David McLean is keen to see women holding half the bank's leadership roles. Photo / Brett Phibbs
David McLean is keen to see women holding half the bank's leadership roles. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Westpac boss conscious of big banks' effect on NZ economy
Success for local Westpac boss David McLean is measured in all the usual ways, including winning in the market and delivering good outcomes to customers.
But the thing that really struck him on returning to New Zealand to take the top job was the importance of the major banks in the economic prosperity of the country and the business community.
"We can make a big difference if we do things positively and we can make a negative difference if we don't do the right thing, so we've got a big contribution to play in growing the New Zealand economy, helping New Zealanders achieve financial success and buy their homes and fund their businesses," he says.
"So to me the thing that I find really inspiring with the job is our role in the broader economy and society."
That echoes the sentiments of his Australian boss, Brian Hartzer, who last month said a bank's role is to support economic development.
Hartzer went on to say the global financial crisis happened because banks forgot why they existed and started to think they were just like any other business.
McLean, 56, took over officially at the New Zealand arm of Westpac in February, having filled in after predecessor Peter Clare took leave, then resigned because of ill-health.
The New Zealander, who had been based in New York heading Westpac's institutional banking presence there, says his appointment was about "right time, right place".
"I think the learning from that is you can do your plans about your career but life doesn't always go to plan and if you see an opportunity, seize it."
Despite six months as a relieving CEO, McLean wasn't a shoo-in for the top job, which involved a global search before his appointment.
He agrees locals may get overlooked in a global hunt, but such hunts also open up opportunities to New Zealanders keen to gain international experience.
"I say to people: if you really want to progress your career it's a good idea to work outside your own jurisdiction. That's good for everybody."
McLean's nearly two-year stint in New York taught him a lot of things, he says. "It taught me New Zealand is in a very good space at the moment and we should be more positive about ourselves than what we are."
He says around the world the mood is a lot gloomier than it is here, and we should be more willing to celebrate the success we have.
"It taught me that the way we do things here, particularly a no-nonsense approach to getting on with things -- and that's business, interpersonal relationships, it's even the Government and the regulators -- is actually a cornerstone of our success, so we shouldn't lose that."
You can do your plans about your career but life doesn't always go to plan and if you see an opportunity, seize it.
McLean says he was sad to leave the vibrancy of New York but that was tempered by coming back to New Zealand's cleaner environment and being close to family.
He is keen to import some of the service ethic that is prevalent in the US, not so much in banking "because US banks are terrible", but the service levels seen in restaurants.
His first customer service experience on arriving back in Auckland was to order a trim cappuccino only to be served up a flat white, delivered with a "you get what you're given" shrug from the barista.
Also on his radar is a target to boost the number of women in leadership at the bank to 50 per cent by the time its Australian parent celebrates its 200th birthday in 2017.
While women make up about 60 per cent of the bank's workforce, that falls to 45 per cent at leadership level.
"We tried and tried and tried over time to increase the number of women in leadership roles and everyone said they were doing well-intentioned things but it didn't make any difference, the needle didn't really move."
The bank has now introduced a range of measures including a requirement that recruitment shortlists include one woman or risk not being signed off.
"It's not necessarily a quota but it's forcing people outside their traditional way of thinking which ends up with a traditional result."
McLean has several pieces of advice for anyone -- male or female -- aspiring to a leadership role.
He says not only is it important to have a coach or mentor as a sounding board, but a wide, strong network is also imperative.
"That's something men do almost unconsciously, at a sporting event or whatever, but women could probably work at that." McLean says to look beyond the KPIs of the role you're gunning for and understand the range of experience needed for that role.
In banking that includes experience in risk management, change projects and people leadership.
Finally, McLean, who began his career as a lawyer, suggests challenging yourself by stepping away from your comfort zone and taking a role in a different area -- it not only shows a degree of flexibility but opens up more options for the next step.
