​Story to Success

The path to success as a Marketing professional with Deirdre Boyle

As part of Parity Consulting’s Parity Plus offering, we recently held our first “Story to Success” event in Melbourne featuring leading Marketing professional, Deirdre Boyle, Head of Marketing and Digital at AIA Australia. Deirdre was recently recognised for her extensive knowledge and experience in the Marketing industry, receiving the Women in Finance award for Marketing Professional of the Year.

Deirdre started her career in IT as a coder, and after quickly realising that this was not what she was meant to be doing, she went on to have a highly varied career from banking, health and life insurance to fintech. Deirdre also helped ready a business for listing and worked for one of the big four banks. She is currently the Head of Marketing and Digital at AIA Australia and has been with the organisation for the past 2 and a half years. All throughout her career, Deirdre has maintained her passion for the customer and being a change maker and transformer within a business.

So, what has Deirdre learnt in her career?

1. We should never be afraid to share our ultimate goals. Be proud of what we ultimately want to achieve and do not be afraid of ambition. Personally, Deirdre wants to be a CEO and states that she will strive to do just that. She has found it really liberating sharing this information and was pleasantly surprised at how people are keen to help support her ultimate goal.

2. Being clear about setting your boundaries. The more you deliver and raise the bar, organisations in turn will want more and more from you. Ensure you make time for yourself and for your family. When you say “no”, you will find that people are responsive to this. Although work life balance fluctuates with work commitments, it is important that you set your own boundaries, and take down time when there are no pressing needs.

3. Surround yourself with great people. Surrounding yourself with people who are aligned to the vision and ambition with the same attitude around performance outcomes means more time leading and less time managing. Identify performance issues quickly and manage efficiently. Lack of action will only become your burden to carry. Ensure that you use the probation period to make tough decisions if necessary and ensure you communicate expectations early in the piece.

Q: How do you hire with culture fit in mind?

Deirdre gave a number of great points to consider when hiring for culture. She advised to:

• Test people’s reactions on questions regarding the breadth of the role; • Get many of your peers involved and their thoughts, particularly where they are key stakeholders or business partners; • Be transparent and truthful with candidates during the interview process, not just about the opportunities but also the challenges – it becomes self-selecting; • It’s not always about technical expertise, but the ability to influence without authority.

Q: How to overcome the biggest challenges?

Deirdre suggested that you need to learn to stop and listen so you can meet people where they’re at and take them on the journey from their point of departure. So often we clearly see the destination but don’t consider how everyone sees the journey to get there. Crawl, walk and then run.

Q: What strategies do you implement when the chips are down?

Be clear on your personal purpose – Why are you here? What is your true north? What energises you or keeps you going? Adopt a mindset of generosity and gratitude. People need to understand that you have got to give to get in return.

Deirdre added that Marketers talking commercially and demonstrating a strong understanding of the commercial drivers of the business will really propel their reputation and ensure they have a seat at the decision-making table. When implementing significant change, find somewhere safe to play where you can test, learn and experiment with perceived lower risk.

For all those that attended on the day, we trust that you left with new insights and answers to some of your burning questions. A big thank you to Deirdre Boyle for sharing her insights and taking the time out of her busy schedule to join us.

To ensure you do not miss out on our future events, be sure to be following us on LinkedIn to be the first to be in the know! For any further questions or enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us on +61 2 8068 2016 or send through an email to info@parityconsulting.com.au