CommBank board director Wendy Stops on the biggest challenges of sitting on high profile boards

My guest today is Wendy Stops. Wendy is a Non Executive Director at the Commonwealth Bank (Australia’s largest bank), Coles Group, and Fitted for Work. Prior to her board career, she spent sixteen years with Accenture, most recently as the Senior Managing Director for Technology in Asia-Pacific.

I was really keen to have Wendy on the show to understand more about what it’s like to have such high profile board positions. If you have ever wondered what it’s like to be a board director, or perhaps you are considering this kind of career for yourself, I think you’ll get a lot out of this interview with Wendy.

We cover:
  • How to get onto a high profile board
  • The recruitment process for becoming a board member
  • How Wendy coped with being on the board of Australia’s biggest bank during the royal commission
  • Wendy’s surprising approach to managing stress
  • Wendy’s approach to protecting her personal time
  • How Wendy makes sure her voice is heard in amongst the other confident, capable and dominant personalities on the boards she sits on
  • Wendy’s approach to influencing people
  • The role of intuition versus data in making big decisions
  • Wendy’s “should we” test for ethical behaviour
  • Wendy’s experience with Imposter Syndrome, and her approach to overcoming it
  • The most challenging thing about sitting on a board
  • Wendy’s top tips for having a great career

Connect with Wendy on Linkedin.