Women in Rail, Roads & Transport Infrastructure Leadership Summit 2025

Tailor your communication style to your situation

- Who are you talking to? Identify your key stakeholders

- Learn to adjust your style on the fly and deliver the correct message 

- Ask the right questions to get better results - When to act, and when to listen

Tackling conflict and promoting collaboration

- Develop your conflict resolution skills

- Define your objective and remain solution-focused

- Create an action plan for real world scenarios

Preparing for challenging conversations

- Identify the barriers that prevent people from having difficult conversations 

- How to build rapport and why it is important

- Strategies for effective communication

Pre-empting performance management conversations

- Spotting red flags before they become a problem

- Integrate performance conversations in your day-to-day

- Embedding purpose in performance management

Join Liquid Learning for this kick-off session as we prepare for two days of incredible speakers, senior leaders, expert deep-dives and unmissable panel discussions!

Making the move into leadership can be daunting, especially if you're an autonomous high performer. In order to step up you need to shift your mindset from individual success to elevating your people. For our opening session, Holly provides insights into how she tackled the transition into transformational leadership, and empowers her high-performing team of industry experts to act as change agents across the organisation.

- Lead with trust in your team

- Value the ideas of others

- Communicate your purpose

In August 2024 Metro Trains Sydney extended the Metro line through the city and under Sydney Harbour, marking a significant milestone as Australia’s first fully automated passenger railway. In this session, Rachel shares how her 20+ years of experience in transport leadership have been instrumental in successfully leading this expansion. Her hands-on, trust-building approach has been critical in overcoming obstacles and ensuring the continued growth of Sydney’s Metro system.

- Keep your team engaged and motivated

- Build relationships based on honesty and transparency

- Encourage collaboration and value diverse perspectives

Mix and mingle with your fellow leaders over a cup of coffee and light refreshments.

The challenges that leaders face today are increasingly complex. Organisations need to empower individuals at every level to step up and lead, but what do you need to know to rise to the challenge? And how do you lift others as you lead? Through practical examples, Claire will share strategies to unlock the leadership potential within your team, drive innovation, and equip your organisation to navigate today’s challenges with confidence.

- Psychological safety and connectedness to enable learning and growth

- Challenge to ask hard questions, surface assumptions

- Share novel perspectives and disrupt the status quo

In the rapidly evolving transport infrastructure sector, the ability to lead strategic transformation is more important than ever. Leaders must not only navigate operational complexities but also drive initiatives that align with long-term infrastructure goals. Anna draws on her expertise guiding organisations through transformative change, and explores how leaders can effectively translate strategy into action, manage large-scale projects, and ensure successful execution that delivers meaningful, measurable outcomes.

- The role of strategic transformation in the transport infrastructure sector

- How to implement and manage transformative change

- Prioritise big-picture goals over daily tasks

Enjoy a midday lunch break. A time to refresh, refuel, and prepare for a full afternoon of immersive learning and inspiration.

In your career, you'll face challenges that can shake things up and lead you down unexpected paths. But these moments are key to growth and to building the resilience you need to navigate future obstacles. In this panel, we’ll explore how to turn setbacks into opportunities, take smart risks, and find practical strategies to overcome workplace hurdles.

- Turn obstacles to opportunity

- Take strategic risks

- How to overcome workplace challenges

It’s never too early or too late in your career to use your voice to make a difference. Many leaders find themselves responding to challenges as they come, often feeling as though they’re navigating without a clear roadmap. Join Sandra as she shares her journey and passion for creating mental health awareness in the industry. From being part of the Safe Talk program in NSW to leading a global initiative across Alstom. Discover how starting meaningful conversations can drive change on a global scale.

- Build resilience to setbacks and failures along the way

- Create a positive cycle of growth by empowering others

- Champion your beliefs and start the conversation

A quick break to refresh and continue building your network with fellow leaders. Enjoy a light refreshment before finishing day one.

As a leader, no two days are the same. Life can throw unexpected pressures and possibilities your way, but even if you can’t always control the situation, you can learn to control how you respond to it and influence those around you. In navigating these choppy waters, Suzanne has had to rely on every tool in her kit. From being the youngest and only female on a regional senior leadership team, to discovering that embracing her authentic self is truly the best way to lead, she has built a strong personal leadership brand.

- Influence good organisational decision making

- Build and protect your personal brand as a leader

- Bring your true self to leadership

Join us for our end of day one networking. Enjoy canapés and drinks whilst getting to know your peers further, build ongoing relationships, and share your highlights of the day.

Welcome back for Day Two - there's a lot to digest from our amazing speakers and action modules so far!

Recap the key learnings and takeaways from Day One, and prep an action plan to maximise your event experience over our jam-packed second day!

Strong stakeholder relationships are crucial in the infrastructure sector, as successful projects rely on effective collaboration and communication. Johanna Marsh is an accomplished executive with over a decade of experience in the infrastructure sector, and a proven track record in leading high-profile infrastructure initiatives. We kick off Day 2 by delving into this critical leadership skill, as Johanna shares valuable insights into managing stakeholder expectations and navigating complex relationships.

- Engage stakeholders during project development

- Identify key or non-key stakeholders

- Developing a communications strategy

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou

Well, when it comes to leadership, it's all about creating an environment where your team feels valued and supported. As MD of Aurecon, Tracey is responsible for the leadership and performance of approximately 900 people across five locations, and in this session she reflects on the importance of putting your people first, and creating a workplace that's a hub of inspiration and growth.

- Lead your team with a people focused approach

- Learn effective ways to communicate your company's culture

- Define your vision for an ideal workplace

Mix and mingle with your fellow leaders over a cup of coffee and light refreshments.

We live in a world of information overload, where constant competing demands on our attention have made work overload, and decision fatigue an increasingly widespread issue. Recognising the sources of work overload is crucial, but it's also important to learn strategies to reduce the cognitive load that accompanies it, so you can make great decisions while performing under pressure. Join Karen as she shares practical tips for identifying and managing your work overload stressors.

- Explore the neuroscience of working memory and attention.

- Understand the importance of monitoring your mental energy levels

- Practice a relaxation technique to reduce stress and get your cognitive

energy back

Leaders must navigate diverse stakeholders and personalities, creating strong relationships and effective communication to drive change. Join Sandra as she delves into proven techniques for impactful communication, exploring strategies that power successful behaviour change campaigns in critical areas such as road safety and workplace respect.

- Understand ‘the why’ of effective communication

- Strategies for negotiation, persuasion and influence 

- Develop a framework for building respect and confidence

Enjoy a midday lunch break. A time to refresh, refuel, and prepare for a full afternoon of immersive learning and inspiration.

Diverse teams bring together varied perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds, encouraging creativity and innovation. Diversity and inclusion isn't something that benefits a few - it serves all of us. But how can we inspire inclusion, and continue to develop and increase participation in leadership? In this panel, we delve into the elements shared by workplaces committed to equity investment, and listen to voices spearheading this transformative shift.

- Encourage shared responsibility for men and women to fix the gender gap

- Facilitating change across an organisation

- Engagement and collaboration to drive positive change

A quick break to refresh and continue building your network with fellow leaders.

Resilience and agility are essential competencies for today’s leaders. Embracing a forward-thinking, solution-focused mindset is crucial to keep moving projects forward. In this session, Emillie will share strategies to maintain focus in a hyper-growth environment, and cultivate resilience in yourself and others.

- Master strategies to thrive in a fast-paced environment

- Build confidence in the face of uncertainty

- Recover and bounce back from setbacks

We wrap up our inspirational and jam packed two days with this interactive action planning session. This is your chance to table any topic or trend for a final group discussion. Reflecting on the inspiring stories that have been shared, discussing your key learnings with your peers, and creating your action plan for moving forward.

- Reflect on your key learnings from the Summit

- Identify opportunities for career progression and growth

- Create an action plan for your leadership journey

Develop self-awareness and authenticity

- Identify and evaluate your key strengths as a leader

- Explore the role authenticity plays in effectively leading a team

- Recognise the impact your leadership behaviour has on others 

Embrace your leadership identity

- Identify how best to utilise your optimal leadership style within the context of your organisation

- Advocate for yourself and develop your leadership identity

- Cultivate a high performing mindset

The importance of resilience and confidence for leaders

- Build resilience to thrive under pressure

- Dealing with disappointment and setbacks throughout your career

- Identify stress triggers and how to avoid them

High-level communication, influencing skills

- Manage emotions for positive and assertive communication and relationships

- Develop influencing techniques and conversational intelligence

- Execute difficult conversations with confidence

Transformational leadership strategies to accelerate team performance

- Leverage team dynamics to enhance performance

- Challenge, support and empower others

- Manage uncooperative staff members

Drive change and innovation as a female leader

- Recognise and overcome hurdles to change

- Trust your intuition and step outside your comfort zone

- Embed a positive change culture in an organisation

Build resilience to remain productive in a crisis

- Learn tools to help you thrive under pressure

- Support your team and engage others to deliver

- Debrief after crisis - Provide and accept feedback

Strategically plan your career progression

- Develop a personalised approach: short and long-term

- Understand challenges

- Share approaches to move your career forward