Name: Marianne Rose
Position: Principal – Construction Industry Lawyer
Company: Ethica Legal Solutions
What do you enjoy the most, working in the field of construction & development?
I enjoy working with construction businesses that recognise a governance based strategic approach leads to a healthy balance sheet and a healthy long-term risk profile.
Integrity-based commercial thinking, coupled with innovation and investment in back-end processes and systems is a highly effective way to invest in the development of great people, and has a larger impact over time on cost reduction than ‘sharpening the pencil’ at tender stage.
It is inspiring to work with people from vastly different backgrounds, educations, and thinking on how systems and processes in their organisations operate. When comparing these perspectives to the challenges they are facing as an organisation, more often than not, it helps to re-energises a business and overcome problems.I encourage an adaptive leadership approach to strategy and operational management, as well as a diversity of thinking, which leads to outcomes that are not only best for the organisations I work with but best for the construction industry.
Where do you see your life in the next 5 years, what possibilities are ahead of you?
My business is founded on integrity and innovation. With this in mind I want to continue to find new technology that will enable me to continue to automate my service offering for my clients. There is a great amount of technology at our fingertips which means an increasing number of back-end services can be done remotely or through software. However, the challenges lie in how we can train and retain staff in operational and strategic thinking to automatic the administrative services, but keep great people and enable meaningful career development. I look forward to partnering with more government owned corporations and private infrastructure companies that want to redress the cost vs risk reputation of the industry, focusing on a governance based approach that drives integrity based on commercial outcomes with a balanced risk approach. This will lead to improved community perception, better risk based outcomes and lower litigation costs for businesses and the community.
If you could write a letter to a 13-year-old ‘you’ what would you say?
Say yes to every challenge. I always view a challenge as an opportunity to be embraced. This attitude has enabled me to live and work around Australia with some exceptional businesses. It also creates a flexible and adaptable mindset that enables you to embrace change. It is surprising the number of business I work with that struggle with change management, as mindset is the biggest blocker in any transformation. People love habits and this is at odds with the change that is happening all around us. By embracing change, we open ourselves up to adventure and opportunity. To test your appetite for change, take a different route to work one morning and see how much it unsettles you!
This is your transformational tolerance – now think how that same thinking could be applied to the way constructions businesses work – how could we do things differently to achieve the same or better outcomes.
What are 3 skills you have had to develop to get to where you are presently?
- To be commercially minded: lawyers need to remember the end goal to meet the client’s wants and how as a profession we enable the client to achieve it.
- Be solution orientated: my work involves a lot of flying to client locations mixed with working remotely. I’ve learnt to embrace change and be solution focused – this gives you an open and curious mindset.
- Marketing: not being afraid to put yourself visibly in the marketplace. I think lawyers network well in know environments, but not so well when we our out of our comfort zone. I see a real opportunity for the profession to become the trusted business advisor and use that influence to speak to clients about integrity based issues.
