Stand out and succeed: Leadership tips for Accounting & Finance - Shama Ragavan-Iyer

As part of our ongoing commitment to our specialist communities, we interview accomplished leaders on a monthly basis to bring you insights on their career progression and advice that will help you progress your career further.

Shama is currently a General Manager at Woolworths, having worked across multiple industries, from government, to professional services, property, industrial and retail.

She is a passionate people person with proven experience in leading and developing teams. With an outcome-driven approach, she enjoys a challenge and collaborating with her business partners to deliver value-accretive initiatives.

She’s also a busy mum of two and enjoys travelling and family time outside of work.

1. What factors do you think have been critical to the success you have achieved in your career?

My background and upbringing. It has given me a great perspective into some of the lessons one would read about, but from very early on in life. To give you some context, I was actually born in a very small hospital in Sri Lanka, as bombs were whistling overhead and landing nearby. Six weeks later, my parents, who were new to parenthood, left the country with me and nothing more than a small suitcase and a $10 note.

After travelling multiple countries in search of a job, they landed in South Africa, where they grew their careers and reached the height of their careers. After over a decade, they left it all again to start their lives in Australia, beginning their careers from scratch to ensure their now teenage children could have a life in Australia, far from crime and closer to extended family.

For me, this experience is fundamental in who I am today. I don't take anything for granted, and learnt many skills in resilience and adaptability, about taking steps outside your comfort zone and challenging oneself, as well as what it takes to make sacrifices or reach compromise. These are all lessons one reads about, but in my case, I had the honour of seeing and experiencing first hand as we jumped from place to place, making new friends and adapting to different situations.

The second one would be all of the people that I've worked with whether it be leaders, or team members. Each individual comes with their own style or approach, and I’ve learnt a lot from the interactions I’ve had with each of them and their experiences.

So if I was to keep it to two main things, it would be my upbringing, but also all the people that I've had the pleasure of working with and for throughout my career.

2. What's the most valuable piece of advice you have received in your career and how did it help you?

I think a lot of advice I have received from hubby, who has been a key sounding board throughout my career. The one that sticks to mind is being yourself and being true to your purpose.

I think this allows you to navigate any situation, knowing with relative certainty what you want to get out of it. No matter how challenging a situation, you have a key guiding light to help focus and also enjoy every experience no matter how difficult.

3. What's the most challenging situation you have faced in your career and how did you overcome it?

The most challenging circumstances have generally been people related - very challenging stakeholder relationships; over prolonged periods of time. I've had my fair share of that to be fair.

Being clear on the purpose was key to getting through unscathed. It allowed me to be objective, and focus on the “what” rather than the “who”, separating the situation and personalities from the outcomes that we needed to achieve to move forward. This approach kept me level-headed in those situations.

4. If you were starting your career now, what would you do differently?

I'd say they'd be a couple of things. The first is not to worry about how you’re perceived as long as you are true to yourself. However, I do appreciate that perceptions are important but should not be a singular focus.

The second is about perfectionism. We all struggle with this but focusing on the 80/20 is a really key point. I wish I'd done that earlier on in my career. It's hard when you're building your career, especially as you try to prove yourself - you feel everything needs to be done 100%. Had I focused on the 80/20, I would have expended less energy, and achieved outcomes with a lot less angst.

With more responsibilities, there was more to juggle; kids, career, friends, family, etc. I strove to be the perfect wife, daughter, mum and friend whilst being the perfect career woman. I’m sure many others feel the same way. I have realised you can be achievement oriented without necessarily being perfect.