The Mediaweek Academy held its tenth and last session of 2023 at Linkedin’s office in Martin Place on Wednesday, November 29.
Attendees returned to the session focused on having a Leadership/Management mindset, led by facilitator Rowena Millward, a global leader in business and personal growth.
Accompanying Rowena on the panel was Legend Katie Rigg-Smith, chief strategy officer at WPP and Superstar Taz Papoulias, head of media investment at Murmur Group.
Rigg-Smith hoped that attendees took away from the discussion that leadership is a journey.
“It’s the best way to learn about yourself and how you are when you’re leading others. But it’s also genuinely about bringing out the best in other people,” she said.
Papoulias, head of media investment at Murmur Group, said they hoped the attendees learned that being a leader entails understanding the bigger picture, how people operate and being a forward thinker.
While the attendees picked up many pearls of wisdom from the panel discussion, the Legend and Superstar also learned from each other. Papoulias highlighted the industry Legend’s take on the window and mirror effect with her team and how their performance reflects on her role as a leader from an exciting point of view.
Meanwhile, Rigg-Smith called Papoulias’ job induction outsourcing a brilliant idea and praised his “genuine passion” for people and initiative in creating a nurturing environment for them.
After the session, Rigg-Smith and Papoulias shared optimistic outlooks for the industry’s future.
“What a bright-eyed group of people that are switched on. I feel like the next generation of leadership is in good hands because we have knowledgeable people who seem to have the right balance of EQ and IQ,” she said.
Papoulias noted that while the talent coming through is impressive, the industry tends to get stuck in middle management.
“When they start to grow in their career and achieve, they’re lost on how to take the next step. Hopefully, these sessions open forum sessions will help with that question.”
Claudia Culverhouse, account manager at Audience Group said: “One of the main points that stood out to me today was setting time aside for myself. Having a timeline is something I try to do for me, but it’s always hard to actually implement it, so having that reminder and push from the speakers today was really great.”
