Good evening. I’m Fiona Krautil and welcome to another inspiring EOWA event and my swansong in Sydney. When I sourced the definition of swansong one description was “a beautiful legendary song,…. sung only once by a swan,……. as it is dying”- something that I wish to avoid this evening.

When I consider the blood, sweat and tears shed in the development of this unique, exciting book “CEOs Unplugged”, I recognise that commitment, determination and emotional resilience equals unrivalled success, a recurring theme through the book and in the life of EOWA.

Thanks to ten gutsy business leaders unafraid to go out on a limb, two visionary writers and two leading authorities in leadership and workplace practice, this collection of CEO interviews offers rare insights and inspiration and practical ideas for making a positive difference to business through harnessing of female talent.

As John McFarlane, CEO ANZ Bank states in the book “I don’t believe that we can afford not to advance women nor do I feel the need to quantify or justify my approach to women, to the board or to share holders - I just do it"

This is a constant theme throughout the book - leaders who are courageous and take the necessary risks that deliver their organisation business success.

Five years ago there were no Australian CEOs willing to speak out. Now Stephen Goodey CEO of Sara Lee states “Essentially everywhere I turn I am confronted by amazing competent women. My view is why would I ignore this talent?”

This book is groundbreaking because 10 Australian CEOs, representing 125,000 employees, have gone on the record to share their stories about how women in the workplace are disadvantaged and how they as leaders have challenged the status quo. CEOs Unplugged captures their learning experiences through insightful conversations and stories. These stories provide immediacy and relevance and bring to life the challenges faced by these leaders in creating change and the wonderful opportunities to make a difference.

They show that something in our consciousness must shift in order for us to see how to navigate the delicate balance between short term profitibality and long term gain. The stories are derived from large and small companies, as well as traditional male and female occupations, from a range of industry sectors to which any business leader can relate. These enlightened leaders are showing us the way of the future - doing the things that people tell us every day that you can’t do without costing the business money.

These leaders are taking responsibility and are to be congratulated. When it comes to changing an organisation’s mindset about women in the workplace it is the CEO who must take charge. Consequently diversity is an issue that a leader cannot and should not delegate. To transform outdated thinking and behaviour the impetus must originate from the top.

These leaders are also intellectually curious. They ask a lot of questions and converse with female employees at every level and hear for themselves how subversively and subtly the workforce is stacked in favour of men and take action to create a safe workplace that has zero tolerance for any female unfriendly behaviour. They think strategically about talent management and take calculated risks.

This is just a brief glimpse of the wealth of wisdom distilled from the stories.

As a result we can all be richer for the wisdom imparted, and better equipped to transform our sphere of influence into something positively different to what has gone before. For the working women of Australia such a transformation cannot come soon enough.

When I look back over the past five years I feel inspired and proud having been at the helm of EOWA. Together we have created the momentum for a paradigm shift which I believe will be unstoppable because of the demographics of our workforce, the globalisation of business and the commitment of more and more visionary leaders.

Speaking of visionary leaders I would now like to now introduce you to our panel chair Margot Cairnes, Chair of the Change Dynamic, who has accompanied me on my journey over the past five years and has been an inspiration in helping me see what was possible. Ladies & Gentlemen Margot Cairnes.

Thank you.

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