Back in 2014 Lisa Gunnery was given the opportunity to spend six days in India working with The Hunger Project through a leadership programme run by Sovereign Insurance. It was an opportunity that transformed her worldview, self-image and career direction. As the current New Zealand CEO of The Hunger Project, Lisa now spends her time creating awareness around the organisation’s work with communities in some of the world’s poorest countries – and delivering a fresh perspective on some key organisational challenges like leadership, collaboration and motivation.
Lisa set out to India with a group of 20 other Sovereign employees with the aim of experiencing a new approach to leadership and resilience from a group of unlikely female leaders supported by The Hunger Project.
These women were among the most marginalized, stigmatized and maligned in their culture and community. The low caste and the vulnerable who, given the opportunity of a better life for their sons and daughters and the chance to change the future position of women in their society, grabbed the opportunity to become community leaders with both hands.
No such word as 'confidence'
One of the many cultural disconnects between the Indian women and Lisa’s group came when the subject of confidence was broached. “These women had no word in their vocabulary for confidence,” explained Lisa. “When I asked them how they found the confidence to take on their new roles, they looked at me blankly. These women have no education, they belong to the lowest caste but on the first day as elected women, they just get on and do it. It really highlighted to me the way in which we place limitations on ourselves – and then proceed to live within those self-imposed boundaries.”
Prior to the trip, Lisa had spent her working life in insurance operational roles but it was in India that she found her calling and the courage to change direction. “I had always been interested in the not-for-profit sector but had never acted on it – there was always something holding me back. My time in India made me realise that I could do whatever I wanted to do if I pursued it with the passion and perseverance shown by the women I met in India.”
Everyone can change
The philosophy that anchors everything done by The Hunger Project is that every person is capable of transformation. How we live our lives, what we gain from them and what we give back is all under our own control. Lisa found this approach remarkably liberating, and not a little scary.
“When you move from the belief system of ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can’ it opens up new possibilities for everyone – both women and men. We need to wake up to the fact that we’re limiting ourselves and there is no-one else to blame when we continue to sell ourselves short. In this country, we lack nothing but we get on the cycle of wanting more and more – and it never seems to be enough. What we should be thinking about is identifying our purpose.”
Another major area of learning for Lisa was resilience. Seeing and experiencing the daily challenges that were faced by the women representatives made it easier for Lisa to gain perspective and step back in situations of pressure, asking herself: ‘What steps can I take to resolve this?
“These women are constantly challenged and their challenges are fundamental and significant ones around food, safety and their children’s well-being. They have to find a way of handling it - in their situation there’s no faking it.”
Life lessons from India
When asked to distill her time in India down to three takeaway learnings, Lisa doesn’t hesitate – she has obviously given this a great deal of thought.
“The first is around transformation and possibility. Anything is possible – but you have to do it and it doesn’t always come easy. We need to step back and stop trying to be all things to all people and identify the issues that matter. These days I am more questioning and challenging up the line at work. I avoid getting bogged down in hierarchy and don’t shy away from coming up with ideas and suggestions in areas that don’t really have anything to do with me.”
The second learning is around empowering people. Throughout her career, Lisa has always had a keen interest in developing people and awakening their leadership potential. “Our definition of ‘leader’ as ‘senior manager’ is not helpful,” she says. “Leadership does not come with the position, it’s a state of mind. It’s more about how you influence others and how you present yourself than what’s written on your business card. You can lead equally effectively from the bottom as the top.”
The final lesson for Lisa was around collaboration. “Businesses tend to pay lip-service to learning from mistakes or failure – we tend to blame. This often prevents the most important learning from happening. To truly collaborate, people have to be prepared to give up some of their power or authority. It is more important to pick the right leader for a project regardless of their position in the company. For effective leadership, the only criteria should be how well they are suited for the leadership role.”
So what’s next for Lisa Gunnery?
Beyond Performance has been working with Lisa Gunnery to take these experiences and learning into a new leadership programme to unlock the power we all possess to influence the direction and success of our organisations - whether we have ‘the title’ or not. For more, talk to Mary on mary@beyondperformance.co.nz or phone her on 021 336 949.