MY CAREER IN SIX SPOTLIGHT

 SALLY THOMPSON

 Executive Vice President, Customer Delivery, Asia Pacific

Mastercard

Sharing her career journey by answering the six questions below.

Who or what has been your biggest source of inspiration throughout your career?

Back in the early-mid 2000s, I was leading the Operations area of the business. Back then, it was a team that was underappreciated compared to more visible business units like sales and marketing.  As a result, I was accustomed to being more assertive to ensure my team was not overlooked and had access to the resources we needed.  Eddie Grobler was the Executive Vice President Division President of Mastercard Australia, and he was the first person who had an appreciation of the challenges faced by my team, and it was the first time someone else was in my corner, allowing me to feel seen and heard.  Eddie showed his appreciation for our function, giving me a seat at the leadership table and ensuring everyone was valued and had a voice. As a result, my behavior noticeably changed, and I developed greater business acumen.  I didn’t need to be assertive to get my point across, and sitting at the table gave me the opportunity to learn from other leaders.  His leadership style inspired me to change the way I lead: to value everyone and give everyone a voice, which is how I operate today.

Would you say your success is primarily due to luck or hard work?

It’s actually a combination of both! I’ve worked hard, but not only that —I lean into things that aren’t typically in my wheelhouse, such as taking on stretch opportunities, which have been important for the success of my career. I also believe you have to be in the right place at the right time, and that sometimes comes down to luck or opportunity. There’s an element of luck to everybody’s career, but for me, I’ve been willing to go outside my boundaries. I’m very inquisitive about how things work and curious about people, so these elements roll up to my career today.  Through those stretch opportunities, I have had a mix of great sponsors.

What is the driving force behind your career aspirations?

After falling into a role at the bank, an opportunity to work in the credit card team arose. Since then I have not looked back. I’ve continued to progress my career in payments as the technology hooked me, but the one thing that has spurred me on is helping other people. When I see someone reach their potential, have that lightbulb moment and really evolve into their best selves —that’s what excites me and drives me. So initially it was the “magic” of payment technology, but now it’s the growth of people around me which drives me.

If given the chance to do one thing differently in your career, what would it be and why?

I’m a homebody, never keen on travelling, but if given a chance to restart my career, I would find the confidence to relocate, travel, and take on opportunities overseas. Why? Because staying in one location can be a slight impediment. In Sydney, where I’m from, it is a multi-cultural society and we would think that we understand other cultures, but the truth is that you don’t actually know other cultures until you immerse yourself in them. I’m experiencing this now as I’ve moved to Singapore for my new role. Having overseas working experience is valuable, even when we are looking for job candidates. We seek people with that experience in multiple cultures because they bring a different way of thinking to the table, they have a broader lens, and better networking skills. So if I could do my career differently, I’d travel more earlier in my career, which could have potentially helped me achieve my career goals faster and become a more well-rounded person.

What was your most favourite job/role and why?

It’s probably my previous role when I was AP Product Delivery lead during Covid. One of my challenges was to address how we stay connected as an organization of 300 people across AP, through bringing a little light and joy to the team in a difficult time. That was a time my creativity flowed —creating games, quizzes, cook offs, coffee/wine time, or discussions about a book you’ve been reading. Being competitive by nature, we created a points system across teams in these activities which was great fun and allowed everyone to just step away from work but still be connected. I loved the creativity and thinking outside the box, and just bringing joy to people.

Do you have a favourite motto or quote that guides your professional life?

“Pick your battles”. Everyone wants to go to war because they have a point to prove; they don’t want to appear weak.  I saw that in my younger self and other people I work with too. But sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture and really understand what is at stake.  Do you take a hit for the wider organisation? Are you damaging your reputation and personal brand if you’re constantly fighting for yourself and the team? Instead, you have to be measured and reflect on the situation at hand. Life isn’t about winning every battle but winning the war. Think about the longer term, learn how to influence people, and distinguish what you can and can’t control because sometimes you have to let it go. There’s going to be another battle around the corner that is even more important that you may have to fight for.