Jo Kearins
GM Retail Change, Contact Energy
Class of 2021
Unlearning and Relearning
Jo Kearins from Contact Energy was ready to change her approach to leadership and break through to a new level. In doing so, she found she enjoyed the unlearning as much as the learning!
“Not An MBA suits people who are ready to do some deeper challenging of what being a leader means. You have to un-learn a bunch of stuff that’s been really important to you and other people have rewarded you for.
When you go on the course you realise there’s this whole space above where you’ve been operating, and that’s where you’re meant to be. Not An MBA unlocks that space.”
Hear Jo talk about her transition into strategic senior leadership in this video:
Confronting Your Own Obstacles
Often what stands in our way is our own ideas and habits. Jo tackled her development with gusto, untangling and challenging some of the things she’d learned along her leadership journey, and implementing her new realisations immediately.
“It’s confronting - in a really good way - to realise you’re in your own way. The ability to take what you’ve learned that very morning into your next meeting was fabulous.”
Hear Jo talk about her experience below.
Showing Up to Showcase
Every Not An MBA journey culminates with a Showcase session - where people bring together what they’ve learned, and set intentions for their next phase. This is a hugely valuable and heartwarming session where people realise just how much they’ve transformed over just eight weeks.
“Showcase is the opportunity to synthesize everything we’ve been learning and to say what we’re going to do, as leaders, from this point forth.
I feel like my best work is ahead of me now - I have the freedom, the energy, a whole bunch of tools, and the permission to be a systems leader.”
Hear Jo explain how Showcase works in this video: