On The Leaders' Lounge with Magdalena Kosior-Molloy
One of the best pieces of advice I received was from my mentor Sheryle Moon: “Believe in yourself, your own abilities, potential and identify three strengths of yours for which you want to be known for.”
Magdalena Kosior-Molloy is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Holman Webb Lawyers.
A highly influential financial professional, Magdalena’s success can be attributed to not only her strategic and leadership skills, but her passion to enable others to realise their full potential, cementing her role as a mentor to younger professionals.
What does your organisation do? What is it known for?
Holman Webb Lawyers (HW) is a national legal firm. Our firm is known for having many of our partners having previously worked in-house. Our advice is therefore imbued with a level of commerciality that is unparalleled.
What's an average day like for you? What are your main tasks?
As a COO/CFO I am accountable for overseeing the firm’s ongoing operations and procedures, delivering strategic initiatives, and establishing policies that promote the firm’s culture and vision.
My role is critical in building on the success HW has had to date and taking our Shared Services group (Finance, IT, BD, HR and Admin) to the next level on their journey.
You're a highly accomplished financial professional, what's helped you get there?
A few things but namely, surrounding myself with great mentors who believed in me along the way and encouraged me to speak up about my career progression with my managers.
Also, I continuously invest in my professional and personal development by setting goals out of my comfort zone. I’m focused on growing my network by joining professional groups, working with partners and entering professional awards. Hence I was recently included in Sage’s inaugural list of Finance Futurists, which highlights visionary finance professionals across the globe. ’Putting yourself out there’, professionally, can feel daunting but it’s a great honour to receive recognition and make contacts not only in Australia but around the world.
What challenges have you as an individual had to overcome, to get where you are today?
I was born in Poland, and at the age of six I farewelled my terminally ill father. I moved to Australia 18 years ago. With qualifications from overseas, but no local experience I was struggling to find a job. While working in the hospitality industry, I was head hunted by one of the customers, a wonderful woman Lynda Bradley, who saw potential in me and helped me launch my career in finance.
What's the best career or professional advice you ever received?
One of the best pieces of advice I received was from my mentor Sheryle Moon: “Believe in yourself, your own abilities, potential and identify three strengths of yours for which you want to be known for.”
Define ‘media’:
A platform to express myself, my beliefs and share my story.
How has media contributed to your success as a financial professional?
I have been fortunate to receive a lot of media support in terms of promoting my interest in assisting people from diverse backgrounds reach their full potential, achieve their goals and make their mark in the industry.
Media also contributed to me being recognised for my thought leadership and achievements to date, including recently being named Finance Futurist by Sage and CFO of the Year runner up by CEO magazine.
You’re known for your ability to transform and improve team performance. What’s your secret to success?
I am passionate about building high performing teams and their transformation from scorekeepers to business partners. Communication is the key to the success, sharing the vision and taking the team on the journey. I hold an annual Finance strategy day where goals, objectives and projects are presented and discussed.
In my opinion, the key components to build a high performing Finance team are:
Having a team’s mission, vision and objectives aligned with the firm’s vision
Having strong positive working relationships with all stakeholders – becoming trusted business advisors
Thriving vs surviving in the difficult times mindset
Flexibility and adapting to change approach
Responsibility and Accountability – at the team and individual level
Proactive and solution providing mindset
Working well under pressure
Empowering team members to make decisions and share in strategic planning to have high team engagement
Structured professional development, mentoring and recognition plans
High performing Finance teams are built over time by putting in place a structured program that focuses on investment in people, processes and technology.
And finally, it’s been a tough year for many of us, but particularly those starting out in their careers. What advice would you now give them?
Keep investing in yourself, adapt to change and be open to feedback.
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