{"id":24359,"date":"2025-03-06T12:22:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T04:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/?p=24359"},"modified":"2025-07-17T13:26:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T05:26:32","slug":"leading-with-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/leading-with-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading with impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rebecca Nadilo.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This International Women\u2019s Day, I had the privilege of chatting with international agency leader Rebecca Nadilo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca is mum to an active three-and a half-year-old and the Managing Director of a creative agency, Iris, in Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally from Perth, the Curtin Bachelor of Commerce graduate lived in Melbourne and New York, before finding her roots in Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creative and fearless, Rebecca\u2019s door is always open to solving problems, providing team feedback, and supporting people to reach their full potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s through directly managing, or leading through influence, I think I have developed a skill in bringing the right people together, and then giving them the space and permission to do their best work,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca is also a firm believer in preaching what she practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we need to pull a longer night to get something finished, I\u2019ll be right there with my team,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI roll my sleeves up and work alongside everyone. If they need to get their hands dirty, then so will I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so important that as a leader you set the example, and I think to the next generation they want to see leaders who aren\u2019t just words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up did you ever envision yourself the CEO of a company?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s funny, I didn\u2019t have an end goal in mind, in the sense of like, I want to be the CEO of a company.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a key thing for me was being in a role where I was either building or fixing something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t like sitting still for too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I ever get complacent or comfortable somewhere, then I know I need to move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some people their drive is success, power, or achievement, mine is making an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I need to constantly feel like I\u2019m making an impact whether it\u2019s on business, people or the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With over 18 years\u2019 experience in brand and creative strategy, across Asia and the US, what is it about leading a team that you love?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love creating the space for people to do their best work \u2013 that brings me the most joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideas are fragile, and requires people to be vulnerable, so it\u2019s so important to create the right conditions of that \u2013 psychological safety, a sense of fearlessness and for people to feel empowered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve had people where I’ve kind of thrown them in the deep end a little bit, and while they’ve been a bit scared, three months later they come back to me and say, gosh, I learned so much, thank you for pushing me. I didn\u2019t know I could do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, that\u2019s the most rewarding part of my job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watching people grow and learn and evolve is the greatest feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How would you describe your leadership style? Has it changed over the years?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has changed slightly over the years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But nowadays, I think my leadership style is more focused on being empathetic and empowering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This starts by hiring very good people and giving them a vision and a goal and giving them the freedom to figure out how they are going to get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t micromanage people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since becoming a mother I\u2019m also more empathetic to everyone\u2019s needs and their working style. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a supportive leader I always want people to feel they can come to me with anything, and I\u2019ll always listen and be transparent with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As long as the work gets done and KPI\u2019s are being met, I don\u2019t mind what hours you do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m very flexible. If you can get it all done in two hours \u2013 amazing, all the power to you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also make sure I provide constant feedback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t wait for performance reviews to give people feedback. It’s just a constant culture of getting better, learning and evolving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I think from doing that you empower people more; you create more empathy and that’s how you create a high performing team.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you always envision yourself working overseas?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes. I had the itch to travel from young.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember I was around four years old, I\u2019d tell my parents I\u2019m going to live overseas one day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After I finished my Honors at Curtin, and as soon as I was able to, I packed my things and moved to Melbourne. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was there for four years, before deciding to move to New York. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York would have been an amazing experience!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I left Melbourne with a three-month Visa, with the intent that I would give New York a shot because if I didn’t do it then, I would never do it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I figured I\u2019d try and land something when I\u2019m there, and if I didn\u2019t work out then it would be a really nice holiday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My only regret was that I didn’t do it sooner. I landed in New York, and within two weeks had secured a position with BBDO New York as Director of Digital Strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you have any fear of failing and not finding work?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No. never.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I landed in New York, I was like, wow, this is it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought to myself, I\u2019m going to stay here and I\u2019m going to get a job here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ended up staying three and a half years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At what point did you decide to move to Singapore?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I actually met my husband while working in New York. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was from Norway and we both met while holidaying in Mexico. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did long distance for a while and it was pretty clear like, okay, if this is going to actually turn into something, we need to move to the same city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca and her husband.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given he\u2019s in the oil and gas industry and there was nothing for him in New York, we both thought let\u2019s try Asia, and that\u2019s how we ended up in Singapore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was 10 years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does Singapore feel like home?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, I love Singapore. I really love Singapore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all the craziness of what\u2019s happening in the world right now, Singapore is a very stable place to call home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our government is strong and strictly strategic and everyone respects one another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca with her family in Singapore.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as much as I love Singapore, Perth will always be home, and we will end up there eventually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We now have a little boy and as much as we love working and living overseas it would be nice for him to be around family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any advice to our new graduates who are stepping out into the working world, unsure of their next move?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would say a few things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One is, we live in such an uncertain, rapidly evolving world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change is going to be their only constant and they need to embrace that and not see it as a negative, but see that as a positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you can build resilience and adaptability in yourself and constantly be learning and evolving, you will set yourself up for success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is never going to be one way of doing things, so be adaptable with change and embrace it as a strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, don\u2019t wait for anyone to bring you opportunities or to open doors for you. Say yes to everything, take advantage of every opportunity, champion yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only reason I got to Melbourne and then New York and then Singapore, was because I made all of that happen myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t let fear stop you and definitely don\u2019t wait for someone else to make it happen for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rebecca Nadilo (Bachelor of Commerce \u2013 Marketing and Advertising) is a formidable leader in the world of marketing and brand creation.<\/p>\n

As CEO of Iris in Singapore, Rebecca\u2019s key focus is empowering and leading a high-performance team to success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":24378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","wds_primary_category":537,"footnotes":""},"categories":[537],"tags":[27,737],"class_list":["post-24359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-curtin-commons","tag-business","tag-global-alumni"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24359"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24384,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24359\/revisions\/24384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}