SUCCESS IN CAREER

www.jane-mckellar.com
Copyright 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

How Jane McKellar Succeeds In Business

Jane McKellar: How To Achieve Momentum And Drive In Building A Great Career

Jane McKellar Reveals Secrets To Market Leadership

Jane McKellar Shares Qualities Of Effective Business Leaders

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Jane McKellar: The True Story Of Her Achievements And Inspirations

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How Jane McKellar Succeeds In Business

Women are breaking ground in every industry. From technology to retail, from entertainment to investment banking, youll find accomplished and driven women in top-level positions. The success of talented and ambitious women in different industries has allowed many others to follow in their stead, using the very blueprint of these womens careers to carve out individual accomplishments. After all, what is likely to be more effective for your own career plans than knowing how other women have achieved success in their professional lives?

For women in Australia, perhaps no other prominent figure in business carries stellar credentials and accomplishments quite like Jane McKellar. When a young talent seeks to establish a formidable career in retail, luxury goods, and e-commerce, McKellars impressive career is an essential study. Arguably, one of McKellars most recognisable and highly acclaimed achievements has been her remarkable stint as managing director in Australia for Elizabeth Arden. It is at this worldwide
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brand, from 2003 to 2005, that McKellar led an estimated 80 percent sales increase of the brands perfume line. McKellar has not only landed significant posts in some of the worlds most celebrated brands, but she has also received quite a number of awards for her many achievements such as being named one of the Top 50 Business Women in Australia and Top 10 Marketing Women in Australia.

So how does the intrepid and McKellar accomplished continue to

succeed in business (she was recently at named

partner

prestigious

consultancy firm Sheldon Harris Consulting)? What are her secrets to managing a rewarding professional career, a rich life at home with her two kids, and a notable foray into triathlon?

McKellar begins with an overall business plan. In her blog, the talented and accomplished senior executive shares that every persons business plan should be flexible as well as open to infinite opportunities. She cautions against creating plans that leave very little room for manoeuvrability or changes. The
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danger of rigid business plansespecially for alpha or analytical types, she saysis that life will tend to get in the way of such rigid plans and reacting to changes could spell the difference between winning and losing. To avoid reacting in a manner that may produce unfavourable results, McKellar encourages people to continually review strategies and execute required adjustments.

The same type of approach can be applied for companies. When it comes to seemingly overwhelming hurdles, the multiawarded McKellar uses the market competition between IBM and Microsoft, and Apple and Google. She believes that each companys flexibility and capacity to modify their business plans has allowed one company to dominate the other. The natural inclination for any business to succeed would be to stamp out the competition. But in McKellars experience and expertise, a better strategy would be to focus on the companys core competencies, to review and tweak plans, and then combine both with fluid, entrepreneurial, lateral tactics. In whatever type of situation and prevailing market condition, McKellar knows that any underdog can win using such strategies.

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Whether youre a college grad looking to carve a stellar career in business or a startup company aiming to compete with big businesses, McKellars recommendation for business plans can produce the ideal results. Her own impressive success in business is living proof.

Jane McKellar: How To Achieve Momentum And Drive In Building A Great Career
Her decisions have made big companies achieve more and small companies attain greater heights. Her extensive global professional experience has seen her in e-commerce, digital and Internet, fast moving consumer goods, luxury goods, and other industries. She has held top-level positions in some of the worlds major companies. She has worked for several big US and Australian private equity groups. She has, to sum it all up, done exceedingly well with her professional career. And she is still going.

Jane McKellar continues to tend and grow her career

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even as she has achieved so much already. Currently the CEO/Principal at Callanish Interests Pty Ltd, McKellar was also recently named partner at the prestigious business consultancy firm Sheldon Harris Consulting. Much of McKellars success may be attributed to her passion for brands and her expertise for leading and developing teams that pave the way for many stagnant businesses to gain market leadership once more and for startups to get recognition. However, the highly accomplished Ms. McKellar does have a few guiding principles that propel her to achieve further.

McKellar references one such principle to the Law of Inertia, in which objects that stay in motion, stay in motion; objects at rest, stay at rest. The successful business leader finds that while it may seem easy to stay put in one place, it shouldnt come as a surprise if you end up going nowhere. Whether this approach is used for your personal life or your career, McKellar says that doing so could also create a situation where you might find yourself mentally stuck. In such a state, you could either be held back by sheer procrastination or inaction, or more severely, by a lack of confidence in your ability.

To get unstuck, you need to get going in some direction. Even if it were in the wrong direction, McKellar says that you can
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always shift routes so that you at least

achieve

momentum.

Even if you havent got a clue about which direction to take,

whether you want to agree to a big merger for your business or say yes to an incredible job that will take you halfway across the globe, the point is to start to move. Once any kind of action is taken, the mind and the body can come into some kind of focus that could inspire you to take on bigger and better challenges.

McKellar, who is incidentally an accomplished triathlete, likens the career- and business-improving endeavour to cycling. The more you pedal to reach your goals, the quicker you accelerate to achieve them. And through McKellars one powerful guiding principle, you may just experience one epic ride.

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Jane McKellar Reveals Secrets To Market Leadership

Competition is tough in any market. Add the volatility of market conditions driven by politics, economic downturn, and other critical factors, and youve got one pile of mess to deal with in businessthat is, if you dont have the right kind of plan with the right kind of strategies to execute it. But should businesses wait out better market conditions before making any significant decisions in investments and expansion?

Current CEO/Principal at Callanish Interests Pty Ltd and multi-award winning business McKellar leader considers Jane a

wait and see approach some big companies make to be counter-intuitive. In the distinguished international CEOs opinion, businesses must plan and move quickly, particularly when they possess a strong strategic advantage. McKellar points to one of Sun Tzus principles as a guide: Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
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Market leadership can be obtained and/or maintained when businesses take action, when they seize upon existing opportunities in the country or within the region. McKellar herself has executed such a principle during her time in Elizabeth Arden as the international beauty and cosmetics brands managing director in Australia. During her time, from 2003 to 2005, McKellar transformed the brands business by leading a stunning 80 percent increase in sales for its perfume line. This led to three of the brands perfumes clinching the top seller list in the country. McKellar accomplished such a feat by planning and executing a series of remarkable events, one of which was for the perfume launch for the Curious BRITNEY SPEARS line, hailed as the Launch of the Year by AdNews, Australias leading publication for advertising, marketing, and media industries.

Aside from capitalising on existing opportunities, McKellar also encourages businessesbig smallto overall develop plan that and an is

flexible. This strategy can allow any company to design

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improvements or adjustments under any market condition. Whether its implementing web marketing strategies to complement traditional, offline advertising campaigns or pushing back an expansion plan in Asia to a couple of months, businesses should consider plans that allow them more room to manoeuvre, and even fine-tune certain strategies.

Its not always easy to maintain a foothold in the market, let alone dominate it for what would hopefully be for the businesss lifetime. Many factors can affect a strong position and disrupt goals for bigger profits. However, there are always strategies to get around such fiscally damaging situations. For the accomplished international, McKellar, it takes seized opportunities and flexible business plans to maintain a strong force in the market.

Jane McKellar Shares Qualities Of Effective Business Leaders

What qualities can make a person a good business leader? A lot of people tend to think that being smart ensures success in business, but according to businesswoman Jane McKellar, it

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takes more than just intelligence to make a mark in the industry. McKellar is one of the most successful female leaders in business. She is known for organizing and

executing what is hailed as the most successful launch in

fragrance

Australia: an event dubbed the Ultimate Girls Night Out which was held to promote Elizabeth Ardens new perfume, Curious by Britney Spears. Twelve months following her appointment as the companys managing director, sales of three fragrances from Elizabeth Arden rose to join the top 10 fragrances in the country and the brands Ceramide sales rose by a whopping 80 per cent. Her achievements go beyond that of her work in Elizabeth Arden. McKellar has also led the purchase of Stila cosmetics from Estee Lauder and initiated a transition and turnaround for the brand in 14 countries. In just eight months, costs broke even for the brand. She has also served senior positions in large and well-known companies such as Unilever, Microsoft and NineMSN, among others.
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According to McKellar, what separates real leaders from the rest of the population is their tenacity, wise judgment and strategic planning, their eye for spotting opportunities, and most importantly, the courage to grab an opportunity the moment it presents itself. She shares that among all the books she has read, it was Sun Tzus The Art of Warthat has influenced her the most. This is because she believes that business is similar to war in many ways: there are opponents (your competitors), your own army and strengths (products and employees), and a world to conquer (the market). McKellar believes that determination is of utmost importance in business. She shares that idleness never helps anyone win a war, and that you must actively pursue your plans to reach your goals. However, she emphasizes that judgment is also key to success: you simply cannot blindly follow a strategy that you have set for yourself, especially when it fails to deliver results. An aspiring business leader must learn to recognize weaknesses in their plans and alter them to gain the most results. After all, success in business is measured by the revenue that you have earned, not by any other factor. McKellar also shares that it is very important to have foresight in business and great analytical skill to recognize opportunities. Just like in war, springing an attack upon the enemy at a
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randomly determined time almost never worksluck can only bring you so far. Business, McKellar says, is a matter of courage: you have to be brave enough to take the first step for you to be able to get anywhere.

Jane McKellar: The True Story Of Her Achievements And Inspirations

A lot of people might think that The Art of War, a famous war treaty written by ancient war strategist Sun Tzu, is an odd and implausible guide for a business leader. However, Jane McKellar will most likely disagree. This businesswoman, who has gained recognition for her many achievements both in and out of business, shares that this extraordinary book has given her much insight on leading a business and reaching success in many aspects of life. But who is Jane McKellar anyway? Many in the world of business will easily recognize this name; after all, McKellar has been included in many prestigious lists, such as Business Class Magazines Top 50 Business Women in Australia, Top 10
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Marketing Women in Australia, and USAs Whos Who in Business. In addition, she has also been short-listed for Telstras Business Woman of the Year, and JML, Macquarie Bank and The Australian have also awarded her as Director of the Year for two consecutive years, 2005 and 2006. McKellar is known for her expertise in business

turnarounds. She specializes in bringing struggling

companies back to their feet as well as helping newly launched brands gain much recognition and success. For instance, during the first 12 months of her stint as Elizabeth Arden Australias managing director, she organized the event launch of Curious by Britney Spears, an event that would later on be known as the most successful fragrance launch in the history of Australian marketing. In addition to winning Launch of the Year for this event, the brand also witnessed a major turnaround in sales under her guidance: by the end of her first year, three Elizabeth Arden perfumes were listed in the top 10 bestselling fragrances in Australia, and sales for the brands long-time product Ceramide was revived and rose by almost 80 per cent.
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Besides her tremendous success with Elizabeth Arden, McKellar has also initiated turnarounds for brands such as Stila cosmetics. She led the purchase of this brand from Estee Lauder in 2006 and transitioned it to 14 countries around the world, breaking even for costs after just eight months following purchase. McKellar has also served various senior level positions in both big and small companies. Unilever, Microsoft, NineMSN, Excite.com and Clarisonic are just some of the companies that she has effectively led to success. So what is McKellars real secret to success? She shares that all of her inspirations can be found in the famous war treaty mentioned earlier, Sun Tzus The Art of War. She believes that business, like life, is a constant battle. And as such, the only way to truly be successful in your endeavors is to treat it like one: with planning and strategizing, sensible judgment and unrelenting courage.

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