Fiona Jones is Lendlease’s General Manager for Urban Regeneration – Retail, accountable for developing and overseeing the execution of the Urban Regeneration Retail strategy and projects for Lendlease.
Fiona currently has ten urban regeneration projects across Australia in the delivery or conversion phase, as well as a number of new business opportunities that Lendlease is pursuing. The breadth of her role is what she is most passionate about, as it oversees the retail component of the mixed use projects/assets, from new business to operating assets and the development phases in between.
How did you get into the property industry?
I started my career as an accounting graduate at Telstra, and was there for close to five years before moving to Westfield, where I first developed my love for retail property. At Westfield I worked in a financial role supporting the property and asset management business. After two years, I moved to Lendlease into a financial role with the retail development business. I had the opportunity to work on a number of great shopping centre retail development projects prior to taking on my current role in September 2018.
There are quite a few female Development Managers at Lendlease, what steps have been taken to achieve this?
Lendlease has always been progressive in its thinking on a number of fronts, and diversity is one of those. We don’t hide from the fact we have gender targets in place. Having worked in its property division for 13 years, I have always felt on an equal footing with my male counterparts. I have always felt that there has been equal opportunities for males and females at Lendlease, and our recruitment has reflected that.
What qualities make a good Development Manager?
The best Development Managers challenge the norm and look at different ways of doing things. Retail development is very dynamic, and the retail industry is continually evolving. The best development managers look ahead and understand what is on trend, or more importantly the next trend, so that we can continue to deliver a product that our customers want into the future. Technology is providing a platform to continually evolve our delivery model, so the good development managers embrace this and capitalise on it.
Caneland Central
What advice would you give to someone wanting to become a Development Manager?
The development manager role is such a broad one. There are very few people that are brilliant in all areas of the role. Excel where you are the strongest and work hard at the areas where you are weakest. But I always look at the balance across the team and put a development team together that complements each other, so you don’t need to be good at everything. My one liner for anyone coming into development is, it’s fast paced, you often don’t know what you will do from one day to the next, so be flexible, adaptable and consistently challenge your thinking, and always be willing to learn.
Best piece of advice you’ve ever received and by who?
What got you there is probably what is going to get you further. Not in a technical sense but in a behavioural sense. John Freedman, my previous manager, told me that.
Biggest lesson you’ve learnt in your career?
When it seems like nothing is going right, and while you can’t see it at the time; those are the times when you learn the most. And also, it’s important to have a really good support network around you.
What have you learnt about women supporting other women?
We need to talk more. If you’re willing to share with someone else, chances are they have been through it or are feeling the same way. I am very lucky to have some great friends who are in the same stage of life and career, and I rely a lot on them.
My children are eight and six now, so I have been through the full-time working, little people stage of my life. I know how hard that stage is, and I am open to talking to anyone who is going through that and needs some advice, or just someone to talk to.
Biggest challenges you have faced in your career?
Without a doubt, the most challenging period of my career was when my children were between the ages of 0 and school age and I was trying to balance a full-time career, be a mother and run a household. Lendlease is very flexible and I always felt I had the flexibility to work from home, pick up sicks kids, and attend events with them. All that flexibility doesn’t take away how hard it is to balance everything when you have two people who depend on you for everything.
Which women inspire you and why?
All women do. Many of my female friends and colleagues are mothers and they manage to balance careers, being mothers and running the household. Even for women who aren’t mothers, chances are they run the household and do this week in, week out. My best friend is a mother of four children so her job is to manage a family of six people and ferry children around all day, every day. I find that most inspiring of all, as I can guarantee, I get a lot more recognition in my career than what she does as a full-time mum.
What’s your definition of success?
Being the best you can be and never giving up. You can’t always win but you can always give it a go, and try your best.
How can women invest in themselves and their career?
I don’t think women need to study more, or work harder or do anything any differently. Many of the behavioural aspects that create a great employee, manager or leader are inherent in females. I am seeing many great women rise through the ranks, at Lendlease and other property companies. Everyone needs to find a balance, so what we all need to work really hard on is finding what that balance is for us, and ask our employer, partner and family to support us in that.
What do you like least about your role?
In this type of role, you need to make decisions and they don’t always please everyone. There can be differences in opinion, and in large scale companies we need to base decisions on what’s best for the company or best for the project. It is hard to deliver that message, as I empathise with the time and effort that people have put into their work.
How do you manage multiple priorities?
I have a wonderful team around me so I am very lucky; I have complete trust in them. Experience has taught me to ask the right questions to understand what the real issues are, to then make a decision or provide guidance. I also read a lot, whenever I have a spare moment, I read. So between all of that I feel I manage priorities pretty well, either through entrusting others or making sure I am as knowledgeable as I can be, because you often don’t get a lot of time to make decisions.
How would your peers describe you?
Humble, down to earth, and probably, a quiet achiever. But they would also think I am always on the go and run around a lot.
King Street, Brisbane Showgrounds
Do you have a favourite project?
I have loved every project I have worked on, there is nothing like working on a project team. But my favourite one, which I only started working on recently, is King Street in Brisbane. It now sits within my portfolio and we are finalising the development stages and watching the street stabilise and mature.
King Street was one of the first urban regeneration projects we delivered. The resilience and dedication of the team who worked on this project, and what they have delivered, is outstanding.
There are many lovely stories of our own Lendlease team and their families working behind the counter of the retailers on King Street to get them going in the early days, and of our own staff designing the fit-out for retailers to help them bring their retailing vision to life. What you see today was the vision of a very dedicated team that never gave up.
Most memorable moment of your career?
When we gained board approval in late 2009 to commence the Caneland Central redevelopment in Mackay in North Queensland. The global financial crisis had some impact on all companies, so to continue to work through converting that project during that time required a lot of resilience and sticking to our vision. The financial scrutiny placed on the project was understandable for the times we were in. Only a small team of us were working on it, so it was a memorable day when it was approved.
