Another example of how the customer must be king moving forward
In another example of how the customer must be king moving forward, Gateway Bank’s chief customer officer is shortly to become the bank’s new CEO.
Lexi Airey will take over from Paul Thomas, who after 14 years at the helm, retires as Gateway’s longest serving CEO at the end of March 2019.
Airey joined Gateway four years ago as its first chief customer officer, overseeing a wide remit and a singular view of the customer. Her current role encompasses customer experience, lending and transactional operations, strategic alliances, brand, marketing, sales, product and pricing.
“Lexi’s appointment from chief customer officer to CEO demonstrates Gateway’s commitment to putting the customer first, and people before profit. Over the last four years, Lexi has contributed across the business as a driving force behind our customer experience strategy, building new innovative partnerships and elevating our brand,” Gateway’s chair, Catherine Hallinan, said.
Hallinan thanked Thomas for his contribution, having steered Gateway through a period of great change.
“Paul’s mandate from the board when he started in March 2005 was to “reinvent Gateway”. Along the way, he had to contend with the loss of our membership bond and the impact of the Global Financial Crisis. Gateway now has assets of over $1 billion and world-class levels of customer satisfaction.”
Airey said there could not be a more exciting time to take on the opportunity.
“In the midst of the Royal Commission, now more than ever, Gateway can demonstrate its customer centricity and genuine empathy for the customer.”
Airey will work alongside Thomas as he hands over the reins over the next few months.
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+:google.com/+CmoAu
In the third and final episode of our 3-part CMO50 video series exploring modern marketing and why it’s become a matter of trust, we’re delighted to be joined by Telstra’s former CMO and now digital services and sales executive, Jeremy Nicholas, and Adobe VP Marketing Asia-Pacific and Japan, Duncan Egan.
Flash back to the classic film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Television-obsessed Mike insists on becoming the first person to be ‘sent by Wonkavision’, dematerialising on one end, pixel by pixel, and materialising in another space. His cinematic dreams are realised thanks to rash decisions as he is shrunken down to fit the digital universe, followed by a trip to the taffy puller to return to normal size.
Why is it there is no shortage of leadership development materials, yet outstanding leadership is so rare? Despite having access to so many leadership principles, tools, systems and processes, why is it so hard to develop and improve as a leader?
As a nation united by sport, brands are beginning to learn money alone won’t talk without aligned values and action. If recent events with major leagues and their players have shown us anything, it’s the next generation of athletes are standing by what they believe in – and they won’t let their values be superseded by money.
