Stephen Broad

Stephen Broad is the General Manager of Asset Management at Yancoal. He started as his apprenticeship at the age of 15 and was a 19 year old qualified tradesman at the Hellyer Mine on the West Coast of Tasmania. He has worked in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and across Australia including Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and Tasmania. 

With a mission to continuously learn and say ‘yes’ to opportunities, Stephen Broad has transitioned from a tradesman into the maintenance vertical and now leads the Asset Management team across all business sectors for Yancoal.

Stephen’s Highlights

Part B

1:47 A challenge for talent

5:00 Trade’s person of the future

8:25 Work and home life balance

10:27 Habits & rituals to get the most out of every day

12:22 Advice for aspiring trade’s people and maintenance people

12:47 Advice for trades and maintenance people

14:19 Advice for leaders

17:58 Two favourite management/leadership theories 

Where it all started with an apprenticeship 

Completed an apprenticeship and started as a tradesman Hellyer Mine on the West Coast of Tasmania.

Currently General Manager of Asset Management at Yancoal

Currently at Yancoal his role is General Manager of Asset Management across all business sectors including open cut and underground.

A pivotal moment in his career 

A conversation with his father about getting out and seeing the world; he then accepted a role in Western Australia on 14 days on/ 7 days off roster.

Stephen’s father taught him about hard work, resilience and getting on with things; which has been a really good grounding. 

He has learnt a bit from everyone

Central Queensland University – Ted Scott, previous CEO of Stanwell: LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-scott-89000336/?originalSubdomain=au

He introduced the leadership idea of self-directly work teams (SDWT) during his time at Stanwell.

Importance of being self-aware

Stephen also understands the importance of self-awareness; to really understand who you are, your natural tendencies and recognise when you are doing this and then most importantly unlearn. 

Upskilling and transitioning 

He is a strong believer in life-long learning and everywhere he would push himself to learn something new.

Imposter syndrome 

• During his Graduate Diploma of Maintenance Management, he felt like an imposter; a tradie sitting in the university lecture. During his first lecture they discussed an academic prize, Bruce Hiskens Award for the Highest GPA, it was then and there that he set a goal to achieve this and he did.  

The advantage of diversity in thinking

During his Executive MBA with Sydney University he started to understand the advantage of diversity in thinking, a cross pollination of ways in thinking and the benefits of solving a problem together.

The Desire & importance of having a believer in your ability

During 2015 he jumped the chasm from the maintenance vertical to operations and what enabled him to do this was a desire plus someone that saw his potential 

Stephen credits his adaptability and his willingness to say yes to an opportunity to building his career.  

Charles Darwin theory is that it is the quickest to adapt. Further reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinism#:~:text=Darwinism%20is%20a%20theory%20of,compete%2C%20survive%2C%20and%20reproduce.

Rod Sury it is not the big that eat the small but the fastest that ….

What he values when hiring

When Stephen looks to hire, he greatly values self-education, resilience, and cultural fit. 

Self-educated shows a willingness to approve 

Resilience shows the ability to continue towards the goals despite the knocks
Cultural fit ensures the team’s success.

A challenge for talent

At the moment there is a challenge for talent across trades including fitters. Ultimately, we need young people. We need to be visibility in the schools and sending the message to young people that there is more than an OP score. 

Trade’s person of the future 

Technology plays a big role and it is an exciting times where virtual reality and augmented reality.

Diagnosing from a distance with glasses from the physical machine location and discussing that machine with someone in head office. 

Work and home life balance

The key is a partnership where there is a balance. We also know each other’s weaknesses and strengths that encompasses those in our roles. 

Habits & rituals to get the most out of every day

Stephen is a fan of planning your day; starting with a coffee at the desk to plan for the day and then a sum up at the end of the day. He ticks goals off and is very task orientated.

Advice for trades and maintenance people

His advice for trades people is not to be afraid to take a chance and take hold of opportunity to grow. 

On the maintenance side is to build resilience as it is a big part and constantly being open to learning and being willing to travel.

Advice for leaders

There is no one leadership theory that you can use anywhere, it is about having a leadership toolbox. That has difference methodologies and frameworks that you can apply in difference situations.  

His second piece of advice would be that as your career and titles changes you are still part of a machine, a cog; everyone has a role to play. 

Two favourite management/leadership theories  

Hertzberg – two factor theory of motivation: 

Two sides in balance: 

• Motivating factors: recognition, the work itself, advancement & growth
• Hygiene factors: Salary, security, working conditions, supervision, company policies etc. 

Maslow’s theory of Hierarchy of Needs 

Self fulfillment needs, psychological needs and basic needs 

Additional Resources Mentioned: 

Debunking NLP with Gina Mollicone-Long: https://www.stellarrecruitment.com/page/the-stellar-podcast/debunking-your-growth-mindset/2-neuro-linguistic-programming-gina-mollicone-long/

Turning Adversity into Vision and Solutions with Gina Mollicone-Long:

https://www.stellarrecruitment.com/page/the-stellar-podcast/debunking-your-growth-mindset/3-turning-problems-into-visions-and-solutions-tamika-smith/

Hertzberg reference: https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2018/04/herzbergs-two-factor-theory/

Maslow reference: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

About Your Host
Your host, Shaun, sits down with inspirational individuals who share key learnings from their own experiences on becoming great; whether it is in their own career, in their own field or inspiring growth across a business.

Together, each month, we will unpack key actions on how we can all learn from others’ experiences; unlocking our own scope to grow so that we can all become the best version of ourselves.

Shaun McCambridge is the Managing Director of Stellar Recruitment, a devoted husband and father to four spritely children.