Be empowered to lead with confidence in business and in life.
Colleen Callander, with over three decades of expertise in retail fashion, is a beacon of leadership.
She steered iconic brands Sportsgirl and Sussan to new heights during her 13-year tenure as CEO. Renowned for her brand-building and her ability to cultivate environments that drive high performance, Colleen's impact on Australia's fashion landscape has earned her accolades as an award-winning CEO.
Beyond her corporate success, Colleen is a visionary thought leader and entrepreneur. She is a sought-after business and leadership advisor, a celebrated keynote speaker, author, and the founder of Mentor Me Women, serving as a testament to her commitment to inspiring and empowering all generations in both business and life.
Colleen's journey in retail began at 16 with a summer job that unknowingly set the stage for her remarkable career. Today, she not only shares her extensive experience as a former CEO but also her deep industry and leadership insights.
Despite her success, Colleen faced challenges, including burnout in 2007 while balancing a high-profile career with raising three young children. She made a pivotal decision to step away from it all, only to rediscover her passion and recommit to her journey in retail leadership. By implementing boundaries and self-care into her life, Colleen found powerful yet simple ways to prevent burnout and cultivate a high-performance lifestyle in both business and life. Colleen's work today is a testament to her resilience and commitment to inspiring change. An advocate for rewriting the leadership playbook, she champions kindness, authentic confidence, self-belief, and empowerment. Her message resonates globally, inspiring individuals to unlock their extraordinary potential.
Talking Points
Leader by Design
Leadership is something that Colleen is extremely passionate about…not only her own leadership but the leadership of those around her.Leader by Design
When Colleen talks about leadership, she is talking about leading not only in business but also leading in your own lives whether that be in your community, school, workplace or even your home. Leadership starts with self...we need to be leading in our own lives before we can lead anyone else.
When Colleen gets asked about leadership, she always starts with what leadership is not - it’s not about a title, power, level of authority, size of your office, car park, the number of direct reports you have or the size of your salary. We often look up to and admire people with titles, ranks and positions of power, labelling them leaders.
What Colleen learnt over time in both life and business is that these trappings do not automatically qualify a person for leadership. And in fact, you don’t even need a title to be a leader. Every day we have the ability to lead through every action, interaction, reaction and decision we make in business and in life.
We all have the ability to become a ‘Leader By Design’, we all have the ability to become the leader we always wanted to be, and the leader we always wanted to follow.
Change Your Story, Change Your Life
One of the biggest challenges women face today is a lack of confidence. Lack of confidence is the reason we stay in jobs we don’t like or stay in toxic relationships or the reason we don’t ask for that promotion or pay rise.Change Your Story, Change Your Life
We need to start building real confidence so that we put our hand up for that promotion, walk into a boardroom and kill it with confidence and have a voice.
There are so many things we can do to build real confidence - one of them is to change that negative self-talk. When you...Change your story - change your life!
We have this inner voice inside our head that is highly judgemental and says things to us like: I’m not good enough, I’m going to fail, I’m underprepared, I don’t fit in, I’m too young, I’m too old. These stories can leave us feeling stuck, deflated and sometimes even sabotage our success.
We need to interrupt this story from self-sabotage and start taking control and create a more empowering story that helps us feel confident to take action.
People Before Profit
We live in a profit-driven world - sales, margins, market share, shareholder return and revenue are all critical performance measures, with profit being essential for organisations to reinvest, innovate and grow.People Before Profit
However, an area that is often overlooked is one that you’re not going to find on a spreadsheet… ‘people’! Leaders need to create environments where people feel connected, where their work matters, where they can contribute and feel part of something greater than the seat they sit in and the role they perform. In Colleen's experience when people feel valued, trusted and empowered, they will also feel engaged and motivated.
Colleen believes people with passion and purpose = profit.
Foundation of Great Leadership
Great leadership is about leading people, but great leadership starts with self - you have to be leading in your own life before you can lead anyone else.Foundation of Great Leadership
The three foundations of great leadership are: self, values and purpose, no matter where you are on your leadership journey. Self-awareness and truly knowing yourself is when you are ready to lead others.
Values give us clarity with our decision making and are not only an important part of who we are - they also shape who we want to become. When we know our purpose, we move from: ‘what we do’ to ‘why we do it’ and ‘why does it matter’!
When we are clear on our purpose, we can create a vision for what the future looks like, set the right goals and plans, and take the right steps to create the life that we want and the one we deserve.
Culture Starts at the Top
Many leaders will talk about their competitive advantage as being their strategy, their product offering, their processes, innovation or even their HR policies.Culture Starts at the Top
This can be true to some extent, but Colleen believes an organisation’s biggest competitive advantage is its people and the culture and environment they create. As leaders, it is your job to create cultures and environments that allow people to shine. It’s your job to create a culture of inspiration, empowerment, collaboration, and trust...and when you do, the organisation thrives.
We often mistake culture for things like free lunches, free parking or a free pass to the gym and don’t get me wrong, these things are all great. Culture is also not something you can buy off the shelf, nor will a few affirmations or posters around the office do the trick.
There is no quick fix or magic pill to create a great culture. Culture is an always-on proposition...a positive, productive and empowering culture pays off in so many ways, not just the bottom line.
Kindness is Currency for Leaders
For many leaders, kindness isn’t the first word that comes to mind when you think about great leadership, right? Well, Colleen is here to challenge that thought.Kindness is Currency for Leaders
Kindness is the new superpower for leaders…in fact she believes kindness is a new form of currency, one you can trade for loyalty, commitment and high performance. Kind leaders - are very capable of making good and strong business decisions, even tough decisions with kindness. When she talks about kindness she is not just talking about leadership - she is talking about leading with kindness in all areas of our lives.
Kindness is not a weakness…kindness is courageous.
Colleen is a true leader for our times, generous and purpose driven. She is an inspiration to women to truly believe in themselves, to give hard stuff a go and to use their voice to strive f ... keep reading Business Chicks
Colleen is one of the most influential and dynamic forces in the Australian fashion industry. Her unique ability to lead, impact and remain relevant in one of the most competitive industries is truly remarkable. She has empowered and led thousands of women over her dynamic career and is a phenomenal role model all women can learn from.
Colleen's Masterclass was engaging and thought-provoking. We left feeling inspired and ready to take action in business and in life. Colleen's energy and passion were contagious, creating an environment that encouraged active participation and deep reflection. We highly recommend Colleen to anyone seeking transformation and growth. Thank you, Colleen, for igniting the spark within us and equipping us with the tools to thrive.
Thank you Colleen for being so authentic and reminding us of the importance of self. Having experienced burnout in my career it was wonderful to get some practical advice on making sure I have appropriate and clear boundaries and other ways to strengthen my confidence muscle.
Colleen’s exceptional learnings and insights elevated our inaugural SILK Laser Australia Leadership Conference. Our delegates were inspired, empowered, and walked away with tangible actions to put into practice.
