It is an honour today to be able to introduce Sheryle Moon as the latest ‘Interview with an IT Professional’. Sheryle Moon is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA). Sheryle has led many leadership roles in her career, that has so far spanned 25 years. Sheryle has been the Vice President of Computer Sciences Corporation and a managing partner with Accenture. Sheryle was the Director of Recruitment and Staffing Solutions, for Manpower Services Australia before becoming involved with AIIA. Sheryle has received several awards, including the Telstra Australian Business Woman of the Year in 1999, and in 2000 was inducted into the Business Women’s Hall of Fame. Sheryle is the author of two books ‘SET for Life’ and ‘Selfscape – Success Through Balance’. For more information on Sheryle, please refer to her blog: http://www.talkingtechnology.com.au/ or her Wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheryle_moon

Throughout your career you have accomplished so much. You have led numerous leadership roles, have received many awards, and have even written two books. Where did your career start, and how did you manage to get to where you are today?

When I was young I lived on a farm. My father ‘s desire was for me to go to university and have a professional job. So he bent his back for the dollars and his mind in encouragement so that I would be educated at university and go out to work in the professional world.

Another force shaping my working paradigm came from my mother, who lived the 1950′s life style but wanted something else for her daughters. She was denied university education. In her generation inequities in the allocation of household resources saw the pounds required for university education go to her brother , fulfilling the perception that investment in men yielded a greater return than investment in women.

The message from my parents was “Be prepared to have it all”. A parental message that led to young women of my generation enrolling in schools of education, nursing and social work, preparing for careers in the “helping professions” that could, we thought, be combined easily with family life. So I graduated from Sydney University with a degree in Economics and a post graduate diploma in Education. A few years of teaching in country schools under a system which rewarded seniority rather than merit, a failed marriage and a three year old to support saw me turn to the fledgling IT industry for my second career.

My sister suggested I apply for a role with IBM. So in 1981 I joined an industry where the number of female participants was so low that no quantitative data is available from either the Australian Bureau of Statistics or from the Australian Computer Society on how many women worked in the industry or the levels at which they worked. A quarter of a century later I am immersed in a high risk, truly challenging, corporate role which I believe is absolutely critical to the success or mediocrity of the ICT industry. I am passionate about my industry and excited and stimulated by the collective intelligence focused on that need. I have been fortunate to work for success oriented companies such as IBM, Accenture, CSC and Manpower as well as running two start up consulting companies. I was managing partner Australia and New Zealand for one of Accenture’s lines of business, VP with CSC and Director Recruitment and Service Solutions Australia and New Zealand. my final role with manpower was as Global Program Owner for front end applications.

What challenges have you overcome in order for you to be able to achieve what you have?

While I began my career with IBM as a Systems Engineer I moved into sales when I realised that they received incentives, which were a direct reward for effort. I enjoyed seeing my fingerprints on the results and helping clients be successful. The biggest challenge in that time has been achieving balance. In 1990, I recognised that with three children, the last one born prematurely, a demanding job in the IT industry and living away from family support that while I might continue to aspire to “have it all”, I simply couldn’t “do it all”.

Looking back now the whole concept of a superwoman who could do it all, be it all and “bring home the bacon”, fry it up in a pan, read the kids a bedtime story and still remind my husband he’s a man, is beyond a joke. I realized that if I continued in this way I would reach the new millennium exhausted and with no life balance.

What has been the biggest highlight so far in your career?

The biggest highlight is seeing my three children pursue a career in the IT industry. I sometimes wondered if my life in IT would be a positive or negative impact and I am very pleased to see that my children all grew up seeing the stimulation you can get from IT both individually and in solving the big issues for our society.

If you could give advice to anyone on how they too could lead such a fulfilled and rewarding career as yours, what would it be?

Develop a Vision for your life. I use a picture (so each January I spend an afternoon with magazines, scissors and glue designing my pictorial vision for the next12-18 months). then I undertake some planning and set goals to monitor my success against my vision. Most importantly – ENJOY and Have FUN.

In the book titled ‘Selfscape – Success Through Balance’ you wrote about practical steps on how people can achieve success, as well as how to maintain a work-life balance. What inspired you to write such a book?

When I won the Telstra Business Woman of the Year award I did lots of conference speaking and many people asked me to write down the things I talked about.

Where can people go to get a copy of either of your books?

They can email me at “basmoon@ozemail.com.au“.

How have you managed to maintain a work-life balance while achieving all that you have?

Seriously I use the steps in SelfScape every day.

As the CEO of AIIA, part of your responsibility is to guide the association on public policies, as well as lobbying and working with governments around Australia. What are some of the policies that you have been involved in?

They are many and varied:

1. WORKFORCE – a) the attraction of young Australians to the ICT industry, preferably from a national approach based on the Start Here Go Anywhere IP developed by the Victorian government. We continue to see decreasing enrolments in ICT courses at university. b)the retention of people in the industry especially women who continue to leave.

2. INFRASTRUCTURE – pervasive, accessible broadband is critical for Australians to participate in the global ecommerce marketplace, showcase their creative wares on talent repositories such as YouTube, have fun with movies etc on demand. We will also have a better society with access to citizen services, tele-medicine and e-learning. I believe we will have a society that does benefit from the sum of all human knowledge available through the internet.

3. SHAPING THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT – seeking a harmonized environment for procurement, tendering and contracting to facilitate better business engagement between SME’s and government purchasers.

4. GROWING THE LOCAL INDUSTRY – AIIA has over 400 micro and small companies involved in collaborative environments (technology or industry sector based) to leverage business opportunities with each other and with larger organisations. We also run courses for SME entrepreneurs to help them take their good ideas to the world and run their businesses effectively.

How have the policies impacted the working lives of those in the ICT profession?

Gaining recognition of the importance of the ICT industry to Australia’s current and future prosperity and having politicians and the average person in the street talking about this contribution will lead all of us to feel more pride in our industry. it will also deliver better projects and work opportunities for practitioners.

On your blog, you state that you are a self-confessed technology addict. What is it about technology that you love so much?

I’ve learnt to balance my life by using the technology available. As a CEO I like to remain connected to work even when I am on leave. However I try to ensure I keep disruptions to friends and family at a minimum. So I am the person who checks e-mail at 5am in the morning. Similarly I like to know what is happening in Canberra and Australia when I travel, so I do access the ABC news website from my blackberry even while seated on a Mayan ruin in Guatemala. I can be on the other side of the world and still proof read and review my daughters Year 12 english thesis overnight for her to submit the following day. And I love my iPOD which I consider not just an entertainment device but also an educational device. So I have my French and Spanish language classes loaded along with episodes of Seinfeld and the Office, the new Don Tapscott book called “Wikinomics”, other audio books and oh yes, of course, some music. After all no one knows where you are in the world, or what you are wearing at the time you send the email or sms. Technology can help you be in two places at the same time and can help all of us achieve a better balance between work and family.

What is the one thing that you couldn’t live without?

My husband and then my black berry. he will argue it’s the other way around – but that isn’t true!

Public speaking has no doubt been very important to the many roles you have had, and continue to have. How did you learn to be a confident speaker?

My mother insisted I take elocution lessons and compete in eisteddfods which I did from an early age. I have always been happy to be centre stage especially when I have the opportunity to influence the way people think. I also love doing the research associated with having an informed view.

Are there any other events coming up in the future that you would like to mention?

The SET Up for Success seminars – they are a culminating of a lot of my focus and activities over the past decade in helping people, in particular women, to combine work and family successfully.

Is there anything else that you would like to achieve, that you haven’t yet?

Yes I’d like to work to make our society a better place for all Australians, where everyone can participate in the benefits of a strong economy. Technology holds the answer for growing the knowledge economy and making social and economic equality a reality.