Gail Kelly: Top Banker

It’s a common practice for some executives to have protégés and fast-track them to one day run the company. For Gail Kelly she worked at major banks in Australia and became the CEO for two banks. For her it can really be said that it was her talent that brought her to the top more than being a protégé of a more senior executive.

Rising to the highest post of a company is challenging enough and not everyone gets that lofty position. For Kelly it’s been tougher. Unfortunately the way human society is setup the woman is usually the one expected to raise the kids and take care of the household.  So unless you partner is willing to be a househusband (in Kelly’s case her husband is a pediatrician) it’s one hell of a balancing act.

Kelly only gave birth twice but has four children because she had triplets. Imagine having to raise three babies of the same age at the same time. As she recalls there was a time she forgot to drop one of her kids to school only realizing the child was at the back seat of the car when she was already at the company parking lot. There was also an instant when she had one of child admitted to a hospital (where her husband worked) so she could get some much needed sleep.

Her banking career has been marked by outstanding work.  Originally from South Africa, she started as a teller in 1980 for a South African bank. She quickly rose to managerial positions. In 1997 Kelly and her husband decided to move to Australia. Applying with the four major Australian banks she was hired in a senior position at Commonwealth Bank.

Once again she proved her worth and rose through the ranks. She was so good that in 2002 another bank, St. George hired her as CEO. There Kelly increased profitability and capitalization. This led to rumors of her returning as CEO of Commonwealth Bank in 2005 when its CEO was set to retire.

She stayed on at St. George Bank then became CEO of another major bank, Westpac in 2008. St. George was subsequently taken over by Westpac the same year.

Gail Kelly has simply been a notch above the rest.