.

Marina will be bringing her 25+ years of leadership experience to life at YWCA Canberra’s upcoming She Leads Conference. At the event, she will be discussing her journey in transitioning careers, from a full-time media executive to her goal of a portfolio career.

This year the She Leads Conference will bring over 300 emerging women leaders in Canberra together, to deliver a fresh and innovative approach to women’s leadership development.

As a keynote, Marina will be providing advice on how to maximise your leadership capacity and productivity by finding a role that will not only amplify your strengths but also fit your life.

In the lead up to this almost sold out event we caught up with Marina to chat leadership stereotypes, career curveballs, and Dolly Magazine.

Tell us three things you learned by stepping into the shoes of Editor of Dolly Magazine at 23

• You need a clear strategy to achieve a goal.
• Your people will do their best work for you if they feel valued.
• You need to make bold moves to differentiate yourself/your product/business from the pack.

What can we learn from the changes in the print media industry over the last decade?

Customers have become more discerning because they have greater choice in terms of both product type and media channel. Their need for news and information to assist in making democratic and lifestyle choices hasn’t changed.

Media organisations and clever entrepreneurs that have been observing the changes in consumer behaviour toward media consumption have worked out how to most effectively reach consumers and are winning.

Media organisations that haven’t changed their business model are in sharp decline. Disruption is the new normal.

What are two pieces of advice you give to mentees?

• Plan your career like you would plan a business. Have a goal in mind and measures of success along the way.
• Say yes to exploring every opportunity, even if at first it would seem like an unlikely opportunity. You never know where it might take you or what contacts you might make.

What have you learned from handling career curveballs?

I have learned to back myself and my instinct. I have also learned just how resilient I am and that I could probably cope with just about any issue that pops up.

What are some of the stereotypes you’ve helped flip over the course of your career?

• That women are not ambitious. I always aspired to be a leader.
• That women don’t make strong leaders because they can’t make decisions. I am a collaborative leader but always decisive and never afraid to stand up and speak out for what is the right thing to do.
• That feisty is a negative word to describe a woman. I have owned the word feisty. I think you need to be a bit feisty to lead.
• That you can’t have a successful career and be a mother. I have had both.

If you were Prime Minister for a day, what three things would you change first?

• The % of women in leadership roles in every sector. Yes, I would enforce quotas and if I did that I wouldn’t have to fix the talent pipeline or gender pay gaps because the women in leadership roles would make those decisions. Also, women’s health would be properly funded and Ovarian Cancer research and support would receive as much funding as required to save the majority of the 1600 women each year who are diagnosed with it.
• I would treat violence against women as a national crisis and put the best minds and significant funding together to prevent it.
• Ensuring that no one has to sleep on the street would have to be a priority for a wealthy nation like ours.

If you could direct $100m in the next Federal Budget somewhere, where would you send it?

To Ovarian Cancer Australia. We could help so many more women live longer and more comfortable lives with a significant funding injection.

What will you be speaking about at YWCA Canberra’s 2019 She Leads Conference?

I will be speaking about planning a career that continues to thrive, through a number of stages and changes. I have had three distinct careers and I will explain how none of it was by chance.

Hoping for a lucky break isn’t a strategy. Along the way, I had to turn roadblocks into opportunities and also was fortunate to meet some wonderful mentors and sponsors who helped champion my career choices.

As you become more successful it’s important to give back and assist the women who are coming up behind you. To me, success is when a woman you mentor one day manages to leapfrog your success. We need women to leapfrog us in order to fill the quota of leadership roles that would achieve gender equality. One at a time isn’t going to cut it. We need masses of women reaching the top of their fields.

READY FOR SHE LEADS 2019?

HerCanberra is a proud media partner of YWCA Canberra’s 2019 She Leads Conference. As a part of this partnership, HerCanberra is offering readers 10% off of NGO/Self-funded individual ticket prices. Use the code HERCAN on checkout to redeem your discount.

Held at QT Canberra on Friday 2 August 2019, the She Leads Conference is set to attract a range of women leaders, including female-identifying and non-binary people, at all stages of their leadership journeys, from a variety of fields.

The Conference centres around the theme ‘Thrive’ and includes a diverse and full program of keynote speeches, panels and networking activities that will build your capacity to thrive in your community or workplace while supporting other women alongside you.

The 2019 She Leads Conference also includes a networking and cocktail function the evening prior on Thursday 1 August, providing attendees with the opportunity to network with the incredible speakers and fellow attendees.

The complete program, speaker line-up and scholarship applications available here.

the essentials 

What: YWCA Canberra’s 2019 She Leads Conference, an empowering conference centred on the theme of women supporting one another to thrive
When: Friday 2 August from 9 am – 5 pm. A networking function will also be held the night before, on Thursday 1 August.
Where: QT Canberra
Website: ywca-canberra.org.au/event/2019-she-leads-conference

HerCanberra is a proud media partner of YWCA Canberra’s 2019 She Leads Conference.