Jennifer Child: Why I Have a Business Coach and a Therapist
CEO of OrotonGroup Jennifer Child says she’s happy to openly discuss how much she values the support of a business coach and therapist as a leader.
“I didn’t realise how weird it was to talk about your therapist and your coach in Australia – I’m American and it’s much more a part of the culture there,” says Child, who spent 14 years with McKinsey & Company in the United States and Australia before ending up as a partner.
Child’s candour is on point and generous as she discusses the evening’s hot topic: “Executive evolution – how great leaders stay great”, at Qantas magazine’s second Think. event for 2024, held at Tama in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.
In 2021, Child was tapped to join Oroton and tasked with radically transforming the Australian fashion and lifestyle brand, which had declared voluntary administration in 2017.
“Oroton is an 86-year-old business that came out of administration not that long ago – we’re taking the whole thing, putting it on its head and changing the way that we work at a fundamental level,” she says.
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“To do that, you need a test-and-learn mindset and culture… it has to start with what didn’t go right or you can’t get anywhere. I talk about my mistakes all the time. I publicly say, ‘I screwed that one up’ and share why I think it wasn’t as good as it could have been and what I’d do differently next time. I also open myself up to feedback.”
Seeking other opinions also comes in the form of regular sessions with a business coach and a therapist.
“When I left McKinsey, I found a coach who actually came from McKinsey and understands strategy really well,” says Child. “If I’m stuck on something that I know is the direction I want the company to move in, but find it’s not moving fast enough, then talking with him about how to build momentum is a real asset.”
She’s also grateful for the independent counsel she receives from her therapist as she leads Oroton.
“Understanding the depths of who I am as a human being and what I’m trying to do with a business is, I think, a great combination,” she says. “Every day I can come into a meeting and shape the way someone feels about the work they’ve done. I feel responsible to try to show up as the best version of myself and I think it takes dual things – a coach and therapist – to get there.”
Think. is a thought-leadership event and content series, presented by Qantas magazine in association with LSH Auto Australia – the country’s leading Mercedes-Benz dealer group. Find out more about LSH Auto Australia
