This Week's Spotlight - Steve Wyborn, Chief Executive Officer of Help Enterprises
This week we shine the spotlight on Steve Wyborn, Chief Executive Officer of Help Enterprises.
Steve began his career in the sector in 1998, starting in the Skills area and opening an Australian Apprenticeship Centre in Cairns. Over the years, he has built a long and rewarding career shaped by a passion for developing people, building strong teams, and creating positive change in communities.
His leadership philosophy, lessons learned throughout his career, and belief in investing in people make him someone well worth learning from.
Check out his responses below and enjoy the experience, insights, and wisdom he brings.
1. How did you get your start in Employment Services?
Coming out of the Hospitality sector, I was passionate about the impact of enabling staff to succeed through structured training and on the job support. I joined the sector, originally through the Skills area, opening and Australian Apprenticeship Centre in Cairns in May 1998.
I was able to connect those skills with the broader Employment Services Sector as my career progressed. It gets in your blood and i now feel honoured to have had a long career where my success and my team's success has created positive change in people lives.
2. What advice would you give to leaders who carry a lot on their shoulders, managing people, processes, and systems all at once?
Invest your time in your people, a great team trumps a great leader every time.
3. Employment Services is incredibly rewarding, but the first year can take real resilience. What advice would you give to a new employment consultant starting out?
Every time a new staff member starts i remind them to be kind to themselves, in a world that feels like it is driven by compliance and administration, that knowledge will come. Focus on the difference you make, celebrate the little wins and remember you are impacting your community not just the individual in front of you.
Before you know it you will hear yourself speaking in Acronyms, and you will know the paperwork side is sorted.
"Focus on the difference you make, celebrate the little wins and remember you are impacting your community not just the individual in front of you."
4. Can you share a memorable moment when something you did, a conversation, piece of advice, or action, made a positive difference to a staff member, peer, or job seeker?
Like most sectors we tend to promote leaders for operational excellence. I hope my legacy to the sector will be through sharing my many and varied leadership mistakes, what I've learned and the importance of being authentic, so new leaders can build amazing teams around them and continue to have a massive impact on the people we are here to serve.
One of my favourite moments was handing over the reins of a new Workforce Australia business to my Operations Manager in his first CEO role and watching he and the business thrive and grow beyond what i believe i could have achieved.
"I hope my legacy to the sector will be through sharing my many and varied leadership mistakes, what I've learned and the importance of being authentic, so new leaders can build amazing teams around them and continue to have a massive impact on the people we are here to serve."
5. What surprised you most about working in Employment Services once you were actually in the role?
How tough it is. we tend to recruit people, but they also need to be administrators, compliance experts, counsellors, workforce experts and tender writers. its not for everyone, the hours are long and there is an emotional toll, but the rewards are like no other.
6. What keeps you motivated in this industry, even on the hard days?
The difference we make to the people and communities we serve.
Connect with Steve Wyborn on LinkedIn
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