Louise Vlatko

I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora nation, the traditional custodians of this land and pay my respects to the elders both past and present. I would also like to acknowledge the dignitaries present: The Pro Chancellor, Provost, Dean of the faculty, presiding Director, Chair of the Academic Board, members of the University Executive, staff, family, friends and graduates. A special mention acknowledgement to Dr Peter Smith, who was my very first lecturer here in 1988.

Thank you for the honour to deliver this year’s occasional address to the School of the Built Environment class of 2019. My name is Louise Vladko and my student number is 88513255, studying at UTS way back in the times before the internet and mobile phones.

In ’94, I graduated with a Bachelor of Building in Construction Economics. The School of the Built Environment was a cohort of less than 100 people, with females representing 18 per cent of the cohort: six per cent to construction and 12 per cent to property.

Yes, it is hard to believe there was life before internet and mobile phones, and yes, in 25 years, the graduating cohort has increased almost fourfold, with female participation moving in leaps and bounds to 23 per cent: nine per cent in construction and 14 per cent in property.

And you may ask what on earth is a Bachelor of Building in Construction Economics? I qualified as a quantity surveyor, but I prefer to be called a design economist or a management consultant in property construction and major events.

Undoubtedly, many of you will have the pleasure of crossing swords with a QS over your career in the built environment. You can usually tell a QS – they’re meek, shy, sit in the corner and have the personality of a funeral director, but with far less compassion. When you have been in a value management meeting with a QS, you’ll understand.

Qualifying as a QS has enabled me to work on projects in the UK, Kazakhstan on Expo 2017, Azerbaijan on the first European Games, Brazil on the 2007 Pan American Games and 2016 Rio Olympics, but the most rewarding project to date has been working on the beautiful game, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Looking at my life, I recognise that completing a construction degree and an Executive MBA here at UTS is a great equaliser, and I feel very privileged and fortunate having had the opportunity. Whilst I consider myself privileged and fortunate, apparently coming from a lower socioeconomic background with migrant, blue collar, non-English-speaking parents, attending a co-ed public school and more often than not the only female or non-Anglo-Saxon in meetings with no dedicated female toilets on site is today considered a lack of privilege. A lack of privilege is something that has never crossed my mind, nor was I really confronted with any of the issues a lack of privilege can apparently bring.

But enough about me. Today is all about you. Celebrating the festival of the 50 this year, I offer to you some unsolicited advice, which is what us old folk are supposed to do. Hopefully you might find some of this inspiring; some of it will be boring, and much of it you will definitely forget.

So, unsolicited advice part 1: Understand and follow your moral compass. To thine own self be true, said Polonius to Hamlet. A moral compass is a set of personal values that guide our decision making. It took me a while to understand why I connected with some people and with others I had to count my fingers after I shook their hand. You will need to figure out your own moral compass or internal GPS to live by and be willing to put your money where your mouth is and act on your beliefs.

For my own moral compass, I created the acronym SHRED. S is for secure. Look for people that are not threatened or intimidated by you and are comfortable and secure with what and who they are. H is for honestly – please be authentic. All anyone wants to see is how genuine and honest one is, staying true to what they believe and admitting error when they’re wrong. Cop it on the chin if is your fault; do not lie and blame someone else. It will end in tears, I promise.

Authenticity to me is to be passionate. Some of the best career advice I got came from a song. This one will resonate with your parents: 1984, Midnight Oil, Power and the Passion. It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees. It matters that you give everything in life your best shot. Maintain the rage, always. Perhaps the words of the poet Dylan Thomas sum up passion more eloquently: ‘Do not go gentle into that good night/Rage, rage against the dying of the light.’

H is also for humour. Criticism is tough to deal with and not everyone has to like you. That took me about 20 years to figure out. A sense of humour has worked for me in dealing with the critics. It’s pretty hard for a critic to keep it up if you’ve defused the situation with some self-deprecating humour.

H is also for humility. Be humble, be kind, pay it forward. Ronald Regan said, ‘We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.’ Make generosity a habit, donate to those less fortunate, time to your professional institute, mentor a newbie in the industry, or even offer your professional services for free, because it makes you feel good while doing good.

R is for respect. Respect people with less power than you and be kind. It seems so obvious, but it’s amazing how many people fail to understand its importance. Be kind to the admin and operations staff, the cleaners, the subbies and the site labourers, even if you’re under huge pressure to get your job done. Having been a subby myself, it’s tough to hit deadlines and project milestones, but subbies are the life flow of the project. Treat a subbie the way you would like to be treated. It reflects well on you and your project.

So, just be kind and respectful. If you’re not, your life, career and projects will suffer. I accept that there are successful, contemptible dickheads; I’ve worked with many of them, but really, who wants to be one of them? I’ve made important decisions based on how the least powerful are treated. I don’t care if you think you’re the most powerful person in the room; I will judge you on how you treat the least powerful.

R is also for resilience. Consider challenges as an opportunity to develop. Turia Pitt, athlete, author and motivational speaker, who survived severe burns while competing in an ultra-marathon, stated the two main traits she’ll instil in her newborn son will be kindness and resilience. ‘I want him to know that if he’s going through a hard time, that tomorrow will probably be better, and while life isn’t predictable, it’s how you deal with it that matters.’ Life is 10 per cent what happens to us and 90 per cent how we react. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. It’s all about making the best of any situation and bouncing back.

E is for ethics and empathy. Have your own code of conduct. Be prepared to be a lone wolf and stand by your principles. It can be lonely sometimes. Being empathetic is the ability to sense other people’s emotions and easily putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.

D is for direct. Some say I’m blunt; I prefer to say direct. Others say I have no filter. Whatever. It means calling a spade a spade. Life is too short to be wasting time, so if a project is heading south, you need to be direct and tell it like it is, warts and all, but with empathy, of course. Do not be afraid to ask questions. There is no such thing as a dumb question. If your bosses cannot answer a question in a way that you can understand, then it isn’t a dumb question. If you ask or propose anything, the worst thing anyone can say to you is no. There isn’t just one way or method to address or solve a problem or issue.

Have a motto that you live by. My motto is, ‘Say what you mean and mean what you say.’ People will judge you by your actions, not intentions. You may have a heart of gold, but so does a hardboiled egg.

Check, check and triple check your work before presenting information. I cannot count the number of times I’ve had data presented with glaring errors or it is obvious formulas haven’t been checked. We understand that you don’t have as much experience as we do; we get it wrong too, but we aren’t setting you up for failures or out to humiliate you.

Be good at what you do. Taking shortcuts, unabashed self-promotion, fancy schmancy business cards or social media feeds mean sweet FA if you’re not good at what you do. Our industry is small, people’s memories are long and the digital footprint is forever.

Unsolicited advice part two: The value of leadership. Mentors are teachers and are the most admirable and important people in the world. Share your ideas. Don’t take for granted your education; rejoice in what you have learnt and spread the word. As a future leader, it’s your responsibility to impart your knowledge to the next generation. Good bosses are supportive and will help build your career.

I was blessed that a boss also happened to be a mentor. In 1997, I pitched the idea of flexible and remote working as I wanted to return to work after three months’ maternity leave. This was all before the internet – shock horror – and telecommuting was via VPM and modem to a Unix mainframe system and a fax machine. Mobile phones were in their infancy. The meeting went on for about 20 minutes. My boss listened patiently, trying to poke holes in the logic and, while cautious in his approval, my proposal was accepted.

In that 20 minutes, my boss changed my attitude to what I thought a great leader should look like. He elevated my self-confidence and empowered me to think laterally and approach business challenges holistically, coming to him with solutions rather than problems.

Many years later, that boss stated that it wasn’t my sob story about not being able to afford to stay at home with child number one that convinced him. In his opinion, flexible and remote working naturally led to being an employer of choice and therefore help gain a competitive advantage for the business.

 If you do not trust your boss or respect your boss, get another job. You don’t have to like your boss; they aren’t your friend, but you do need to be learning something from them. Their experience ,knowledge, frankness and honesty can inspire you. Listen and respect your elders as many have gone through the pain to prevent you from reinventing the wheel and making the same mistakes.

And finally, unsolicited advice part three: Expect the unexpected. Risk is the unexpected. Think outside the box about events that can impact the probable outcome. The most damaging phrase in the English language is, ‘We have always done things this way’, yet few people challenge it. Do not underestimate the impact or importance of unexpected, seemingly pedestrian meetings or random events.

The turning point in my life was 30 years ago as a second-year cadet. On a whim, I turned up to an organisation and asked if I could speak to someone about getting a job there. The associate that interviewed me employed me, eventually became the MD, my lifelong mentor and is now my business partner. Asking what compelled him to employ a loud, intimidating and passionate social justice warrior, his reply was that I was different and thought I was worth taking a risk on.

Take that job opportunity in a place that you’ve never dreamed you’d go. In contemplating heading to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, I asked myself at the time, ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ Apart from getting kidnapped, that is. If I hated the job, the people I was working with, the culture or the climate was too challenging, I could always pull the plug. That didn’t mean I was a failure; at least I had given it a go.

So, never regret. ‘If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience,’ said Victoria Holt. Mark Twain said, ‘Twenty years from now you’ll be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.’

Throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Expect the unexpected for yourself and you never know what might happen. You might just end up giving the occasional address at the University of Technology.

Thank you very much.