Leanne Hui

We want to help people succeed to the best of their ability and enrich their lives through the experiences they have with us. We asked Leanne Hui, our General Manager Group Planning & Overheads, about the experiences she has had during her 10 year career with Scentre Group.

My career with Scentre Group started in 2015 when I was approached for a Senior Finance Manager role in Design and Construction. Not long after, I was offered the opportunity to move into a role supporting the Shopping Centre Management team. I had no prior retail experience, so this gave me a solid understanding of our business.

A few years later I once again had the opportunity to move laterally and learn more about another part of our business by supporting the Leasing team.

A year later, COVID hit.

Supporting the business in its COVID response was one of the biggest challenges I have experienced, but the collaboration and problem-solving agility of our people was amazing.

In 2021, having spent five years as a finance business partner, another lateral opportunity arose to move into the Group Planning Finance team.

Having invested so much time in operations finance, I was concerned another lateral move might negatively impact my career progression because I would have to ‘start again’.

I recall a career conversation with a senior leader who asked me: “What are you going to learn by staying where you are, versus going to Group Planning and getting exposure to more areas of the business?”.

That advice really goes to the heart of Scentre Group’s approach to career development – that is: as long as you are growing your skills and knowledge, you are growing your career.

I accepted the role and I haven’t looked back.

Very quickly, I realised that my broader finance experience had equipped me to ‘join the dots’ across the enterprise, adding to my capability in this new area.

With support from leaders across the business, my new enterprise-wide view gave me the platform to accelerate my career.

Most recently, I have taken on responsibility to lead the implementation of the new Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards, which has become mandatory for all large, listed companies.

Again, it felt like a “risk” to lead a new project but the experience has grown my leadership skills and the challenge has been rewarding.

Ultimately, my time with Scentre Group has taught me it’s important to think about the challenges you'll encounter in a new role, rather than focusing on the next promotion. If you can be comfortable with being uncomfortable, then you’ll grow your skills and that will naturally lead to the next opportunity.