Glass Cliffs & Presidential Runs
Maithreyi Seetharaman
Founder, Facultas Media| Author of The Chief Brief| Co-Founder Globsec Women Leaders Council| BMW Foundation Responsible Leader
Congratulations! For reaching the glass cliff!?
Literally - I mean talk about pulling in a woman to solve problems that are liable to/will probably blow up in her face.
Shall we all welcome Michele Bullock to the glass cliff? Or shall we congratulate her for becoming the first female head of Australia’s central bank and its 9th Governor? I’m still tossing a coin on this one, even if cynical old’ me wants to say - ‘Hey Michele! It’s a great view, but don’t slip! They’re expecting that!’
You might say: ‘M, why are you expecting the worst?’ It (Michele’s appointment as Governor) is after all, in the words of the Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers, “a history-making appointment.” Well, a crisis management Harvard Business Review report/study makes my case quite clearly - “How Women End Up on the “Glass Cliff”
But let us for one minute take Mr. Chalmers at his word. Congratulations are definitely in order for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s current Deputy Governor. She has pipped her boss, current Governor?Philip Lowe?to the top monetary policy job after all. Governor Lowe will not be getting his second term and will be ending a 43-year career at the RBA in September, paving the way for Michele.
But here’s that glass cliff catch. Philip Lowe isn’t the most popular person in Oz politics right now. His promises of no interest rate hike till 2024 and encouraging citizens to borrow through the Covid crisis landed a lot of Australians in hot water. Turns out Mr. Lowe and the RBA contrary to their promises, raised rates 12 times - from 0.1%?to 4.1% and all?in a little over a year since that no hike promise was made. What’s the big deal? Well, think of mortgage repayments and other borrowings (business/car/student loans etc etc) and the hundreds if not thousands of additional Australian Dollar’s people have had to shell out!
In a cost-of-living crisis, not keeping your word spells career suicide! Just ask former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss. Though unlike Liz Truss, Governor Lowe did apologise to the Australian people! But even that wasn’t enough to save him from the political fallout.
So, Michele is walking into a job where she’s overseeing a historic interest rate in Australia of 4.1%, slowing (but it is still at 7%) inflation and wage pressures that many economists believe is going to lead to a per capita recession, if the RBA doesn’t change track (i.e. ease up on speedy rate hikes)!
Just to be clear - Governor Lowe still has two rate meetings to oversee before Michele’s term starts! But she gets a big say on what happens - another rate hike or a pause? Well respected globally amongst economists and bankers, she has been described by her peers as “a good listener,” “very well credentialed” and in the words of the boss she ousted, “a first-rate appointment.”
Michele graduated with a BA in economics from the University of New England in 1984, joined the RBA in 1985, got her master’s at the London School of Economics in 1989, and subsequently held senior roles including assistant Governor in 2010 and deputy Governor in 2022.
She now not only has to manoeuvre around the inflation crisis, but also takes over the?RBA’s reorganisation (a mammoth task). It’s going to be a messy time to become the boss, but perhaps it is also good to remember that Michele Bullock is an old hand at the RBA, indeed an RBA Lifer - maybe 38 years is enough time to learn the rules of the game and how to avoid being shoved off that cliff.
Feel like getting up to speed with the drama that is Australian Monetary Policy? (I cannot believe I’m writing drama and monetary policy in the same sentence!) Watch this Channel 7 News analysis!
Change is afoot in Liberia
When I met her a few weeks ago in Brussels, Sara Beysolow Nyanti promised me there were exciting times of change ahead, for her and for her country. I had guessed where she might take all her fire, passion and experience. But when I got her WhatsApp this week - I whooped and celebrated like a 10-year-old!
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It is finally official - The Former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General to South Sudan, is the official nominee and standard bearer of the newly formed African Liberation League (ALL), which takes her into the running as one of Liberia’s presidential candidates for the upcoming October 10th elections.
Sara is more than qualified for the top job. She worked at the Liberian Ministry of Health and joined the UN System in 2003. She’s been to every hot spot and negotiated humanitarian support and peace in the toughest places on earth. By the time she retired on June 30th?this year, she had worked her way through and served in some of the highest-profile positions within the UN. In her 20 years at the UN, maybe the toughest job she had was her role in South Sudan.
Sara isn’t a run of the mill politician. And that maybe good to remember for the critics in Liberia saying she’s late to the presidential campaign game. When you meet her, the first thing you immediately sense is frank outspokenness. AND her sheer passion for people and making their lives better! And that’s what Liberians are learning too. I cannot wait for her to change the world of her people!
To all you media folks who may be reading this - This is one interview you cannot, not book!
Equal Play for Equal Prize
The ICC has managed to pleasantly surprise me. Albeit I am probably the only Indian on the planet who doesn’t worship at the altar of cricket!
This week the governing body of world cricket announced equal prize money for men’s and women’s teams at ICC events. The decision ensures the ICC Board fulfilled its commitment to reaching prize money equity by 2030 well ahead of schedule. Yay for women’s cricket! Read more at?ICC
Killing me softly: A must read!
It is rare in a world that paints serial killers as mostly/probably men with mommy issues - that you get to delve into the mind of a female serial killer. The focus on male serial killers is understandable. From the statistics we do have, female serial killers only make up between 10-20% with the rest of the honour going to men. Women also seemingly make for less gory, titillating stories, i.e., not that appealing to a true crime fan’s insatiable appetite for books, podcasts and tv shows! After all studies show while men largely attack strangers, about 80% of women serial killers know their victims.
But let’s break the norm, eh??My Men,?by Victoria Kielland is a fascinating peek into America’s first female serial killer’s mind. It is the story of Brynhild St?rset aka Belle, a Norwegian immigrant who traverses the Atlantic, moves to the US and proceeds to kill at least 2 husbands and perhaps 30 other love interests in the 1880s. Still not convinced that Lady Bluebeard, Hell’s Princess and the black widow of La Porte is worth reading about? Let?The Guardian’s book review?win you over or let the author, Victoria Kielland herself!