Gemma Reedy
Professional Services Manager, ProTraffic
Traffic Management, Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne

 
Kim: Young leaders bring fresh thinking, innovation and enthusiasm to the workplace and this shone through in abundance when Gemma took on The Icehouse Emerging Leaders Programme.

Directing the programme gave me the chance to help Gemma refine her obvious leadership skills and provide some gold tools as she took on more responsibility in her new management role.

I then worked closely with her 1-2-1 fortnightly, to ensure the implementation of those tools and to empower her with the key leadership skills she needs to support her growth in her career.

Putting all this into practice can be daunting, but Gemma has really embraced the challenge; developing a growth mindset and more strategic thinking, setting boundaries within her teams and leading and communicating effectively with colleagues of all ages.

Gemma: I did the Leadership Development Programme with The Icehouse, and part of that was getting a mentor to spend time with. Kim has worked with great names like Hine and Waiapu Road and other successful wahine in business, and that sounded really cool.

When Kim came on board, I was going through some changes in my role, taking on a more senior position; looking after more people and so on, so it was a bit hectic.

I remember talking to Kim around that time and saying, “I don’t think I can do it” but suddenly I had someone I could bounce ideas off, have constructive feedback, and get tips and tricks on how to manage my tasks.

Developing good structure in my day was really important with my new responsibilities, and Kim helped me with time management by tracking everything I did for two weeks and working through that. Another big learning experience was working out when it’s okay to just let things go and let someone else deal with it, instead of gatekeeping everything – and putting a bit of responsibility on my team, instead of feeling like everything is on me.

Kim’s helped me focus on being a manager, giving me helpful tools to support my team but also allow me to work on the department not in it. She’s like one of those Aunties who just tells it to you straight. I recently had a six-month review at work and looking back I realised that the number of things that Kim has helped me with is unreal.