Embracing her cultural heritage and taking control of her work opportunities was a key turning point for NAB’s Madeleine Harris.
Madeleine Harris credits her 14-year rise to success to a solid work ethic and the great influence of two powerful female role models in her life.
Currently the National Australia Bank’s (NAB) head of group payments development, Harris became aware from an early age of her mother and grandmother’s sacrifices, forever influencing the trajectory of her career and personal life.
Her grandmother Elsie, now 86, is the matriarch of the Aboriginal tribe Barkindji, deriving from Mt Gunderbooka near Bourke, NSW. Elsie’s determination meant she left her family and community to gain employment and integrate into an intolerant society.
“I’m Aboriginal,” says Harris. “I came from a small town where I had my Nan, grandfather, mum, sisters, brother, five aunts and my cousins up until 18. I never actually had to say to anyone I was Aboriginal. When I left that environment, throughout university and in the workplace, I always got quite a negative reaction. As I’m quite blonde they’d say, ‘Why do you tell people? You don’t need to. You don’t look it.’ You start thinking, ‘It’s just easier if I don’t tell people’. If they don’t know anything about me then I can protect myself.”
Just like her mother and grandmother, Harris recognised the necessity of leaving the community that is Jerilderie – a rural town of 1000 people in southern NSW – in order to achieve her long-term goals of higher education.
Upon completion of Agricultural College at Wagga Wagga, Harris landed a graduate position in the Agricultural Business section of NAB, a company, she says, that has encouraged her to learn, grow and challenge herself professionally.
NAB has been the vehicle which has allowed Harris to work across four different states – NSW, WA, Victoria and Tasmania. She has worked across five segments of the business – agricultural, retail, product and markets, business and wholesale.
But it hasn’t been necessarily a smooth ride. Harris first felt she had little control of her career while working in a retail role in Geelong.
“The role wasn’t a positive focused role, or about making a positive difference as I had to tell people they weren’t delivering in their job.”
At that point Harris went externally to an executive career group to evaluate how she had been making decisions about her career.
“I had to take responsibility,” says Harris. “I needed to work out how to get control of my career.”
At 30 years of age, Harris reached her “year of challenge” learning how to feel in control and embrace her heritage in the workplace. Harris focused on the concept of “self-editing” to ensure she never “hid away from the word Aboriginal”.
“You can go through years of life doing that, and the only person that suffers is you,” she says.
Within that year, Harris became a part of a coaching program Thrive, the first of its kind at NAB focusing on the individual rather than on their position. Spanning a period of 12 to 18 months, Thrive brought in executive coaches to work through personal goals.
Thrive shocked Harris into reality during an activity requiring her to assess the amount of energy she devoted to each segment of her life. Harris immediately noticed an imbalance, reflecting on the fact she was working in Victoria while her partner was in Hobart.
“I got quite teary,” says Harris. “I thought I would have to give up my career or my personal life.”
“But by the time I left my Thrive session I had a phone call from them telling me they had a plan on how to achieve both.”
In 2010, NAB offered Harris the chance to work three days based in Melbourne and two days in Hobart.
“I realised I really work for an amazing company with senior people that care about their employees.”
For the first time in 2010, Harris put her personal needs first. Armed with a new confidence, she reached out to NAB’s general manager for business markets with a proposition of creating an Interest Rates Risk Management role based in Tasmania. The idea was immediately backed.
“If you don’t believe in yourself, why should someone else?” says Harris. “Turn off that doubting voice in your head that makes you question your abilities.”
Harris began her current role in 2012 with her new approach to the job search asking, “How do I find a new role perfect for me?”
“What I learnt about myself through career coaching was that I felt really conflicted within myself. I didn’t feel like I was in control.
“From that point on”, says Harris, “any job I’ve taken I’ve actively been involved in its creation.”
Writer: Thea Christie