Learnings from a wāhine in business – Clare Murray – Former Whai Rawa Fund Limited Board member
Clare’s career spans over three decades of commercial and for-purpose organisational leadership. A Masters in Music from Oxford University, London lawyer, co-founder of investment banking firm Murray & Co, and now Director of Work-integrated Learning at the University of Canterbury heading programmes designed to prioritise graduate employability. Never one to have a single focus, she’s raised her three kids (now in their early twenties) with husband Justin and has always combined her executive roles with at least one for-purpose governance role in the arts or financial services sector.
This is what she had to tell us about some of the lessons she’s learned over the years as a wāhine in business:
If one of your aspirations in life is to flourish financially – then one of the most satisfying ways to do that is through increasing your own earning power as a woman: whether that means securing a promotion, taking on a new role in a different organisation, or even starting your own business, it will come as no surprise that these things do not happen by accident. All too often our unconscious behaviours as wāhine, rooted in society’s expectations that women should put the needs of others ahead of their own, hold us back from what we are capable of both personally and professionally. Here’s just a few tips I’ve learned over the years at different stages of my career:
Never stereotype yourself in a negative manner. Cut the “I just…” or “I only…” prefixes in your sentences. Say what you mean, and don’t second guess yourself. People don’t respond well to waffle, but they do respond to confidence. Once you start doing that, you’d be amazed how much more you are listened to.
Trust that you can. As a young solicitor in an international law firm, I was called upon to chair at short notice a bondholders’ meeting in Milan where there was a debt default situation. Yes, inside, I was scared of managing a full boardroom of disgruntled men, but it was one of the best learning experiences of my professional life. I had the knowledge, I just needed to trust my relative expertise and apply it – which I did.
Being fully present is a superpower. When you’re listening and participating actively in a conversation or task – you are often at your best. I’ve learned to do this better in the latter half of my career. You don’t need to know everything in any job – you just need to want to know, to be curious and to have a growth-mindset. It’s more of a superpower, I promise, than having all the answers.
Play to your strengths. An innate female quality is our ability to build strong personal relationships. Leveraging those relationships in a way that serves others as well as ourselves is incredibly useful. The ability to create reciprocity in business can often be the way to get the impossible done.
Be a multiplier manager. I view my current role to lead in such a way so as my teams hold nothing back. I greatly value the intelligence and ability of people around me, I try to empower them to be their best selves at work, and I also expect a lot.
Have the remuneration conversation. As an employer and a manager, I am nearly always pleased if I am asked for a pay rise. It generally means that that person is prepared to keep extending themselves. At review time, take the time to think about your market value, do your research, make a rational case and ask.
