At 32 Jo Wagstaff was the only female executive at one of Australia’s leading wealth management organisations, when she was poached by James Packer to join his then financial services group. On the surface she ‘had it all’ – the career, the car, the home, the husband and the baby. That was the year it all began to unravel. That year her marriage ended, and her dad died of cancer. To numb the grief Jo worked harder, drank more, used drugs for the first time and found the most dysfunctional relationship she could – all while giving the perception to the outside world that she was thriving. Within 3 years, burnt-out she decided to accept a lucrative redundancy and walk away from her corporate life.
“..my need to feel liked, loved, important, successful, powerful and ultimately, safe, particularly in a very male-dominated world… had been a high price to pay.”
Soon after the GFC hit and the rug was pulled out from under her again as she lost her home and much of her wealth. Within 6 months she got sober and began a transformational inner journey. For the past 13 years Jo Wagstaff has been running her own business – a leadership development company – working with thousands of executives to bring more authenticity, conscious leadership and executive well-being to the corporate world, and she is now sharing her perspective in a new book.
With her unique narrative style throughout, Jo bares all for her readers in Lead Like You. Leading by example through sharing her own deeply personal story, alongside those of her clients, to provide other women with a roadmap to a more fulfilling, authentic career and life. Through her successes, failures, and mistakes Wagstaff has created a handbook for empowering women to live, love and lead true to themselves.
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