bluescope site visit

On 20 June the LIP attended BlueScope for a tour of the Steelworks, expertly guided by Inside Industry tour guides Rick Bonnor and John Stewart. We were impressed with the steel making operations and the opportunity to witness the many activities taking place at Port Kembla and hear more about those planned for the future.

Following the tour, we heard from Tania Archibald, BlueScope’s Chief Executive Australian Steel Products. Tania generously shared her leadership advice and experiences and answered questions from the group.
Some of Tania’s invaluable leadership advice is captured below:

• Future planning is critical for success, we need to make decisions right now for ten years in the future, stick to the plan and don’t overreact to short term pressures.
• Develop a clear narrative to communicate to external stakeholders and internally to staff.
• Community engagement is also critical for success.
• In terms of career growth advice, Tania said “if there’s an opportunity, step up and take it, even if you’re not quite sure” and “when things are hard you learn a lot”.
• As a leader, your level of engagement is really important, talking to people regularly, demonstrating “I’m in the trenches with you” and genuinely showing you care about your team.
• Managing your own expectations can allow you to maintain a sense of calm “five things can go wrong on any given day before you’re allowed to get upset about it”.
• The advice Tania would give her younger self is to get as much exposure as possible to different activities, do different things all the time, continue to engage, be visible, turn up and be present.

​Following the leadership session, Leela Kempton, a former BlueScope Technology and Development Engineer, delivered a vote of thanks on behalf of the LIP. Thanking Tania for hosting our visit and expanding our knowledge of the scale of BlueScope’s global operations and its impact in the Illawarra and national economy. 

---