Profile: Rhonda O'Donnell
By Anita Agosta | thebigchair.com.au | 04 March
Growing up in Seymour in rural Victoria, Rhonda O’Donnell never dreamed she would one day manage a company.
“I didn’t set out to become a CEO, it just happened. I didn’t even have formal qualifications until late in my working life,” says O’Donnell.
Starting out as a clerk with a customs agent in Melbourne, O’Donnell then returned to Seymour where she worked for the State Electricity Commission (SEC) before having a child and opening a sports store.
Four years later, O’Donnell returned to the SEC in pursuit of a better work-life balance. She quickly moved up the ranks into a team leader role, which she attributes as her first big career break.
“When I returned to the SEC I was asked to interview for the HR manager’s role at Eastern Energy [one of the distribution companies formed with the break-up of the SEC.] I did it as a favour to fill numbers, but I ended up getting the job.”
Rhonda says it was her common sense and business acumen that secured her the role.
“The interview was all about constructing a business case in a changing environment. People issues are equally as important in a small or large company, and both are driven by commercial imperatives.”
It was in this role that Rhonda believes she learned about succeeding in the corporate world.
“My most important lesson was to always be myself and stick to my principles. I earned a lot of respect that way.’”
It was that same down to earth approach that helped Rhonda step into the role of managing director of Global Customer Solutions, a subsidiary of TXU (now TRU Energy).
“I believe I was successful in my role because I related well to people at all levels, and was prepared to experience and understand a problem in order to come up with a workable solution instead of reaching for a text book.”
O’Donnell says she got her second career wind after winning the Victorian Telstra Business Woman of the Year Award in 1999.
“The award generated an incredible amount of recognition, which opened a lot of doors for me.”
Shortly after her win she was approached by Cambridge Technology Partners (now Novell) to lead their Australian operations in the role of managing director.
O’Donnell then became president, followed by chair, of Novell’s Asia Pacific operations. She transformed the company from a proprietary to an open source model throughout the APAC region, drove revenue and was the architect behind the company’s successful expansion into China and India.
While she had little previous experience of the evolving IT industry, O’Donnell believes that running a business is essentially about leading people.
“Completing my master’s degree also gave me the framework to rationalise my decisions and understand why my gut instincts were so often right,” says O’Donnell.
After leaving Novell in 2007 she took on a new challenge as CEO of Australian start-up Freshtel, an internet telephony company.
Her leadership philosophy is still centred on building mutually rewarding working relationships.
“You can’t be a CEO without making the tough decisions, but I also believe that you need to be inclusive and empowering.”
O’Donnell has also built up an impressive portfolio of board memberships: she is currently the chair of the Victorian Government Purchasing Board and on the board for ACMI among others.
She still commutes to Seymour, and makes spending time with the family a priority. So where does she get her relentless drive?
“I just can’t sit still, and I’ve always had a hard work ethic instilled in me. But ultimately it’s about the satisfaction that my career journey and helping others to be their best has given me.”
Career highlights
1995 Human Resources Manager, Eastern Energy
1998 Managing Director, Global Customer Solutions
1999 Victorian Telstra Business Woman of the Year Award
2000 Managing Director, Cambridge Technology Partners
2006 Chairman, Novell Asia Pacific
2007 CEO, Freshtel Holdings
