IN HER OWN SHOES Deborah Tabart, OAM, describes how she blends personal and professional passions into a stellar career

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CWSepOct_p018-023_ForPrep_CWNovDecp0029-039 7/31/11 9:58 PM Page 18 2011 EXCEL AWARD IN HER OWN SHOES Deborah Tabart, OAM, describes how she blends personal

interviewed Deborah Tabart, OAM, CEO of the Australian Koala Foundation, after she gave a presentation at IABC s World Conference, held in June in San Diego,

There are some fascinating complementary opposites at work here.

1 CWSepOct_p _ForPrep_CWNovDecp /31/11 9:58 PM Page EXCEL AWARD IN HER OWN SHOES Deborah Tabart, OAM, describes how she blends personal and professional passions into a stellar career by Natasha Nicholson s I do with all EXCEL (Excellence in Communication Leadership) Award winners, I interviewed Deborah Tabart, OAM, CEO of the Australian Koala Foundation, after she gave a presentation at IABC s World Conference, held in June in San Diego, California. Tabart is not your typical CEO. She is brazen, soulful and unequivocally committed to her cause. She is as simple and direct as she is complex. There are some fascinating complementary opposites at work here. During her presentation, her powerful message about protecting koalas and their habitat pulsed through the audience, yet her manner remained easy and approachable. Her presentation at PHOTOS/SALVO PHOTOGRAPHY A 18 Communication World September October

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2 CWSepOct_p _ForPrep_CWNovDecp /31/11 9:59 PM Page 19 I truly believe that we re capable of working together and fixing this planet. Because it s in trouble. And that drives me every day. Deborah Tabart Communication World September October

About Deborah Tabart Deborah Tabart, OAM, is CEO of the Australian Koala Foundation, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to the conservation of wild koalas and their habitat (www.

3 About Deborah Tabart Deborah Tabart, OAM, is CEO of the Australian Koala Foundation, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to the conservation of wild koalas and their habitat ( Her common sense and solutions-focused approach to environmental issues have brought scientists from around the world together, and she has led the AKF to fund one of the largest bodies of research on a single species in the world. Over the past 20 years, Tabart has coordinated AUS$8 million worth of research across Aus - tralia, with 2,000 field sites and 80,000 trees individually surveyed. She has worked at all levels: from planting trees in rural Australia, to cooking dinners for hundreds of fieldwork volunteers, to communicating with prominent politicians domestically and internationally. Tabart was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM), one of Australia s highest honors, for her service to the conservation, management and protection of koalas and their habitat. 20 Communication World September October 2011

4 the conference ended in a standing ovation, which rarely happens with our audience of seasoned communicators. After the presentation, Tabart and I met and spoke for about 30 unforgettable minutes. I sensed the same symbiotic opposites at play during our interview. Tabart is as outwardly fiery as she is inwardly calm, as direct as she is forgiving and kind, and as captivating as every CEO dreams of being. There s one thing for sure: Deborah Tabart is an outstanding communicator and it s completely clear to me why she was honored with this distinguished award. Natasha Nicholson: First, let s talk about how you discovered the Australian Koala Founda - tion and what it means to you. Let s talk about your passion. Deborah Tabart: Actually, there was a function at the local school hall, and there was a koala scientist there. He d heard about my reputation as a fundraiser and came up to me and said, We need you. That was in October of 1987, and I started with the Koala Foun dation in In [the first] couple of months I was in such turmoil, because when I started there was AUS$17,000 in the bank and 89 members. I looked at all these figures and thought, How the hell am I going to feed the kids? For the first time I went to work and thought, I don t know what I m going to do. So I just started a strategy of how I was going to raise the money. And the money came pretty quickly. For example, the Upjohn Co. did a program with us where you could buy cough syrup and 1 cent per bottle went to the Koala Foundation. We made AUS$100,000 that way. It was just incredible. [Then I was] asked to come to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to talk to the [Upjohn] staff there, to inspire the people to put the leaflets in the cough syrup [packages]. And one lady came up to me and said, This is the first time I felt my job was important because she would put the leaflet in the cough syrup bottle on the assembly line. So I learned the power of this beautiful creature. I feel like I m talking about a universal truth, in a way. It s time for no more deception on this planet. I truly believe that we re capable of working together and fixing this planet. Because it s in trouble. And that drives me every day. The koala is just my part of this. But like I said in my talk, I want now to be a person who is a leader for environmental change that will still buy us our cappuccinos, that will still have us driving beautiful cars, that will still have us living a sophisticated life. There s no need for us to go back to the cave. That s not said enough, in my view. NN: Could you describe the relationship between who you are and what you do? How do they differ, and how are they the same? DT: I absolutely live how I preach, and I think I preach less now than I used to. I just do it. I think that as a strong leader, you ve got to know when to let the reins go. When it s time to trust others. When it s time to exit yourself. I don t want to leave this planet yet, but I have no choice about that, as we know. I would like to think that I will allow the foundation to be bigger than me, so that in 50 years I am just a myth. But I think it would be diminishing my own self and everyone who supports me to say I m going to dis appear completely. Things go on, though. No one s indispensable. NN: You are the first woman to win the EXCEL Award. What do you see as some of the challenges of being a woman in a leadership role like yours? DT: I think there are a couple of things. One man said yesterday, She speaks from the heart. That s not true. I speak from my head. You can t give a presentation like that without having incredible discipline. I have incredible discipline to appear undisciplined. And the passionate thing I used to hate the passionate thing. People go, Oh, she s so passionate. What does that mean? Does it mean I m menopausal, or a bad time of the month or whatever, or are you diminishing me or what I m saying? A journalist said something to me about too much passion: He said there s no such thing. Isn t that great? And last night, [World Conference keynote speaker Jonah Lehrer] was talking about how emotions are so important to decision making. And that s how women operate. The thing I resent is that if you are firm and determined and if you are a man, it is seen as a great quality, but in The more you know about yourself, the better you are at your job. Because you probably know what your skills are and you know what staff you need to complement you. Communication World September October

5 Even though we ve got strong female leaders around the world, I still think that it s on a male model. I want to be me. This is my leadership. I want to stand in my own shoes. about the author Natasha Nicholson is executive editor of CW magazine. [women], it s bossy and shrill. I m never shrill. I m just very angry or very determined or whatever. I think that as your children grow up, that you become a better boss. Because I do think you can over-nurture your staff. They can think of you as mummy. So a couple of times I ve said, I m sorry, I m not your mother. I haven t asked you to clean your room. I ve asked you to commit to your salary; otherwise it won t be there again. Because I think there are things [employees] would never say to a man that they say to a woman. And I think I m much better now at saying, Don t speak to me like that or there will be repercussions. And I don t suffer about that so much. The more you know about yourself, the better you are at your job. Because you probably know what your skills are and you know what staff you need to complement you. I think I m only just starting to understand that. NN: What do you consider your personal shining achievements? DT: My biggest achievement has been getting in charge of myself. You have to be in charge of your emotions so that you can use them for good and not for ill. Not to hurt people. My personal commitment to myself now is to be much more generous of spirit in everything I say. Even if it has to be tough, you can be gen - erous. You could say, Pull yourself together! or you could say, Chin up, darling. NN: In your talk, you mentioned the mapping of koala habitats that the AKF has done. I found that absolutely stunning that we don t use that type of tool more. DT: It s powerful data. And the reason it s so powerful is that it s ranked. On Google Earth, for example, land just looks green. It doesn t say that it s orangutan habitat or tiger habitat or elephant migration areas. So people can just say, Eh, let s knock it down, it s green. But [our maps] say this is really good, this is not so good. Now I want maps of the arable land of the world. In Australia, only 6 percent of the land is arable. In the U.S., it s 18.2 percent. So 18.2 percent of this country is arable, can produce food. The more you disturb [that land], the more you upset it, the less it produces. Guess how much [arable land] Italy and France have? Over 35 percent. They, over the centuries, have realized that it cannot be touched. Why do we all love to go there and have food and wine and cheese? Because they protected the land. And in [Australia], we re allowing the land to be disturbed by coal seam gas, in coal mining, all these extraction industries, at our peril. Does that mean we can t have all of those industries operating? No, of course it doesn t. But [those industries have] got to do their jobs better. When they confront someone like me, when I go into their office and always I need an invitation I ask them, What have you done for the koalas in that area that your business is in? And they say, Nothing. And I say, OK, see you later. Call me back when you ve done something. In the meantime, I m going to whomp you in every regard. What s the point in going in there if they re not [doing anything]? There are environmental laws, and some of [those companies] are not meeting them; half of [the laws] have been extinguished because [companies have] lobbied them out. This is wrong. This is no compass north in your company. And I often get a woman who will be the community liaison person who will offer me a bribe say, would you like a donation to your cause? And I ll say no, I would like you to do your job properly. NN: What could people in that position do to correct that? Because they may be thinking they re doing some good. In fact, I m sure they do. DT: They just have to listen to themselves. Every single person on the planet knows when you re telling a lie. No one has to tell you that you know it yourself. If my foundation asked me to lie, I would leave. It s a simple as that. I would sell pizzas if I had to. No one can make me lie. If you re being used to hurt this planet, you have got to change. I hope that by my winning this [award], we get to show strong female leadership. Even though we ve got strong female leaders around the world, I still think that it s on a male model. I want to be me. This is my leadership. I want to stand in my own shoes. A mentor said 22 Communication World September October

take up the challenge The Australian Koala Foundation has challenged IABC to help raise US$5 million to protect koalas and their habitat. Learn more at www.savethekoala.com /$5millionchallenge.html.

6 take up the challenge The Australian Koala Foundation has challenged IABC to help raise US$5 million to protect koalas and their habitat. Learn more at /$5millionchallenge.html. About the EXCEL Award For the past 50 years, the Excellence in Commu - nication Leadership (EXCEL) Award has recognized a senior executive who consistently demonstrates vision and leadership in his or her commitment to effective business communication. Contributions to communication include achievements such as initiating, directing, supporting or sustaining outstanding and effective communication programs. The nomination process for the 2012 EXCEL Award begins in October. Visit /awards/excel.htm for details. to me who had helped me in the Australian Senate she said, I think you need to stand in their shoes. And I said, You know, I ve stood in other people s shoes for 60 years and I want to stand in mine now for a while and see what I m capable of, see where I go. Instead of listening, because I think you can be paralyzed by too much advice. That s why I felt so blessed to get that standing ovation. They were just honoring my commitment to what I do, and I felt honored back. It felt very healthy to me. I think that when you feel that spirit-to-spirit connection I want to be part of that and not run away from it. Today was lovely because it was such an open, warm crowd. [The members are] gorgeous, they re amazing. From the minute I got here, I got congratulations. It s done my spirit good, it really has. And that will mean a lot to me for the rest of my life. Communication World September October

5 Lent; Year B John 12:20 33

1. 5 Lent; Year B John 12:20 33 Some Greek gentiles who were visiting Jerusalem for the Passover came to Philip, the disciple, and said to him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Evidently they had heard the rumors,