Steven Spielberg once said that: “The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.”
In 2014, the high-achieving career of Diana Gibbs, businesswoman, economist, cattle farmer and industry leader, earned her a place on the 100 Women of Australian Agribusiness list.
Looking back, Gibbs credits a woman in her rural community, Beryl Ingold, with playing a critical mentoring role over 20 years of that career. Gibbs has, in turn, kept a keen professional eye on several younger women with potential, as well as formally mentoring a local businesswoman in Wagga Wagga.
With degrees in resource and environmental economics, Gibbs enjoyed an international career as an economist before launching her own strategic planning and economic development consultancy, Diana Gibbs & Partners, in 1984.
Marrying Bernard Whyte four years later, she moved to rural NSW and raised two children. A partner in the family pastoral operation, she also continued consultancy work from her new rural base.
In 2000, her work with producer-owned wool-marketing operation Riverina Wool Growers P/L was recognised with an RIRDC NSW Rural Women’s Award (now the AgriFuturesTM Rural Women’s Award). She was appointed executive director of Riverina in 2002, launching pure wool scarf and wrap collections under the “Diana Gibbs” label.
With her rich experience in regional economics and community development, Gibbs has served on many public bodies and inquiries including seven years as chair of the NSW Regional Communities Consultative Council, four years as director of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), and three years as chair of Regional Development Australia – Riverina.
She is currently a director of the NSW Rural Assistance Authority and of the Riverina Local Land Services, chairs the Graham Centre Industry Advisory Panel at Charles Sturt University (CSU) and sits on the NSW Climate Change Council.
“I never actually sought a mentor,” says Gibbs about re-establishing her career from country NSW in the mid-1990s. “But it suddenly dawned on me that I did, in fact, have an informal mentor, a wonderful woman with whom I would chat over coffee every six weeks or so. She was one of these women without whom country towns just wouldn’t function.”
That mentor relationship was with Cootamundra farmer Beryl Ingold OA MBE (1927-2011), a “local hero” who served on multiple state committees to further agriculture, education, women, youth and her community.
She was chair of the Council of Orange Agricultural College and state president of the NSW Agricultural Bureau. Ingold House, on the Orange Campus of CSU, is named in her honour.
“I realised that having to organise my thoughts well enough to tell Beryl what my current problem was — and because I respected her intellect—that discipline actually made the answers fall into place,” says Gibbs.
“This was a wonderful gift she gave me. She helped me focus on what was important.”
Ingold encouraged Gibbs to take on challenges such the Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP) in 1999; she also put in the application to the RIRDC Rural Women’s Award on Gibbs’ behalf. “She pushed me without me realising it. I accomplished a lot more because she gave me the courage.”
Ingold also taught Gibbs the “gentle art” of chairing a meeting to achieve the desired outcome — particularly in the not-for-profit, community sector; and the importance of celebrating “little victories” outside professional life.
“I discovered after she died that there was a secret society of ‘Beryl’s Girls’, which included men. She had picked us out as having something to offer and quietly nurtured us all.”
Ingold died in April 2011, and at the end of that year, Gibbs was appointed to the MDBA, just as its contentious draft plan was about to be released.
“My first thought was: I really need to speak to Beryl. I really missed her.”
In a similar way to Ingold, Gibbs has informally mentored several competent women by watching the progress of their careers, helping when they sought advice and inviting them to apply for positions.
As a member of Women in Business Wagga Wagga, Gibbs formally mentored young businesswoman Anna Lashbrook over 12 months. Lashbrook had plans to expand her free-range egg operation, Cackleberries.
At their first meeting Gibbs said to her: “I’m never going to tell you what to do. I’m going to ask you lots of questions to help you think about what you’re doing.”
She suggested Lashbrook should “have some values in your life — I don’t care what they are — and stick to those values so you sleep well at night.”
By the end of the year, Lashbrook had changed her business plans from buying more free-range chooks to finding new markets for organic garlic. And some of her favourite chooks got extra part-time jobs — visiting nursing homes to sit on the residents’ laps as pet therapy!
This mentorship experience was a two-way street, prompting Gibbs to reflect on whether it was time to sell her own business. “A mentor should not be an expert delivering content,” she says. “They should be a trusted, non-judgemental sounding board.”
Gibbs thinks mentors can help rural women have the courage of their convictions to achieve their goals.
The biggest challenge for those being mentored is “not to expect that it’s all going to be done for them” and for the mentor to “open a dialogue, not tell their life story.”
Julian Leatherdale’s background is in publishing, government, public relations and marketing. In the 1990s he researched and co-wrote two TV documentaries for the ABC. He has written for Edge Media since 2009 for clients including St.George, VW, Adobe, the Property Council of NSW, P&O, and Westpac. His two novels Palace of Tears (June, 2015) and The Opal Dragonfly (March, 2018) are published by Allen & Unwin.
{"topicSelector":[{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/economy","name":"economy","description":"Explore more Economy insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Economy","url":"/news/topic.economy/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/banking","name":"banking","description":"Explore more Banking insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Banking","url":"/news/topic.banking/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/digital","name":"digital","description":"Explore more Digital insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Digital","url":"/news/topic.digital/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/diversity","name":"diversity","description":"Explore more Diversity insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Diversity","url":"/news/topic.diversity/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/workplace","name":"workplace","description":"Explore more workplace insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Workplace","url":"/news/topic.workplace/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/community","name":"community","description":"Explore more community insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Community","url":"/news/topic.community/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/sustainability","name":"sustainability","description":"Explore more sustainability insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Sustainability","url":"/news/topic.sustainability/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/technology","name":"technology","description":"Explore more Technology insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Technology","url":"/news/topic.technology/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/property","name":"property","description":"Explore more Property insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Property","url":"/news/topic.property/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/westpac","name":"westpac","description":"Stories featuring Westpac corporate news.","title":"Westpac","url":"/news/topic.westpac/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/sme","name":"sme","description":"Explore more Small Medium Enterprise insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"SME","url":"/news/topic.sme/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/innovators","name":"innovators","description":"Explore more Innovators insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Innovators","url":"/news/topic.innovators/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/leadership","name":"leadership","description":"Explore more Leadership insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Leadership","url":"/news/topic.leadership/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/covid19","name":"covid19","description":"Stories influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.","title":"COVID-19","url":"/news/topic.covid19/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/investing","name":"investing","description":"Explore more Innovators insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Investing","url":"/news/topic.investing/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/startups","name":"startups","description":"Explore more Startups insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Startups","url":"/news/topic.startups/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/personalfinance","name":"personalfinance","description":"Explore more insights about personal finance, financial literacy and financial wellbeing. ","title":"Personal finance","url":"/news/topic.personalfinance/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/agribusiness","name":"agribusiness","description":"Explore more Agribusiness insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Agribusiness","url":"/news/topic.agribusiness/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/billsbites","name":"billsbites","description":"Explore more insights from Bill Evans at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Bill\u0027s Bites","url":"/news/topic.billsbites/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/data","name":"data","description":"Explore more data insights at Westpac Wire.","title":"Data","url":"/news/topic.data/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/scams","name":"scams","description":"Stories about the latest cyber scams news and trends. ","title":"Scams","url":"/news/topic.scams/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/environment","name":"environment","description":"Explore more Environment insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Environment","url":"/news/topic.environment/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/payments","name":"payments","description":"Explore more Payments insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Payments","url":"/news/topic.payments/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/fintech","name":"fintech","description":"Explore more Fintech insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Fintech","url":"/news/topic.fintech/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/politics","name":"politics","description":"Explore more Politics insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Politics","url":"/news/topic.politics/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/career","name":"career","description":"Stories providing career insights, tips and trends.","title":"Career","url":"/news/topic.career/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/social-enterprise","name":"social-enterprise","description":"Stories relevant to or featuring social enterprises.","title":"Social enterprise","url":"/news/topic.social-enterprise/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/regulation","name":"regulation","description":"Explore more Regulation insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Regulation","url":"/news/topic.regulation/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/indigenous","name":"indigenous","description":"Explore more indigenous insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Indigenous","url":"/news/topic.indigenous/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/wellbeing","name":"wellbeing","description":"Stories featuring wellbeing trends, insights and stories.","title":"Wellbeing","url":"/news/topic.wellbeing/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/superannuation","name":"superannuation","description":"Explore more Superannuation insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Superannuation","url":"/news/topic.superannuation/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/westpac-scholars","name":"westpac-scholars","description":"Stories featuring Westpac Scholars. ","title":"Westpac Scholars","url":"/news/topic.westpac-scholars/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/reinventure","name":"reinventure","description":"Explore more Reinventure insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Reinventure","url":"/news/topic.reinventure/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/asia","name":"asia","description":"Explore more Asia insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Asia","url":"/news/topic.asia/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/podcast","name":"podcast","description":"Explore Westpac Wire\u0027s podcast series.","title":"Podcast","url":"/news/topic.podcast/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/history","name":"history","description":"Stories unearthed from Westpac\u0027s private archival collection. ","title":"History","url":"/news/topic.history/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/businesses-of-tomorrow","name":"businesses-of-tomorrow","description":"Stories featuring Westpac Businesses of Tomorrow program winners. ","title":"Westpac Businesses of Tomorrow","url":"/news/topic.businesses-of-tomorrow/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/tax","name":"tax","description":"Explore more tax insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Tax","url":"/news/topic.tax/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/goodpair","name":"goodpair","description":"Explore more Good Pair stories, showing two people making a big difference together. ","title":"Good Pair","url":"/news/topic.goodpair/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/opinion","name":"opinion","description":"Expert opinions and insights. ","title":"Opinion","url":"/news/topic.opinion/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/deals","name":"deals","description":"Explore more Deals insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Deals","url":"/news/topic.deals/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/veterans","name":"veterans","description":"Explore more insights about defence force veterans at Westpac Wire.","title":"Veterans","url":"/news/topic.veterans/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/currencies","name":"currencies","description":"Stories providing currencies insights, tips and trends.","title":"Currencies","url":"/news/topic.currencies/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/analysis","name":"analysis","description":"Expert analysis on economic news and other trends.","title":"Analysis","url":"/news/topic.analysis/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/IWD","name":"IWD","description":"Stories focusing on International Women\u0027s Day, on 8 March annually. ","title":"IWD ","url":"/news/topic.IWD/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/luciscall","name":"luciscall","description":"Explore more insights from Westpac\u0027s chief economist Luci Ellis at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Luci\u0027s Call","url":"/news/topic.luciscall/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/rework","name":"rework","description":"Stories of businesses pivoting in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.","title":"Rework","url":"/news/topic.rework/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/10Qs","name":"10Qs","description":"\"10Qs with...\" is a series that asks leaders what makes them tick.","title":"10Qs","url":"/news/topic.10Qs/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/commodities","name":"commodities","description":"Insights into commodities markets.","title":"Commodities","url":"/news/topic.commodities/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/quarterlife","name":"quarterlife","description":"Explore more Quarter Life insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Quarter Life","url":"/news/topic.quarterlife/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/shareholders","name":"shareholders","description":"Stories relevant to Westpac shareholders.","title":"Shareholders","url":"/news/topic.shareholders/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/climate","name":"climate","description":"Explore more climate insights at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"Climate ","url":"/news/topic.climate/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/esg","name":"esg","description":"Explore more insights on environmental, social and governance issues at Westpac Wire. Subscribe to the Westpac Wire newsletter to stay in the know.","title":"ESG","url":"/news/topic.esg/"},{"tagId":"newsroom:topics/boardwalk","name":"boardwalk","description":"A series of in-depth podcast interviews with board directors to find out what\u0027s on their minds. ","title":"Board Walk","url":"/news/topic.boardwalk/"}]}