Elaine Ko Former chief executive of Health Purchasing Victoria

Executive MBA, Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, 2016

“I wanted to understand what I know – and what I still need to know. I realised one must really understand oneself, on a personal level and on a business level. It’s probably the hardest part of being a leader, because it requires a huge amount of courage and humility. I benefited tremendously from the executive coaching, which I’d never had. I have young children so at the end of last year I decided to take a career break to spend time with my family. The MBA planted the seed. One of the executive coaches said to me, ‘Elaine, you need to slow down to speed up.’ I thought it was ridiculous at the time; now I understand. The COVID-19 experience was a wake-up call for everybody.”