Leading with heart: How Leesa McCormick’s connection to people and values inspires her to achieve
As dedicated and passionate as our entire Great Southern Bank team is, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who embodies our values more than Leesa McCormick. A true people person, Leesa’s entire career has centred around helping others, and a role as Great Southern Bank’s Safety, Health and Wellbeing Advisor puts her at the heart of doing just that.
Finding a home
When you meet Leesa McCormick, the first thing that strikes you is her lyrical Northern Irish accent. The next is how genuinely happy she is to be speaking to you. As our bank’s Safety, Health and Wellbeing Advisor, she gets to dedicate that same joy to our people.
“As much as I’ve loved all my roles in Great Southern Bank, this is definitely my space. Working within People & Culture aligns with everything I represent as a person. I’ve been here since 2016, and colleagues who’ve known me since then have said things like: ‘This role was made for you,’ and, ‘We’ve never seen you so happy.’ Hearing that makes me proud, and makes me feel like I’m doing something right.”
Leesa’s latest role is the culmination of her many and varied roles in banking. She started as a bank teller in Northern Ireland, has dabbled in personal banking, and since moving to Australia, has grown even more expertise through her various roles at Great Southern Bank.
“Once you’re in banking, you develop a sense of passion and drive for it, so when I joined Great Southern Bank, it felt like coming home.”
Passion for people
Leesa has supported countless people at Great Southern Bank - both our customers and team members. It all started from her role as a customer service specialist in our branch network.
“For someone who loves people like I do, the customer service specialist role is fantastic. Day in and day out, you get to connect with people, hear their stories and actually make a difference in their lives. The impact you have really is amazing. It fulfils me.”
After only six months, Leesa’s aptitude for leadership saw her progress to a local area manager role. And five years and two babies later, she was presented with an opportunity to become our Safety, Health and Wellbeing Advisor.
Wellbeing that works
Although Leesa misses interacting with customers every day, her exceptional service manner transferred seamlessly from the front line to back of house - and she gets just as much joy supporting our team as she did from our customers!
Leesa’s deeply proud of the wide variety of cultural initiatives at Great Southern Bank. Whether it’s her “Wellbeing Wednesday” sessions, contributing to employee resource groups such as “Pride Tribe” and “Culture Connected,” or the many awareness days celebrated throughout the year, she’s passionate about creating safe spaces for people to feel truly included.
“When people feel safe to be themselves, it opens doors for more people to share their stories. A problem shared is a problem halved, and there’ll always be someone to listen at Great Southern Bank.”