How Aimee discovered she was fit to lead

As a team leader at Fitted for Work – a Melbourne not-for-profit that helps women at a disadvantage to find jobs – she’d learnt most of what she knew about leading from trial, error and instinct.

"Most of my management or supervisory experience, or I guess leadership experience, has been self-taught, or from learning from experiences and learning from mistakes," she said.

Lobban didn’t think of herself as leadership material until one of her managers pushed her to apply for the Joan Kirner Emerging Leaders Program, a Victorian Government–funded initiative run by Community Directors that honours the legacy of the state's first female premier.

Lobban missed out the first time, but persisted, and the next time she applied she was one of 43 participants chosen from 350 applicants.

Now she has graduated, never having thought of herself as a leader, even as she kept finding herself in leadership roles.

"I've always found it interesting: at what point do you call yourself a leader? I've never called myself a leader, even though I've kind of always fallen into these team leader or supervisor roles," she said.

"This program has been really helpful in understanding what leadership looks like. There's not just one single 'this is a leader’. There are lots of different ways you can be a leader and can lead."

Her path to Fitted for Work had wound through agency recruitment, swim school management, hospitality and gaming. That variety of work turned out to be an asset, especially when assisting others into employment.

"I think that's really kind of led me to where I am now. All of that experience in the different industries means I can really relate to and understand the clients and how I can help them," she said.

More than anything the program gave her confidence she was on the right track. Many of the leadership frameworks she learned about reflected knowledge she had already developed instinctively.

One prompt from leadership expert Hutch Hussein stayed with her: "Don't wait for an invitation to step into your power."

Lobban said the four-week course also gave her a much stronger grasp of leadership theory, along with practical tools for leading through change, ethical decision-making, emotional intelligence and strategy.

She came away with “a mountain” of new knowledge.

"A lot of that was quite a lightbulb moment for me, because I found some of it, I was doing it already naturally," she said. "To then find out, actually, there's frameworks around it, was really great, because it meant I was kind of on the right track."

"This program has built my confidence even more because it really set in stone some of the things I'm already doing. I think it's only going to make me a better leader because I can see lots of different aspects to it now that I didn't see before.”

She said the guidance on change management for leaders provided by the course was something she had already put into action.

"There's always going to be times where maybe you can't share that information, or something specific, or they have questions and you don't have the answers," she said. "It's just being as honest as you can be in that moment of 'I don't have all the answers’ or ‘I can't give you that information at this point in time, but this is what I can tell you.' If they're on board, they'll stay on board."

She has also learnt to delegate more effectively, although it wasn’t an easy transition.

"There are people around you … It's just having that trust, and trust in myself that I've delegated things appropriately enough that I don't need to look after it anymore.

"It's definitely about guiding people, showing them the direction, regardless of what sort of role or experience you're in. That can apply in work, but it can also apply in your personal life as well."

She said one of the most valuable aspects of the course was the connections she had made.

"I've never really had before in terms of a network outside of the roles that I've done. So being connected with all these wonderful people has just been amazing because it helps you to see different perspectives. It really has been such an empowering experience to share with all of these wonderful people," she said.

The experience boosted the confidence of someone who felt she had stumbled into leadership.

"Through this whole course, I feel that my confidence has increased, and my self-belief," she said. "It's kind of given me that extra push of ‘I am on this journey for a reason.’ "

She said she felt more confident now to “put my hand up for things and be confident in that, rather than thinking, 'Oh, maybe I shouldn't. I'm not too sure,' and waiting for someone else to say maybe I should do it."

"I've always been unsure whether I wanted to be in a leadership role, and now it's clear that I am doing the right thing. That definitely will shape what's next."