A transformational leader drives innovation and inspires new ways of thinking, harnessing a team’s creativity to respond to change. Transformational leadership focuses on empowering others and inspiring change. Transformational leaders are constantly open to innovation wherever it may arise.
They constantly look for opportunities to do things differently and are always open to innovative ideas, no matter where those ideas may present themselves. Like any good adventure tale, Hayley Jarick’s journey began with challenges that, at the time, seemed harsh and insurmountable but were instrumental in getting to where she is today.
From the ripe old age of eleven, Hayley began working in a community leadership position with her local council advocating for the youth of her local area. She had some supportive allies but combatted age discrimination on various committees, battling to advocate for a group of citizens who would ultimately be the stewards of decisions made on behalf of youth but rarely for youth benefit. She learned how to be effective politically through committee influence.
As a teenager, she represented Australia at the USA’s inaugural Global Young Leaders Conference. This inspired her studies in commerce at the University of Wollongong, majoring in international business and legal studies.
From there, Hayley joined the international trade team at the local steelworks. Her time in the steel industry as a young woman honed her skills, enabling Hayley to gain experience in multiple departments and forcing her emotional intelligence to proliferate. Hayley was given the opportunity to work in marketing, advocacy, financial analytics, sales, and customer service in manufacturing, residential buildings, commercial buildings, heavy construction, and international trade.
She was part of a factory shutdown and experienced first-hand the emotional and community effects of mass redundancies. Hayley met some people who exposed her to the shadow world of misogyny, sexual harassment, discrimination based on potential pregnancy, sexuality discrimination, fraud, misleading and deceptive conduct, and climate change denial. Hayley also met some inspiring people who would become lifelong mentors and muses.
Towards the end of her time in steel, Hayley began her Masters of Business Administration with the Australian Graduate School of Management, married her partner and began her family. The AGSM was amazingly supportive of her pregnancy and parental needs whilst studying and showed her what best practice diversity and inclusion could look like.
After the steel manufacturing industry, Hayley joined a young not-for-profit association driving voluntary beyond-compliance sustainability performance in infrastructure construction. She learned what it was like to work with next to no resources to deliver big dreams.
Hayley’s for-purpose passion was well ingrained in progressing her career into a professional services association delivering adult learning and individual accreditation in the dispute resolution industry. This was her switch to general management and her platform for progression into her current roles as CEO and Company Secretary of the Supply Chain Sustainability School Limited.
In a relatively short timeframe, Hayley gained experience for-profit and for-purpose, in big organisations and small, paid and voluntary. She is driven to share the bounty of her experience and privilege catapulting her into voluntary governance roles with the Australian Circular Economy Hub (ACE Hub) Procurement Group, Materials Embodied Carbon Leaders Alliance, also as a Director of ResponsibleSteel, and as Co-founder and Co-Managing Director of Maat Remediation Limited.
In an interview with CIOLook, Hayley shares valuable facts highlighting her professional tenure and shines the limelight on her odyssey of excellence.
Below are the excerpts from the interview:
Tell us something more about your company and its mission and vision.
The Supply Chain Sustainability School enables socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable supply chains for Australian and New Zealand organisations through open access to educational resources.
The school provides free resources, tools, e-learning and face-to-face training as an industry-wide collaboration led by Fellows with a vision for “collaborative accessible education for a sustainable future”. Fellows pay annual fees and co-develop resources, so all industry players can upskill themselves to become socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable.
Enlighten us on how you have impacted the supply chain niche through your expertise in the market.
The last few decades of sustainability have focused mainly internally. What is my footprint? What is my performance? The next decade will see organisations emerge from their cocoons and flourish in full colour as they soar after engaging their supply chains in solutions.
The Supply Chain Sustainability School is one source of trusted trust. It collates quality resources and creates resources to fill information gaps. It is developed by industry for the industry.
We have been able to provide an impact on this transition by becoming a networking and translation hub. We can speak the language and have connections in sales and procurement, marketing and stakeholders, Boards and members, cleaners and CEOs, builders and bureaucrats, companies and charities.
Describe in detail the values and the work culture that drives your organization.
Like most for-purpose organisations, the Supply Chain Sustainability School is driven by alignment on values.
Collaborative – We build a consistent approach to developing sustainability skills through shared knowledge and resources. Our Fellows lead our direction, and our Fellows and members promote our resources.
Integrity – We deliver measurable impact through dynamic leadership and leading by example.
Inspirational – We inspire our Members and Fellows to drive positive change.
Inclusive – We exemplify respect for the planet, our colleagues and wider society.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in almost every sector. How are you leveraging technological advancements to make your solutions resourceful?
Australia has a large geographical footprint, so we have used technology for many years to enable digital access to learning resources and traditional in-person training.
We are also using technologies to help us tailor our resources for diverse learning styles and physical differences. Podcasts are great for auditory learners, visually impaired learners and those with poor English literacy. E-learning modules are great for kinaesthetic learners. Infographics are great for visual learners.
What, according to you, could be the next significant change in the supply chain sector? How is your company preparing to be a part of that change?
Transitioning from a linear to a circular economy will be the next significant change in the supply chain sector. The rapid extraction and depletion of natural resources combined with the linear mindset of get-make-use-dispose is catapulting supply chains into inevitable disruption.
Natural resources are finite. We are consuming natural resources faster than the Earth can replenish them. We are out of balance, and the only way to resolve this suicidal trend is by going circular. Circularity is resilient, efficient and prosperous. Happiness and liveability depend on circularity becoming our new norm.
What change would you like to bring to the supply chain industry if given a chance?
If I could, I’d make two changes to the supply chain industry. The first would be to instil an intergenerational purpose. Too many key performance indicators of success are short-term. And those we consider long-term are not intergenerational.
We have seen the devastating industry-wide collapses that can come from pursuing short-term individual wealth. Yet, our definition of whether a business is a going concern ignores the risk of an ecosystem and humanitarian collapse in pursuit of short-term profit.
The second would be to instil transparency. This is not to say that we should stop protecting intellectual property, but we can be more transparent about the impact of choices on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For example, are you sourcing materials from providers linked to human rights abuses? What is the climate change impact on your supply chain? Are you complicit in the destruction of biodiversity loss?
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run, and what are your future goals for Supply Chain Sustainability School?
I hope that in the long run, there is no need for the Supply Chain Sustainability School to exist. I want to be able to tell my grandchildren about the work I am doing today, and they react by being flabbergasted that sustainability is not business as usual.
What would you advise budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the supply chain sector?
If you want to positively impact the world’s sustainability, don’t miss your chance to work in the supply chain. Businesses in a circular world will thrive or fail on the strength of their supply chain teams. You’ll never have a dull day, and the bad days will pale compared to the joy and pride of the impact you could create.
