Lucy Turnbull: a pioneering path

She was affable and warm when we sat down for our interview, arranged despite her demanding schedule. With more life experiences than many of us could hope for, Ms Turnbull has plenty to say on what she has achieved and what it took to get there.

The daughter of former Commonwealth Attorney-General Tom Hughes, she spent her early adulthood completing her law degree and then her MBA. She also married Malcolm Turnbull and became a mother of two children.

Early motherhood, she says, played one of the biggest roles in defining her success.

“Funnily enough, I think the decision to have children young meant that I had to have a flexible career,” she says. “Having a less linear career – because I was having children – meant that I was doing many different things. Having that flexibility and experience in many different areas proved very valuable to me.”

Of course, her status as a mother combined with her busy work life prompts the classic question: how does one successfully manage to balance parenthood and a career?

“It’s always a monumental struggle,” she says, “a struggle that everybody has to come to terms with themselves. I don’t think that anybody should lecture someone on what they are or aren’t doing. It’s all about self-fulfilment and happiness.”

The key to getting to where she is now, Ms Turnbull says, has been the desire to learn – particularly about cities and urban development, which is where her primary interests lie.

“I’ve been very interested in cities for the past 20 years, so that’s involved a lot of reading and research and exploration. Curiosity is always the key factor,” she says, describing how her past career moves have affected her present and are shaping her future.

“My time as mayor of Sydney was a fantastic privilege and opportunity and I loved every minute of it. It was kind of consistent with other things I’d been doing – I’d been in local government for three years before that – but it’s a huge privilege to be responsible for a great city like Sydney, and it was all part of my fascination with cities.

“That’s why I’m on the Committee for Sydney now. It’s part of an ongoing process in my life.”

As well as chairing the board of the Committee for Sydney, an independent policy and advocacy group, she is director of the private investment company Turnbull & Partners Ltd and chairs ASX-listed biotechnology company Prima Biomed.

Ms Turnbull is also involved in a number of community activities.

With a background like that, it’s no surprise that Ms Turnbull is an authority on what makes a good leader – in her eyes, it’s the ability to listen, communicate and explain.

“Having a clear and consistent internal vision” is what’s important, Ms Turnbull says. “Good leaders communicate. They are always there talking to people.”

She also knows what it takes to create a successful business, and having an enthusiastic team behind you is at the top of the list. Human talent, expertise, skills, diligence, imagination, and “flair” are the most important qualities a business needs in its people for it to operate successfully.

But as with nearly everyone who has found success, it hasn’t always been a smooth path. “I think when the state government sacked the city council without us doing anything wrong, that was a bit of a shock,” she says, referring to the sacking and re-amalgamation of Sydney and South Sydney councils in 2004.

However, she has found that being positive and employing constructive management is the most effective way to navigate such situations. “I learned to deal with that adversity and manage it, and I think work constructively. I try to never be negative and pessimistic in any situation. Sometimes it’s hard, but being constructive is important,” she says.

And what of the business world? “I’ve been involved with businesses that haven’t thrived and prospered as much as you would like a business to, and I learned a lot about things not going well,” she says. “I think the most important thing when things don’t go well is to roll with the punches and take the surprises and unexpected things in your stride.”

It’s clear that Lucy Turnbull is passionate about the city of Sydney – her enthusiasm shows when she speaks about town planning and community work. When asked what is her favourite aspect of her home city, she names “the vibrancy, the energy, and its openness.

“It really has to stay that way,” she says.