Tracey Fellows, CEO, REA

CEO Tracey Fellows says how a leader gets results matters as much as the results themselves.

REA Group’s CEO Tracey Fellows. Picture: Aaron Francis.

Tracey Fellows is not someone you’d expect to experience impostor syndrome, but the CEO of digital real estate business REA has revealed she often has moments of self-doubt. And she can trace it to the start of her career two decades ago. Speaking to The Deal ahead of a presentation to young women in Melbourne, the seasoned executive says that, like many women, she took something of a back seat in her own career for a number of years.

“I thought, if I do well opportunities will be presented to me, and they weren’t,” she says. “It just didn’t work like that. But it was no one’s fault but my own.”

Fellows’ first leadership role was running Microsoft Australia, but she says impostor syndrome – doubting one’s own accomplishments and competence – meant that she almost didn’t put her hand up for the job.

“I have plenty of moments like that,” she now says. “I didn’t think I was capable of being the CEO of Microsoft Australia. I was very fortunate that [outgoing CEO] Steve Vamos was very clear he thought I could do it, and that’s great for your career – when someone has more confidence in you than you have in yourself.

“It’s very common for women; sometimes we’re not willing to put ourselves up for those next steps, and we’re not confident to tell our manager what our aspirations are. And you don’t get the opportunity because no one knows it’s your aspiration. I was very lucky to have someone push me.”

Fellows says she spent the first 12 months or so at Microsoft trying to be the leader she thought the company wanted her to be rather than being herself. She describes that first year as a frustrating one in which she was trying to follow in the footsteps of her predecessor, a particularly charismatic CEO.

“I am far less so, particularly on a big stage,” she says. “I took time to find my voice, to work out what people can count on me for, and that they can believe it when I say something.”

‘Fellows says she realised leadership was not about having the best answer. Instead, it was about standing for a set of values.’

She says she realised leadership was not about being smart or clever or having the best answer. Instead, for her it was about standing for a set of values and being accountable for them.

“Leadership just got a whole lot easier from that point onwards,” she says. “Once you know what you believe in then people can count on you.

“My values have stayed the same throughout my whole career, and right now the role for values-based leadership in society and business has never been higher. How you achieve the results matters now as much as the results themselves; people demand integrity and that you’ll take a consistent stand on unacceptable behaviour.”

Being a CEO, particularly of a $12 billion company such as REA (which is majority owned by News Corp Australia), has its challenges and for Fellows letting people go is perhaps the most difficult part of her job.

“You can never lose your empathy when giving someone bad news,” she says. “It’s empathy, and it’s treating people with dignity and respect. It’s always an awful moment, and I’m very determined to never lose that empathy. But it doesn’t make it less shit; it’s shit every single time. I’m always sleepless the night before, and I practise the conversation in my mind and with my husband. He’s certainly practised that conversation more than a few times.”

As for career regrets, one in particular sticks out – though it’s one that brought a significant lesson. “When I left IBM, the next place I went was a particularly poor choice,” Fellows says. “I don’t look at that now as a regret, because I learned that the culture of a company matters. I just don’t show up as my best when I’m not in a great working environment. I spent 18 months in this rubbish job for that lesson.”

Fellows, who has been leading REA for almost four years, says her worst days at the digital giant are still better than her best days anywhere else in her career. She adds that she still has a lot of work to do, including expanding REA into new business areas and geographies.

“Every day is still a good day, and while that’s the case if you’re as energised and buzzed as you were on day one you don’t look for something else,” she says. “And I still have lots to learn. Our industry changes all the time; it’s the nature of the tech industry.

“Today we’re dealing with AI and machine learning; four years ago we weren’t. It’s always about what’s next, and if you’re curious and you’re ambitious you’ll keep pushing boundaries.”