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ALAN WU
Member of the Board at Oxfam Australia
Awarded a McKinsey Academy Scholarship for the McKinsey Academy Young Leaders Forum, 2019
What sort of work does your organisation do?
Last financial year, Oxfam Australia invested more than $50 million in long-term development programs, advocacy and emergency responses, to directly improve the lives of more than a million people in 22 countries. At Oxfam we believe all lives are equal and no-one should live in poverty. We join forces with people who share this belief, to empower communities to build better lives for themselves. That’s why we are there on the ground, not only to save lives in times of crisis, but also to develop lasting solutions. Our work spans wide because there are many causes of poverty. That’s why we’re also in front of decision-makers, governments and corporations, and speak out on the big issues. Together we are tackling poverty by changing minds, systems and lives. Describe a typical day's work.
Oxfam Australia’s Board of Directors is responsible for the organisation’s overall performance and compliance, providing strategic direction, effective governance and leadership.Board members work, often in standing and special committees, to oversee the processes by which the organisation is managed, and through which it seeks to realise its purposes and beliefs. We: - set the strategic direction and policies of the organisation/monitor overall organisational performance
- approve and monitor the annual budget , ensuring overall financial wellbeing, and managing risk/ensure the organisation meets its regulatory requirements
- ensure effective engagement with stakeholders
- and more deeply engage with emerging issues for the organisations, including those as diverse as our organisational culture; our responsibility to members, supporters and donors; and the nature of our increasing digital activities.
How has it impacted / changed / benefited your role and your organisation as a whole?
The course was a distinctive and well-structured opportunity to take a step back from the everyday pressures of work to learn about: - leading ourselves: our motivations and strengths, and the importance of staying healthy
- leading people: our approach to ethics, earning trust, integrating play, and building safe and inclusive cultures, and
- leading organisations: McKinsey’s approach to problem-solving, and longer-term planning for our development and careers.
For me, the distinctive elements were: - the discussions and reflections were informed by a 360 degree leadership assessment undertaken by our colleagues, supervisors and reports prior to the course, and
- we received a multitude of further readings, and were also given access to both an online suite of learning materials (the McKinsey Academy) and multi-disciplinary ‘mini-boards’ of participants to support our continued learning.
How did you come to be working in the not-for-profit sector?
I know great epiphanies where one realizes one’s calling make for terrific stories, but that never happened for me. My pathway after my legal education always seemed logical and unspectacular, driven by the same things that surely drive most people who are involved in their community: a recognition that we each have the opportunity and capacity to contribute to work that matters; a desire to be more connected to our communities; and a hope that together, we can make them better. I guess an education in law afforded a really considered opportunity to think about and interrogate the nature of justice, and to better understand the systems by which our community incentivises and sanctions behaviour and builds a stronger and fairer society. I had begun that education with a view to advancing social progress and hoping to even up the odds, especially for those who are often left out of our national conversations. But by the end, a lot of folks found themselves working in consulting, investment banking, and corporate law; avenues which were attractive in their own ways, and yet felt like a poor fit for me. The best, most liberating advice I received at that time was to remember which questions and issues animated me; why I started studying in the first place. Everyone will have an opinion, but ultimately those choices – and the consequences – would be mine alone. I think it’s vital for folks to recover those early, unadulturated ambitions, because those are the ones truly worthy of guiding your work.
What is something interesting / unique / unusual about you?
When I was at university I put my hands up for all sorts of fun stuff, and for a while I served on the Classification Review Board, which reviewed classification decisions (ratings and consumer advice) of films, television, and computer games!
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