Cecily McGuckin | The CEO Magazine

Cecily McGuckin found out early on in her career that there isn’t a singular leadership mold. Growing up around, and ultimately in, her father’s company Queensland Steel & Sheet (QSS), McGuckin gained an understanding of what a traditional leader looked and sounded like – and what she needed to change to remain true to herself.

“I didn’t fit that picture,” she says. “I thought I needed to adapt myself to it, but with experience I realized the opposite was true.”

More than 40 years on, QSS is bigger than ever, and McGuckin’s self-made leadership has been a big part of that growth. Her work has also earned her a spot as a finalist in the Construction, Transport and Logistics category at The CEO Magazine’s 2026 Executive of the Year Awards – Australia.

Strong and independent

The QSS of today – one of Queensland’s most established independent steel distributors – is a world away from the business started by Barry Hunt and his business partner in 1985.

“We work out of a 7,500-square-meter facility; they were in a much smaller space with a fraction of the resources and capabilities we have today,” McGuckin says. “I joined the business 17 years ago and became CEO in 2017. At the time, I don’t think either Dad or I could have predicted where the journey would take us.”

In some ways, QSS has stayed close to its roots. The company is still independent, still family owned. It has grown without losing its identity, something McGuckin says was important to her.

“We still know our customers. And I still know the people who work in our warehouse, drive our trucks and answer our phones,” she says. “Steel is steel. Many businesses sell it. What differentiates you is everything around it: whether you have the stock, whether you answer the phone, what you do when something goes wrong.”

It’s here where McGuckin’s QSS has taken a new path.

“My role has been to take a successful family business and make sure it could grow without becoming corporate for the sake of being corporate,” she says. “We’ve invested significantly in systems, technology, stock, our facility and our fleet, but I believe technology should make us better at relationships, not replace them.”

McGuckin’s time at the top has coincided with a period of considerable change for the Australian steel industry. Global economic conditions, changing supply dynamics, increased regulation, domestic manufacturing hurdles and other challenges are all influencing the market. At the same time, customer expectations around service, responsiveness, technology and transparency have increased.

In response, McGuckin has guided QSS to become bigger, better and more agile.

“Our competitive advantage remains our ability to make decisions quickly,” she says. “We don’t have multiple layers of management or an overseas parent company controlling us, so if circumstances change, we can respond. In an environment as uncertain as this, that agility is incredibly valuable.”

Human-focused culture

Of equal value in a world on the brink of AI overload is QSS’s very human culture. McGuckin says that begins with her leadership.

“We’re all human, regardless of our titles. I don’t want people to feel intimidated by leadership; they should be comfortable raising issues or admitting mistakes,” she says.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t standards or accountability. In fact, I think strong cultures need both. But I’ve protected our inherent openness as we’ve grown. Our people know they can talk to me directly. I won’t always have the answers, but that’s OK too.”

McGuckin has filled her team with strong performers, and asks as many questions as she herself is asked.

“I believe strongly in giving people opportunities. When people want to progress in the business, I say to them, ‘Give me no choice. Show me you’re capable. Don’t wait for a title.’”

Being in touch with every level of the business means she understands what’s happening on the warehouse floor, what’s happening with customers and what’s on the horizon for the business.

“Over the next five years I want to see more of our people step into leadership positions, more decisions being made confidently throughout the organization and QSS continuing to be known as a business customers and suppliers can genuinely trust.”

McGuckin’s nomination at this year’s Executive of the Year Awards – her second in as many years – reflects her dedication to living up to her own expectations.

“I didn’t grow up thinking I would become the CEO of a steel distributor, and I certainly didn’t set out to become one of the few women doing so,” she says. “Everything I am has been earned over time. So this recognition is personally very meaningful, but it’s also a great recognition of what our entire QSS team has achieved.

“No CEO builds a successful business alone.”