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June 18, 2025
At an early age, traditional learning is consumed in a structured and linear fashion. From a concentrated source – following a preconfigured curriculum – the process is designed to be identical, repeatable and scalable.
Upon entering the real world however, the rules change… it’s every executive for themselves.
Now dynamic and intensely personal, this demands self-awareness, curiosity and humility. Because leadership is not a static trait, rather a constantly evolving discipline shaped by experience, reflection and the willingness to grow.
No great leader is born fully formed in that respect. They are shaped by how they respond to success, failure, pressure and feedback.
“I can share one experience from when I really learned the hard way,” volunteered May Lam, CIO of Australian Payments Plus.
May took to the stage to kick-start the final session of Moxie Authority 2025 in Sydney, sharing insights under the banner of Pod & Page.
Aligned to the theme of Inspired Knowledge, this inaugural and invite-only conference housed the most influential figures setting the market agenda in business and technology across Australia.
More than 400 industry front-runners were in attendance spanning all ends of the ecosystem, from CIOs, CTOs and CISOs to CDOs, CEOs and Founders.
Know your purpose, trust your instinct
Learning for leaders happens in the real world – through tough decisions, complex challenges and often, unexpected setbacks. It is in these moments that executives either double down on outdated habits or embrace change by rethinking their approach.
For May, this came in the form of a strategic reset to prioritise purpose above all else.
“I was always very ambitious in my career and one time, I thought I was ready for my next elevated role,” May recalled.
“But have you ever had that feeling when your manager, mentor or coach said the opposite? That in fact, you were not ready? Well my response was, ‘no, I’m going to prove you wrong’.”
Wait. This story isn’t going in the direction you think. Don’t expect an inspiring tale of going against the grain and prevailing against all odds.
“So, I reached that moment in my career when I had my big break,” May continued.
The big break in question was May’s appointment as Head of Technology at AMP Bank in 2016, following more than 15 years of industry experience.
“I thought I was ready for the role and in truth, I was technically ready,” May added. “But at that time, I wasn’t ready to communicate to the board. I wasn’t ready to build strong and trusted relationships with my fellow executives and I wasn’t ready to be a leader of a leader of a leader.
“All up, there were quite a few things that I wasn’t ready for. But I always homed in on my title – I would ‘credentialise’ myself by presenting my business card to show who I was and who I wasn’t.”
May lasted eight months in the role before departing to launch her own start-up helping businesses develop global strategies and expand into high-growth nations.
“My lesson after that experience was that it was very hard to survive – I never really thrived in that role,” May acknowledged. “One day I had this glossy business card to credential myself but the next day, I had nothing.
“All I had was myself. That was when I came to the realisation about understanding my value and what I actually bring to the table.”
A barrage of self-reflection soon followed – question, after question:
For May, that was the sobering moment. The required penny drop to reset, rethink and rev up the engine for future growth.
Fast forward almost decade and May is at the top of her game as CIO of Australian Payments Plus. This is in addition to high-profile positions as Chair of the Advisory Board at Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA) and Governing Council Member of Hedera and CPMI API Expert Panel Member to G20 Leaders on Cross Border Payments API Harmonisation.
Fluent in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, May draws on more than 25 years of technology leadership and business transformation experience across the banking and financial services, payments, fintech and public sectors in Australia, Greater China and Asia Pacific.
“I learned how to be purposeful,” May added.
In all walks of life, leaders must be willing to challenge their assumptions and remain open to new perspectives – especially from those around them. But what if the situation warrants the opposite approach?
“I’ve learned many hard lessons,” shared Hani Arab, CIO of Seymour Whyte.
The most pertinent coming six months after taking on a new executive role, exposing the consequence of ignoring instinct in favour of protecting perceived harmony.
“I was trying to build relationships with the executive team and while doing that, there was a new project coming up that as the technology executive, I held responsibility for deciding some of the significant investments in a new platform,” Hani continued.
“One executive had a very strong opinion about a particular solution and deep down, I knew that was the wrong solution. But it was better than what we already had.”
Hani took comfort in that crucial detail and decided that on balance, it was more valuable in the long-term to keep the executive relationship strong rather than trying to push his own agenda about what he felt was right for the business.
“I accepted that,” he said. “But then I paid the price for the next two years trying to make this platform work by keeping it together. And it didn’t make the relationship any better, it actually went downhill from there.”
As a result, Hani learned the valuable lesson of trusting his instinct and sticking to what he knows is right – based on all the years of experience and all the knowledge amounted during that time.
“I knew it was the wrong decision but I compromised to maintain a relationship,” Hani expanded. “I thought I was doing the right thing but in hindsight, it wasn’t. It didn’t help the relationship in the long run and made it harder for me in terms of the extra work trying to embed this platform and make it work.”
Continuing on the theme of authentic knowledge sharing, the importance of self-discipline was highlighted as a cornerstone of both personal development and career growth. The ability to stay focused, control impulses and consistently work toward long-term goals – even when motivation wanes or distractions arise.
“You will never know everything but people need to know that you’re willing to learn,” advised Saleshni Sharma, Regional CISO at Berkley Insurance.
“There’s a power to being vulnerable and saying, ‘I don’t know, can you share more?’ That’s when people start to bring information and ideas to you. Having that curiosity is crucial as long as it’s realistic and balanced with your other commitments and objectives.”
Pod & Page
Leaders learn through a dynamic mix of experience, reflection and exposure to diverse perspectives.
While formal education provides foundational knowledge, the most powerful learning often occurs on the job through trial and error, feedback and navigating complex challenges.
In today’s fast-moving world, great ideas come from a variety of sources – start-ups, academia, employees at every level and even customers. Podcasts, books, research reports and curated newsletters provide accessible ways to stay informed and inspired.
In other words, great ideas are everywhere. But where do the most influential minds in the industry access inspiration and knowledge?
“Before I go to the sources, the first thing I focus on is mindset,” May advised. “I have a ritual in the morning that allows me to create the headspace for myself to learn, excel and digest the information. It’s important to have that.”
As a regular listener of podcasts – and a practitioner of artificial intelligence (AI) – May has created a process in that all of her notes and insights are collated via GenAI and repurposed in the form of a podcast.
“It’s actually your voice, talking to yourself,” May explained. “So I listen to myself and through that understanding, I can focus on specific topics and tackle different challenges.”
May does read books but like all high-profile executives, seldom is one finished due to external time pressures.
“Again, it’s not a particular topic, rather a philosophy,” May continued. “I learn from people, whether day-to-day or at conferences such as Moxie Authority 2025 to access inspiration.”
May referenced guidance shared by Philippa Garner – Head of Data and Analytics at Life Without Barriers – in the previous session at Moxie Authority 2025, under the banner of Idea to Implementation.
“As Philippa said, 99% of the time, stakeholder management is everything,” May said.
“In my role, I work with so many different people and stakeholders which is why talking to people at all levels is so important to get different ideas and perspectives. That could be the board, my peers, my team, my family, my parents, my siblings or my children.”
Building on this, Hani also stressed the critical role of mindset in the learning process. This isn’t a one-off event but an ongoing commitment to growth, underpinned by humility, curiosity and the willingness to challenge conventional thinking.
“You have to be conscious, aware and want to learn – it starts from that point of view,” Hani recommended. “But in this day and age, the amount of information available is enormous and growing, so being time poor, I seek out things that are effective and to the point.”
That could be a podcast, a “small snippet of knowledge” or even tools like Perplexity or NotebookLM. Whatever provides the “biggest bang for buck” in terms of information provided and digested.
“I’m doing a PhD, I have a full-time job and I have a family so I can’t just open up a book and go through that entire journey to access all of the information that I need,” Hani acknowledged. “I have to be more strategic with my time but still try and achieve the outcome that I need.”
Hani shared the two podcasts that he regularly listens to:
“Coming from a technical and engineering background, one of the areas that I would struggle with in my early development was communication and how to influence people,” Hani shared. “That’s why I find value in Think Fast, Talk Smart, which is from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
“It’s very specific about communicating within a team, in front of a public audience or to the board. It’s a very good podcast which I would recommend.
“The Diary of a CEO is a very diverse platform which allows me to learn a lot of different things and pick up those little gold nuggets along the way. I find it very effective and I regularly tune in also.”
As a fellow C-level executive, Saleshni has more than 20 years experience in technology, computing science and cyber security. After starting her career as an academic in the field of mathematics and computer science, expertise soon spanned the sectors of banking, insurance, telecommunications, education, accounting and entertainment.
“I have started so many books but haven’t finished – I start with strong interest but inevitably don’t have the time to finish reading,” Saleshni said. “So I switch to Audible and start listening instead which means I always finish a book, just in a different way to how I started it.”
Currently, Saleshni is reading / listening to:
“The reason why is because I’ve been tasked to create my personal brand and I have 3-4 months left to achieve that,” Saleshni added.
The task was issued by Saleshni’s mentor, who was her previous manager and Chief Risk Officer in one of her former companies. They meet once every six months to set goals for Saleshni to work towards ahead of the next catch-up.
“It comes with your own discipline, you have to work hard,” she cautioned. “I would suggest that everyone finds a mentor, regardless of where you are in your journey, because there’s times when you need to bounce around ideas and talk through things with someone who can understand.”
In a final message to the 400 executives in the room, May offered guidance from a different angle. There was no podcast or book recommendation here, rather a lesson in purpose.
At the heart is a tale about a breeze and a butterfly, as told by her father.
“I talk to my dad a lot and I’m wearing this necklace which is a butterfly,” May explained. “He once said to me, ‘would you rather be paper or a butterfly?’ I responded a butterfly because it looks prettier.
“Then he said, ‘paper can be blown away at any time but when the wind comes and the butterfly is on the flower, the butterfly will not blow away. Why? Because the butterfly knows its purpose and is born from transformation.
“That was a key lesson in life – we are here for a purpose and that’s very important to understand. But he finished by reminding me that the butterfly also knows when the time is up, when it’s enough and you have to let go.”
Moxie Authority 2025 housed the most influential figures redefining business and technology across Australia. This inaugural and invite-only conference in Sydney hosted more than 400 industry front-runners spanning all ends of the ecosystem, from CEOs, CIOs and CTOs to CDOs, CISOs and Founders.
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