Well this is it! I have finally done it - the final blog. This is the second time of writing as at first I actually managed to delete everything back to July, but that didn’t stop me and I have reloaded and written it all again!
I think I should start at the end which was the Graduation Dinner held at the Crown Casino in December. It was a fantastic night even though I felt terrible with a bad cough that saw me off work for the rest of the week. It was also great to be supported by Family. Hannah my wife and her parents were there along with members of CMG including Gary, Steve, John and Jude. Their support over the year in allowing me to complete the program is very much appreciated. It was a great night and I must say that I am proud to be a Williamson Fellow.
The closing residential retreat was held in November in the beautiful and relaxing surroundings of Red Hill. It was a weekend much less formal than other months and was a time to reflect on the year, to talk about what we had learnt from the program, each other and what we were going to do next. We had opportunities to provide feedback to each other and discuss topics such as what do we now understand by Community Leadership. It was also an opportunity for each member of the group to share a bit of themselves with the rest of the group which was enlightening and enforces the fact that we should never make assumptions of people.
This is a bit of a general overview so I’ll provide what my personal thoughts were and of some of the feedback that I got from the group along with what’s next for me.
Firstly a reflection at the beginning of the programme I wrote that I wanted the program:
“to give me the opportunity to listen and challenge contemporary leaders and to reflect on my own leadership skills and style and how I can develop and improve. I hope to gain a fresh insight into wider community and society issues and have exposure to a wide variety of views and perspectives. I hope to be challenged and tested and to reflect on how I can better respond to these issues in my role as VicRoads Regional Director. I also hope to gain an improved understanding of how I can best use my skills in community groups and not for profit organisations”
I wrote the above nearly 18 months ago and I am very happy to say this is exactly what I got out of the program. I have realised that I have got to my position through an engineering background but the skills that I have developed and my ideas and views are as applicable to engineering as they are to health or education. In every session I came away with a change I was going to make in my role. In my Region now we have an “Our Environment Group” (idea of a carbon neutral region came from the sustainability session). We also have a health and wellbeing group as well and as a region are focusing on more and more initiatives to improve the health of our team combining it with opportunities in undertaking community engagement.
A message that I heard throughout the year was the need for collaboration and to not work in silos. Collaboration between not for profits, collaboration between government departments, collaboration between the private and public sector… Everyone is saying it so why is it so hard to do it. I think it’s because it means that we need to let go of egos and sole purposes. There is the need to think differently and creatively and it’s much easier to do what we always have done and moan about how others are not collaborating. I would ask everyone to do one thing, the next time they say this or hear this, ask the question what are you/I doing about it. This is an area of focus for me in what I can do to bring people together in order to achieve better outcomes.
The other key area is the need to inspire people to do what they are passionate about. What we do defines us and we are the only person preventing us doing the things that brings tears of joy or pride. I have very much taken on the philosophy of challenging the norm in order for myself and others to achieve this.
The feedback I gained from my other Williamson colleagues was very consistent and these two quotes represent the overall themes that came out:
“I appreciate your openness to new ideas and willingness to challenge the bigger picture perspective”
“You are a man of passion and enthusiasm”
I must say that this hits what I love doing on the head and what I am about.
So what now for Robin Miles? Well my plan included moving house this year, seeing about extending our family, run a half marathon, complete the Australian Institute of Company Directors course, look at doing Cranlana, gaining a couple of board positions and then look at doing further education next year.
So far we are expecting baby No. 2 in August, I’m booked on for the AICD course in March, I expect to do Cranlana at the end of 2011, I’m booked in to do a half marathon in May and I have started researching organisations in order to gain a couple of board positions by the end of the year. We are also due to go out to contract for our house extension this week. So all in all the spare time I had from not doing Williamson has been well and truly taken up already. Also at work I continue to be inspired through finding new challenges, (operational and cultural) in improving how we do things in providing benefits to the community.
If you love what you do then being busy doing it is a luxury!!
Influencing the Agenda – October 2010
Overview of the Month
Well this was our final month of the regular Friday seminar, Saturday workshop and Wednesday evening event. Next month is the final retreat followed by a final graduation dinner on 2 December that we are all really looking forward to.
Every month we have got to look at a different subject but this month was more about the theme and this was key. It was a real reflection subject in which we got to hear from different individuals, all who have taken up a particular fight to champion. The reflection for us was that now with all the new found knowledge we have about a diverse range of subjects what were we going do with this and what were we going to do?? I’m still not sure what this is for me. When I started this program my aim was to have my views challenged and to be open to new things to diversify my thinking and review where I wanted to go. I have definitely achieved this and I think that it will be next year after the program, when I sit back and reflect on the whole year having the luxury of the extra time of not doing Williamson that I will identify what is next for me.
The Saturday was another chance to expand on the topic and also to continue working on our projects.
The Wednesday evening event this month was at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art where we got to view the Mortality Exhibition and talk with the Artistic Director Juliana Engberg. It always amazes me about the art world how there are so many learnings for us. The one main one that comes back and back is the need to look deeper into things which enables you to discover so much more rather than judging on face value. We also got to attend Government House and got to hear from the Governor of Victoria – Professor David de Krester. This was a great opportunity to understand more about the role of governor and to hear about the causes important to him that he has continued to influence, including men’s health and wellbeing.
Influencing the Agenda?
The guest speakers were:
Hon Mary Wooldridge MP - Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Drug Abuse, Community Services, Employment and Climate Change (WCLP ’03)
Peter Gordon – Principal Gordon Legal (Undertook litigation to gain people compensation on landmark cases including the Asbestos related Cancer Claims, HIV/Aids contracted through blood transfusions and the case against British America Tobacco)
Michael Short – Editor, The Zone, The Age
Tonya Roberts – ABC Radio (WCLP ’03)
Nick Reece – ALP State Secretary, Victorian Labour Branch (WCLP ’09)
In influencing the agenda and taking up a fight in different circumstances there are still general issues, which I will try and draw out and outline.
The first is around dealing ethically with the challenge of working in an environment where the Organisations/Company/Party views and our own conflict on a particular matter. What do we do in this instant, does this mean that we need to stop working or cease supporting the cause? How do then influence the agenda both internally and externally in this situation? The answer is that it depends on how serious the conflict is and how passionate, willing and able you are to take the issues on to influence the agenda. Its important to note though that it is a leaders role to influence change and depending on the situation there are a range of ways in which the agenda can be influenced that include; go with the flow and pick the time to raise the issue, advocate privately for a different view without opposing, advocate publically without opposing, oppose and remain, or finally you can always oppose and leave. The trick is to pick the right one at the right time!
I think its important for all of us to be really honest with our principals and really challenge ourselves to reflect on if we are exposed to things that are in conflict with these and then to challenge to make a difference. In the newspapers we shouldn’t read the outcome that is being reported but the issues that are behind it.
There was a general insight into leadership and the view that it is about what is inside people, their values and principals rather than what they achieve.
In taking up a fight there a few core principals, first you need to know what you believe in and understand your principals. Second you need to know that you cant always live up to them. Third you need to make sure you concentrate and prioritise the big important things (i.e. don’t sweat the small stuff). Finally remember it’s not about your ego!
The like the view that the universe is massive, we are so small and our time on this planet is finite therefore we need to make the most of the time we have!
We need to ask ourselves why is it that we do what we do? In really knowing ourselves I love the term “Core Honesty”. I think this drives deeper into ourselves than any other term and made me really think what is the Core Honesty about myself. When I did this it was very powerful and even a few home truths came out that hadn’t really come out of any of those personality diagnostic tools. If we are really honest with ourselves and prioritise the things in our lives with this and are clear about it then we will never make compromises … but remember you cant always live up to your principals!
As per my previous insight its important to pick your battles, but you should also consider the social merit in doing so and know what the strategy will be, as if without social merit or there being a potentially successful strategy it might be worth picking a different fight.
With regards to social change it can take a very long time, there are issues that seem to go on and on. Then suddenly the time becomes right, the authorisation environment changes and the opportunity comes to implement action. This happens a lot in politics where the time needs to be right to implement new policy. One that is a little late is the new legislation that is required to protect our environment but when the time is right and I think it will be soon, this will go though.
In influencing the agenda the role of media is an interesting one as there was the view that media should now be about opinion as everyone can get the facts so simply through the web, radio, news steams etc. I am concerned about this and believe that there is need for more comprehensive facts on things for people to make up their own opinion. I think these facts might be out there on the web somewhere but with so much information is difficult to cut through to find the good stuff. An example of this is the reported 100% increase in violence against the Indian community, which is correct but there was also a 500% increase in the Indian population therefore the reality is that they are 5 times more likely not to be victims of violent crime than previous.
Social Inclusion: A Fair Go or Fair Enough? September 2010
Overview of the Month
This was a great month where we got to cover a subject but also got out into the community to see things first hand with Springvale being the case study. It was a truly enlightening visit and we met some outstanding individuals that I’ll talk about later.
This month we also continued working on our projects and the evening function was at Museum Victoria where we learnt about the vital role that Museums play within the life of the community and ensuring that every person that enters leaves with something more, be that an insight knowledge, understanding or passion.
Social Inclusion: A Fair Go or Fair Enough?
We based ourselves at the Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau (SCAAB). SCAAB is a non-profit based organisation, serving the southeast region of Melbourne for more than 30 years. Services currently offered include support for refugees and newly arrived migrants, Employment Services, Emergency Relief, Financial Counselling, a Volunteer Program as well a several Youth Specific Services including a Housing Support Service. These services are delivered by Youth, Employment and Community Service Units.
During the day we had the opportunity to hear from a number of guest speakers and then did a number of site visits to other local community places. I’ll go through each of them individually.
The Social Inclusion Agenda
The guest speakers were:
Tony Nicholson – Executive Director Brotherhood of St Laurence
Cath Smith – CEO Victorian Council of Social Services
It was insightful to realise that even with a long period of prosperity within Australia there are still a few who are unable to tap into this prosperity.
Social inclusion/investment is the new way of thinking about these issues. It focuses on building personal capacity and capability such as health, education, skills etc. The other component is to build material resources such as stability of housing, transport, income etc. The hope is that this enables people to get involved in the economy and have the basics needs required to be apart of a community.
As we reach near fully employment there is real opportunity to better capitalise on this unutilised labour and for the private sector to partner with not-for profits, which would provide benefits to all.
At the end of the day people who are at the bottom of helplessness still have aspirations to improve their situation and we need to be able to support them to improve their situation and achieve their aspirations.
There are roles for Government, the Community Sector, Private Sector and also the Community themselves, the tricky bit is what role does each play and how is this done in an integrated way. The sector in general is in need of innovative thinkers to lead this move forward to achieve the vision.
A Sense of Community – Emir Sultan Mosque Dandenong
The guest speakers were:
Aza Katar – Muslim Community Representative
This was an amazing experience to able to talk 100% opening about the issues facing the Muslim community and to understand the myths and mistruths.
This is a very tricky subject and it’s hard to see what the initial route cause was. However as it stands at the moment, as soon as one person who claims to be a Muslim undertakes a terrorist criminal act then all Muslims are condemned as being the same, this is not the case for other religions.
It’s interesting that in the Muslim faith there is no hierarchy like in other religions such as the Pope or the Ach Deacon, who clarify what the faith is and what the beliefs are. The Muslim faith is based on the freedom for each person to interpret the Koran and Mohamed’s teachings in their own way. This is a positive thing but then allows some to interpret it in a criminal way. There are Scholars who go through a stringent training and testing process to be the most informed Muslims within a community. These scholars do try to speak out and address the myths and clarify things but they don’t seem to get heard.
I personally think that the media have played and continue to play a huge role in creating fear in the community. I hope that leaders in the Muslim faith speak out and find a platform in the media to better inform the community on the facts about the faith.
Resettlement: A Positive Experience
The guest speakers were:
Catherine Scarth – General Manager AMES
A Number of Cultural cooks
AMES is the largest provider of English language and Settlement services in Victoria, in addition to being a major supplier of specialist employment and training services in Melbourne. AMES successfully educates and services over 40,000 people every year providing an extensive range of adult education, training and employment programs to a diverse client community.
At our site visit we got to visit where they teach practical skills such as cooking, aged care, hospitality etc. They do this in classrooms that are set up as kitchens, hotel rooms or an aged care facility etc. They then learn the practical skills in this environment whilst learning English and in particular the special vocabulary they need specific for their respective trade.
We then met a number of people currently on some of the courses and they were truly amazing individuals. They have seen such adversity and been in extreme situations and are now given an opportunity to make a life themselves in Australia. As was stated earlier in the day these programs provide people with the skills and confidence they need to enter into the economy and become apart of the community. We then had the most amazing lunch cooked by the chefs on the catering course, it was fantastic!!!!
Active Engagement: Youth Links
The guest speakers were:
Denise Goldfinch – Manager Youth Links Noble Park (SCAAB)
Westside Circus and Students
We got to visit a school where SCAAB were running a program with a number of kids who were from a variety of harsh backgrounds each having their own story of adversity. The kids in working with Westside Circus put on an amazing show having learnt new circus skills during the day. It was amazing to see how this program built up their confidence and had them all working together and having fun.
Social Inclusion: An Effective Social Agenda for Resettlement?
The guest speakers were:
Jessie Taylor – Secretary of the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties
Albert Aliander – Team Leader SCAAB
It was interesting to get a handle on the reality of this topic. There are currently 205,000 migrants coming to Australia each year (I was one of these!). Only 13,000 are refugees and only 1,000 enter by boat. There are currently 2,000 people in Indonesia processed by NHCR but only 40 are being let in by Australia per year. Therefore they have to wait a life tome to get here, no wonder they take desperate measures to try and get here by boat. The campaign of “stop the boats” therefore seems to be way of the top and is another example of the media misinterpreting the situation and creating fear within the community through not providing the overall facts.
Jessie has been involved in the creation of a new documentary film on this issue, which you can check out at: http://deepblueseafilm.com/
Final thought
Ask yourself two questions.
1. If one of your closest love ones or your self was diagnosed with a critical illness what changes in your life would you make?
2. If you won the lottery what changes would you make?
Don't wait for either of things to happen make these changes or step changes towards these now!!
A Just Society – August 2010
Overview of the Month
The program is at an interesting phase at the moment, as we continue to cover different topics every month I’m finding I’m not taking as much from each of the sessions with regards to leadership learning’s as its consolidating my thinking from the insight gained from the previous 6 months. With regards to this months topic I also took a little less from it as it was a matter of coincidence that I actually heard from a couple of the speakers with the last few months through work.
My overall plan for being on the program was to be challenged, be exposed to new areas and think about how I wanted to utilise this new insight for my future career. At the moment I have started to change my thinking from gaining new insight to thinking about and looking at options of how I put this into practice next year when I finish the program. So all in all it is a healthy place to be!
This month we also got introduced into our projects. Not for Profit Organisations put bids in for Projects for us to work on in groups. Each Organisation selected then presented to the whole Williamson group on the issue or challenge they wanted us to work on over the next few months. We then had the option of providing our preferences in being put into groups. The task now is for the group to explore the issue/challenge set and then provide a final report back to the Organisation in December at the conclusion of the program.
The Project that I am working on with a group of others is Ganbina who’s Vision is to:
“Within two generations to see Indigenous people in the Goulburn Valley sharing the economic benefits of the region in an equitable manner”
They aim to do this through improving the economic and social well being of Indigenous people in the Goulburn Valley, through the implementation of programmes and initiatives focused on developing individuals in order that they can contribute to the fullest of their capability within the community. You can check them out at http://www.ganbina.com. Our project is to help them achieve this Vision through recommending ways that they can improve their influence around indigenous policy through raising the profile of Ganbina and the successful program outcomes they achieve.
The evening event was the Annual Leadership Victoria Oration with guest speaker Mark Scott – Managing Director Australian Broadcasting Corporation. This was a great event one of the main take away was his comment around feeling like the Fraud Police were going to come into his office and take him away. I reckon we all feel that like this, I know I do and it’s usually after I come home from a busy day and reflect, “Wow what a day that was!”
He also noted about the need to lead with a common purpose and not just your own particular vision. The other quote I loved was from Sir Ralph Ramsey who said that his team would not remember the Leaders strategies or what he/she said but they would remember the way they made them feel.
A Just Society
The guest speakers were:
Luke Cornelius – Assistant Commissioner Southern Metro, Vic Police
Paul Holowood – Superintendent Task Force Phoenix, Vic Police
Meryle Sexton – Judge County Court of Victoria
Fiona McLeod – Commonwealth Senior Council Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission
It was interesting to consider the issue of Human Rights vs Police Powers, in the balance between what is appropriate in order to maintain a just society. Is it appropriate to torture someone in order to save lives? Is it right to compromise everyone’s privacy human rights to achieve a safer environment for all? Is it better to think of “What is an unjust Society instead? I have no firm opinions on this but can argue either way and I think it is a great conversation to have over a bottle of red!
In dealing with the bushfires from the different perspectives the main theme for me was the learning’s of working in such tragic emotional circumstances. The comments around leadership being about brining out leadership in others rather than getting people to follow which is just your job was a great one. Also the thought that over time we all build capability and credit and for a particular difficult situation we draw down on this credit investment to help us through a situation is another great one. The extension I would add is there is also the need for recovery the same as for any sporting professional without this fatigue will catch up with you.
On this subject I previously had the opportunity to discuss the issues of sentencing and how it is the hardest thing for a Judge to do in trying to ensure they do the right thing. Not only do they need to consider what the person has done, but why they did it, who they are, the impact on the victim and what messages need to be sent to the wider community to ensure other people don’t commit the same crime. In sentencing there are so many factors pulling in different directions, the Judge’s role is to ensure the right weighting is applied to each.
There are also some myths; one being that crime is always on the increase. This is not the case, there are a few crimes that have increased in percentage but overall the crime rate is reducing. There is an issue of the role that media play in covering court cases and evaluating the sentencing decisions of Judges. In general the public perception is that sentences are too lenient, however this is because all the facts are not know and this perception is concluded from the very brief details provided by the media. Once people are provided with greater detail of the case and the circumstances they come to understand the reason for the sentence given. Media do have an important role as the public deserve to debate the decisions made by Judges but it is important to seek out all of the information.
In Victoria we don’t have guidelines for sentencing but the Court of Appeal is used as a great benchmark and also the web provides so much information on previous sentences given. It’s felt that by going to guidelines the system would become too inflexible.
With regards to dealing with emotions in sentencing Judges gain great support from other Judges and one piece of advice provided was to never sentence when you’re angry, I think this can easily be extended to not make a decision when angry!
Field Trip - July 2010
This month marks the turning point of the program now being over half way through the program with the end of year graduation in December not being far away.
This month the two days was taken up by a field trip where we went out to Regional Victoria, saw first hand and explored the topics of Working for Positive Change in Aboriginal Communities and Communities in Recovery with a case study on Marysville.
The Wednesday evening event was at the Malthouse Theatre where we got to explore the issue of collaboration in the arts and were able to meet Lucy Guerin – Artistic Director and Tere O’Connor Choreographer from New York. We also saw the Performance of “Human Interest Story”.
Working for Positive Change – Aboriginal Communities
After leaving Geelong and assembling in Melbourne for a 7.00am group bus departure we finally arrived at “The Connection” Mooroopna (near Shepparton) and were welcomed with a traditional smoking ceremony by Neville Atkinson – Chairperson Yorta Yorta Nation and Yorta Yorta People.
The speakers for the day included
Felicia Dean – CEO, Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative
Justin Mohamed – Chair, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and Director of the Academy of Sport, Health and Education
Meaghan O’Shannessy – Local farmer
Adrian Appo – Executive Officer, Ganbina (Williamson ’99)
Paul Briggs OAM – Director Indigenous Network of Victoria; Founding Chairman of the First Nations Australian Credit Union and Founding President of Rumbalara Football and Netball Club
This month marks the turning point of the program now being over half way through the program with the end of year graduation in December not being far away.
This month the two days was taken up by a field trip where we went out to Regional Victoria, saw first hand and explored the topics of Working for Positive Change in Aboriginal Communities and Communities in Recovery with a case study on Marysville.
The Wednesday evening event was at the Malthouse Theatre where we got to explore the issue of collaboration in the arts and were able to meet Lucy Guerin – Artistic Director and Tere O’Connor Choreographer from New York. We also saw the Performance of “Human Interest Story”.
Working for Positive Change – Aboriginal Communities
After leaving Geelong and assembling in Melbourne for a 7.00am group bus departure we finally arrived at “The Connection” Mooroopna (near Shepparton) and were welcomed with a traditional smoking ceremony by Neville Atkinson – Chairperson Yorta Yorta Nation and Yorta Yorta People.
The speakers for the day included
Felicia Dean – CEO, Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative
Justin Mohamed – Chair, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and Director of the Academy of Sport, Health and Education
Meaghan O’Shannessy – Local farmer
Adrian Appo – Executive Officer, Ganbina (Williamson ’99)
Paul Briggs OAM – Director Indigenous Network of Victoria; Founding Chairman of the First Nations Australian Credit Union and Founding President of Rumbalara Football and Netball Club
Going for a walk up to Stephenson Falls was so beautiful and peaceful. It also reminds you of the natural destruction that is caused but then of the natural power of regeneration as well. Nothing quite signifies this more than a bright green bud growing from a completely blacked landscape.
If people would like to know what they can do for these communities then it is this. Go back to these areas, visit, stay and spend your money there and then this will stimulate the local economy and also promote other business to invest back to them.
If people would like to know what they can do for these communities then it is this. Go back to these areas, visit, stay and spend your money there and then this will stimulate the local economy and also promote other business to invest back to them.
The first thing to say is that it amazed me how many committees, boards, and organisations all the speakers were involved with. It seems that there is immense pressure on a few people who are taking real leadership roles in working towards this positive change.
The real dream is for Aboriginals to be seen as the sovereign owners and to be integrated within regional governments. There is the feeling that the value that local communities can play is not understood and the fact that they may actually have the strategies and skills has not been recognised.
There is the need for Aboriginal people to be the owners and in control of their own destiny as not one of them wants to die young or be socially excluded.
It was noted that the focus has been on the diverse Australian culture with all the immigration that has occurred. However when this has happened the latest migrants or refugees have always come in one level higher than the indigenous people which has seen them moved further and further down.
When we speak of the “Gap it’s normally in the context of education and employment but it seems that the real gap is with regards to “thinking and identity”. The future we need to work to is to have a treaty/framework that really integrates western and aboriginal cultures. There is the need to confirm our National identify for everyone including Aboriginal communities. This includes the simple outcomes e.g. everyone supporting our Australian Teams or having the attachment to the National Anthem.
When we consider these gaps then issues of the need to have Aboriginal affairs and history taught in every school are identified.
It’s so easy to sit back and say that the solution is easy and/or blame others. I think the real blocker has been that there are just so many different views and opinions that have been formed over 200 years of poor decision making. It is therefore so hard to wipe the slate clean and start again as we are dealing with not just one problem but many including the aftermath of others. The leaders we met were all working so hard to a common solution however this is a massive task for them as even the internal politics of some of these communities is so complex and a blocker in itself.
As one person stated I get up every day as there is always something positive to work towards as it’s not all doom and gloom. This will ensure that our Children don’t grow up with negative burdens. It was also noted that if there was one thing that they could change it was to remove people’s judgement to enable everyone to really work towards a collaborative solution.
Communities in Recovery – Marysville
The next day we travelled down to Maysville and were welcomed by Peri Dix – Principal, Marysville Primary School which is right next to the now quite famous football pitch where everyone sort refuge during the fires. We also had the opportunity to hear from Peter Cobb – DSE and Sue Hill a Community Leader.
My wife, Hannah and I were actually caught in the fires of black Saturday and had to take refuge on our own by a dam whilst the fires went past. It was a truly harrowing experience that I will never forget. The photos here are ones that I took as the fires came through. The most scary part for me was when we were driving out not being able to see if we were going in the right direction or not knowing if our path was going to be blocked or not. I think for my wife it was an important factor in realising that she did actually want children and we now have a beautiful 4 month old boy, William.
The photos here are what I took at the time, the difference between the first and last photos was just 30 minutes!
Therefore with the above in mind, I had a strong emotional connection to this day. Being back near where we were and to hear the incredible stories of what the people have gone through in Marysville was heart wrenching.
It was also amazing to see how the community are recovering and the leadership that has be taken by the local people. As one of them responded to the question around there leadership at this time, “I don’t have a choice I have a duty and I am doing just what needs to be done.”
Here is a photo of the town now.
Economic prosperity How is it Defined and at What Cost? June 2010
As I left to fly back to England for 3 weeks on the evening of the last seminar this article is a little late. I have noticed writing a longer time after the event that it is a little harder but it was worth it as we had such a great time back in England! It had been 2 years since our last visit and we were able to take back our 4 month old son to meet his Grandparents and Great Grandparents. It also didn’t rain once so everyone was in high spirits, with BBQ’s and long evenings. We’re now back and very pleased to be back, I love visiting the UK but I couldn’t live and work there, home is now here and we’re very happy with that!!
The guest speakers were:
Matthew Butlin – Chair, Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission
Renee Roberts – General Manager, NAB Credit Frameworks & Credit Risk
Ray Hair – CEO, PLAN Australia
Terry Rawnsley – Associate Director – SGS Economics and Planning
Frank McGuire – Managing Director, Global Learning Village (Williamson 98)
Simon McKeon – Executive Chairman Melbourne Office, Macquarie Bank Ltd
Prof Carol Adams, Acting Dean Faculty of Law & Management
This was a great session were we exposed to the issues around the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), why we did so well and what our risks are in the future. We discussed issues around productivity and efficiency in ensuring we have a sustainable economy and also the relationship between Government and Financial institutions and the continued need for good regulation. We also discussed the connection between Business, Communities, the Not For Profit Sector and the role of Corporate Social Responsibility.
There were some really good insights but as during this time I needed to write a blub on the Engineers Role with Economic Prosperity I thought I would share this with you:
A key role for engineers is the delivery of infrastructure and the supply of products and services needed for the operation of a society and the facilities necessary for an economy to exist, function and prosper. This infrastructure includes roads (Congestion on its own cost the Australian economy $9.4b in 2005), water supply, offices, homes, hospitals, schools, etc. The supply of products and services both enables a society and provides exporting opportunities which provides national prosperity. Examples of this include mining and manufacturing. I believe that the engineering profession needs to focus on working more closely with Government through the provision of independent advice. We also need to work together to create more partnerships for private investment into infrastructure e.g. Public Private Partnership (PPP).
There is the assumption that to be strong you need growth. This is true to a certain extent, I however believe that as a profession, engineers need to think more creatively and sustainably. In doing so we can then provide smarter solutions that consume less but deliver the growth needed. This applies to all of the areas covered above. The world is changing faster than we can understand and it scares us. Our role as a professional leader is to be ahead and directing in the right direction. In doing this we need to diversify our businesses to be more economically sustainable.
A strong sustainable economy is one that is diverse and in this context it is important for engineers to provide solutions for different affordabilities, to provide diverse employment opportunities and to invest in people and productivity. Productivity is the real key to future prosperity and with an ageing work force this is going to be our challenge. The solutions for this are around having a more flexible workforce and capitalising on developments in technology such as PDA’s and virtual offices etc.
As highlighted above engineers are involved with everything that touches a Community. I therefore feel that we have a duty to be leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility and for this to support and promote a prosperous local economy. It also needs to focus on addressing the gap between the haves and the have nots. This should not be a bolt on but should be integrated with what we do. For example there are real business opportunities for organisations to partner with the “Not for Profit” Sector to provide improved outcomes.
Leadership Learning’s
The Saturday session this month provided bit more of an opportunity for us as a group to reflect on how we are going and provide feedback to each other. I gained the feedback that I needed to improve on the balance between taking the lead of our syndicate group and allowing others the opportunity to lead. It was noted that I do bring a very different creative thinking approach to the different subjects that the others appreciated.
We also discussed the concept of “Community Leadership” and what it actually is. Is it just leadership in the Community or does it mean something more? The first step is to define what Community actually means for us as an individual.
There are the things that we can do and then there is a sphere of things around us that we care about that we might not have the time to do anything about. We then have three choices:
1. Disengagement - Reduce the sphere of things that you care about and forget about them
2. Empowerment – Grow capacity, join a group and grow capacity for achieving things
3. A bit of both – Understand what Community is and choose the battles where we can make the biggest difference, work with and bring together aligned organisations to collaborate and achieve more.
Methods of problem solving were discussed and the need to look at things from a cause and effect point of view. Asking why does that happen and then keep going. It’s important to look at the different layers; structures, culture, natural, skills systems, and mindset. Map it all out and then to start chunking the problem and then link problems e.g. 50% of the world is staving while 50% are obese. Is this one problem or two?
We need to be more creative with problem solving to get the right solutions. In our daily lives we constantly don’t satisfy our creative selves as what happens is that we go outside and simply buy it to fill the gap e.g. going to the theatre, listening to music, collecting art or wine.
It was interesting to reflect that this program is not about us as individuals but it is about the 100,000’s of people that we can affect through our actions to ensure that the biggest impact and difference is achieved.
To finish with here are a few one lines that I have reflected on when thinking about the topics covered this month:
You can achieve better outcomes by solving a problem strategically as one big problem instead of solving lots and lots of small ones.
Collaboration is central to achieving better outcomes.
Be conscious of what is the most important thing to you at any particular time and know where you are focusing your efforts.
What I am and what I do need to be the same thing to be really passionate about what I do.
The present is crap, let’s make the future better. We can understand the past but have no control over it, the future we can’t understand but we have the control and this is our role!
What is a Low Carbon Future? May 2010
The year is going so quickly with another month flying by. There is quite a commitment in doing this program, it will basically be my whole professional and personal development activity for the year. The one tip I would give everyone is to lock all the dates for the year in your calendar then everything else just ends up fitting around it. I might do this next year and lock in dates for the things that I see as a priority for the year.
I’ve really noticed the difference that the program is making in my work life as I now look at things much more holistically. This was evident when I attended a Regional Management Forum with Regional Directors from all the other government departments. What I found was that I had a view or a very good question to challenge the other directors from the improved awareness I’ve gained from Williamson. I feel much more rounded and as one person has said Williamson is a bit like a Leadership Finishing School!
This month the topic was around a low carbon future although it didn’t get into the detail as much as what I would have wanted. We covered more general topics such as the role of healthy parks and more general environmental matters.
The evening part of the month was at the New Wave festival (showcases young artistic talent) where we got to meet the CEO’s, Artistic Director and Performers. This is a great event and the main thing that I took away is the power of a leader to open the topic/challenge, to see how people respond to it and then support them to achieve. Its similar to the approach that I spoke about previously which was to throw an idea out there that feels right and see how people pick it up and run with it.
What is a Low Carbon Future?
The guest speakers were:
Mark Stone –CEO - Parks Victoria (Williamson 93)
Recorded Presentation by Dr David Suzuki
Roger Jones – Professional Research Fellow, Centre for Strategic Economic Studies – Victoria University
Anna Skarbek – Executive Director – ClimateWorks Australia
Elisa de Wit – Partner – Norton Rose Group
Andrew Grant – CEO – C02 Group Limited (Williamson 99)
Monique Conheady – CEO – Flexicar
Angela Rutter – Manager The Climate Project, (Williamson 09)
Firstly on the more general topic of healthy parks I found it interesting that there is now more increasing focus on heath and wellbeing rather than protecting the environment. This is similar to the focus and support of art because of the health benefits. Some people would say this is wrong but I feel that as long as there is the balance then the increased focus should be just seen and used as an opportunity, although the passion and emphasis for protecting the environment should never be forgotten.
In Victoria we do have 1/3 of the land owned by the Crown, which can be protected and as the population grows more this will happen. The main challenge and need is to have more integrated systems that bring all open public space under one framework. This would then rationalise all the different small parks and organisations such as Parks Vic, DSE, Local Government, Land manager Boards etc.
One of the reasons that climate change is so difficulty for us is that as a race, humans are inherently tribal and act locally. Now for the first time we are exposed to global issues that need us all to think globally to respond. Another aspect is that the scientists are the people who are researching and understanding carbon and climate change. However one area they are not strong in is communicating the information, in a way that impacts and is understandable to the general public. Also there is so much information that people tend to just get overwhelmed, confused and therefore react by not taking any action. Its also easier to shoot down an argument than to construct one. What we need is consolidated aligned information that is better marketed and communicated, to really inform the public. The focus needs to be on the polluting that we are doing that we can see as apposed to the bigger issue of climate change.
Our economy has to be better aligned, to be a more globally sustainable model. The ETS scheme was fairly controversial in Australia but it is inevitable that this kind of economic approach is required. As at the moment if people want to do the right thing they have to pay for the privilege. For example there is an additional fee if you take the green power option with your power supplier.
What we would like is for someone to tell us the top 10 things to do to improve our environmental footprint. There is information out there about this, but it’s not in our faces day to day and you have to actively go out and find it. We need to raise the profile of these issues and also to take leadership in each of our lives. We need to take leadership, set targets for ourselves and then assess what we need to do to achieve it. E.G for myself I’m thinking of what would I need to do to make my whole business carbon neutral? This question will only be able to be answered by us; no one is going to tell us. We then just need to assess what we are currently doing and its impacts (how much carbon) and what we would need to do to achieve a neutral outcome. As individual’s it’s much easier as we can just say how do I make my home/life carbon neutral? Actions such as turning to green power, buying local, taking public transport are all easy for us to implement.
Leadership Learning’s
Paul Higgins from Emergent Futures joined us where he spoke about the theory of thick and thin value, and the need to have thick value to be sustainable.
Thick value is the value that we provide to our customers or stakeholders. Thin value is the opposite. For example thin value is when a telephone company extends its’ standard voice message that extends the call and therefore increases the call charges. It creates value for the company but there is negative value for the customer. An example of thick value is where Google provided free directions on its site that could be used on phones. This is real value for the customer and it subsequently reduced Tom Tom’s stock market “thin” value by a third!! To be sustainable we need to unpick our business and extract the value and provide this to our customers.
To finish with here are a few one lines that I have reflected on when thinking about this topics covered this month:
* As soon as we blame others we become part of the problem!
* When we say we were too busy to do something, we are really saying that it wasn’t a priority for us.
* Forget the debate, act now.
*Make sure you think big and plan carefully!
Health and Wellbeing - April 2010
The year is going so fast!! Another month has gone by and another subject covered which ended up being very topical with all the conversation and attention around the new Federal proposal for managing health care.We had our full day on the Friday at Southern Health’s Monash Medical Centre in Clayton. We then had the Saturday reflecting on the topic and looking into other leadership topics and finally the evening this month was at the Footscray Community Arts Centre where we were exposed to the relationship between the arts and the wellbeing of individuals and community.
The guest speakers were;
Shelly Park – CE Southern Health
Brendan Murphy – CEO Austin Health
Leonie Young – CEO Beyondblue
Nikki Johnson - Author Go away Mr Worry Thoughts
Todd Harper – CEO VicHealth
Prof David Hill – Director Cancer Council of Victoria
Vicki Briggs – Manager of the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Tobacco Control
Vicki Mason – Assistant Director Dept Health
Michael Brett Young – CEO Law Institute of Victoria
It was noted that Victoria does have the best healthcare system in Australia and knowing what the UK system is like I can safely say it is a lot better than that as well!!
There were a range of issues and challenges affecting the sector these include population increase, an ageing population, culturally diversifying demographic, balancing investment in future technology and innovation but balancing it with service delivery for today, managing obesity, mental health and preventable health.
It was interesting to see that all the focus on the healthcare reform was not actually tacking the issues above or any of the really wicked problems in the healthcare system. It didn’t address the capacity issues or the interface issues between health and the community. Another one of the big issues or opportunities is with the healthcare workforce, which is in need of a radical shakeup. The workforce is highly skilled and educated however there are many tasks that do not require this (e.g. making a bed). If there was a more efficient allocation of duties to roles/new roles created there could be substantial gains in outcomes and efficiency e.g. making sure that each person is providing 100% of their value 100% of the time.
Another one is the use of arbitrary targets to measure performance that then actually drives the system to be inefficient. The UK are further advanced in this area and I can be confident in saying that it doesn’t work. For example my Mother has been in and out of hospital for 12 months where she has been treated for different or sometimes the same infections. The hospital simply get her better and send her out to meet their targets instead of working out what the real problem is. She has fought hard to get extra tests done which has shown that the real problem is that she has a blood disease whereby it attacks and infects the different organs in her body. What they were affectively doing is treating the symptoms and not the condition; it’s a bit like putting a plaster on a broken leg… it doesn’t work. Therefore I can see that these targets won’t work but we do need targets so they need to be intelligent ones that monitor the quality of care and the outcomes not the time frames. E.g. is it better to be seen and sent home from hospital in 4 hours or to actually get the care you need??
There was the view expressed that the Public Sector should become more involved in the media which would result in the Community becoming more aware of the real issues. There is obviously a risk in doing so, considering that this could eventuate in a Minister being undermined by his/her own department, but I think it is an important role which we need to do and manage.
I must say that the majority of speakers on this topic were all very passionate and the question was posed. Are you in Leadership for Leadership sake or are you in it because you’re passionate about the discipline you work in? The people who I have seen that are passionate about the discipline are a lot more inspirational!!
We did also cover the issues of mental health but I think the work of Beyondblue has been great in making everyone aware of these issues.
The presentation by Nikki Johnson was fantastic as she told of her personal story of bring up a child who suffered from extreme anxiety. This inspired her to write her first book “Go away Mr Worry Thoughts”, which is aimed at helping children better understand their emotions. You can read all about it and order her books at: http://www.nickysart.com.au/
The Footscray Community Arts Centre is a great place and well worth a visit, you can learn more at: www.footscrayarts.com/
Leadership Learning’s
We covered the topic of Mindful Leadership which as far as I can understand is basically about being more present, connected with what is happening now and being more emotionally intelligent. It’s about giving time to reflect and think.
This wasn’t that new for me as I am a fan of sitting on top of a hill looking out and solving all the problems of the week that has just passed or realise that they weren’t actually that important!! I’m also a fan of providing space thinking opportunities to all staff. This week we have just started a series of weekly sessions to cover topical subjects and are a chance for the whole team to reflect on things and think about how we can improve. I think this kind of opportunity needs to be a constant theme in our work places be it reflection time, space thinking, innovation brainstorm or any other kind of time.
A saying that I quite liked was that a Leaders role is to “Create an Organisation with a strong warm heart that sees things as they really are”.
We had a great session with Rob Moodie who is the Author of “Recipes for a great life”. (He’s also been on the TV a bit as he’s the Chairman of the Storm). This session emphasised the need to be selfish and to look after ourselves so that we can inturn more affectively look after others.
The 7 elements of his book were around:
1. Making a good connection
2. Good food and good fun (I like this one!!)
3. Embracing the arts
4. Exercising your brain
5. Getting physical
6. Finding hope and meaning
7. Working to live/living to work
Basically we only have a finite amount of time and we need to make the choices around how much time we spend on each of the different elements. For all of us there are so many distractions and some of the top time wasters were identifies as:
1. TV
2. Web browsing
3. Anxiety/guilt worrying about the unchangeable, unfixable or trivia
4. Living in the past
5. Commuting time
6. Sleeping poorly
7. Poor planning
8. Idle gossip about others
I thought I would leave you with a quote that I gave on our corporate website this week.
Make a difference. Be Creative, Dream, Design and Do! That's inspirational!
Sustainable Cities - March 2010
Firstly I would like to thank you for all of your comments both on this blog itself the linked Leadership Victoria Ning, Vicroads New Media Ning and my Facebook. I think as we get more into the Social Media age this issue will get resolved so that everyone can see everyone’s comments.
Today I am updating on the first of the monthly seminars that are split over a Friday and Saturday and then a follow up mid-week evening session. The Friday is a day of exploration into the topic with a number of guest speakers with a formal questioning process. The Saturday is a more a relaxed reflection on the Friday and an opportunity to look into and further examine different leadership topics. At the evening event we had a tour of Council House 2, which was the first 6 star energy rated building and then had a chance to hear from another couple of speakers.
Sustainable Cities – Managing Growth
As over the three separate days my views on this subject both grew and diversified I’ll list below the speakers. I’ll then discuss my overall insights into this topic and will finish with some general leadership insights.
The guest speakers were;
Pru Sanderson –CEO VicUrban
Jim Betts – Secretary Department of Transport
Peter Seamer – CEO Growth Areas Authority
Harry Barber – CEO Bicycle Victoria
Karen Mahlab CEO Pro Bono Australia
Professor Rob Adams – Director – Design & Urban Environment, City of Melbourne
David Waldren – General Manager - Grocon
I think that when we think of Sustainable Cities we need to make sure we’re thinking about the diversity of the subject. We’re talking about sustainability in the context of having homes and liveability for people now and in the future. We’re also taking about the environmental sustainability of how this is achieved e.g. carbon neutral infrastructure. In this context my thoughts are quite simple. We need to use everything we have 100% efficiently, when we exhaust this and need to create new, then we need to create the highest most sustainable solutions that are carbon, water, energy, and impact neutral.
Examples of being more efficient with what we have include network-operating plans for transport. This is where we make decisions around what form of transport will get priority and then make the whole system optimised around these chosen priorities. Another is that 7.5% of Melbourne could be used to double its population. This could be achieved through the utilisation of 5-8 story residential accommodations along public transport corridors, in activity centres and in redevelopment sites.
Other examples of being more efficient include utilising air rights (air space above train lines/freeways), buses using tramlines, School buses being used for the general public.
In looking at sustainable solutions for the future there is real possibility in using the micro to solve macro problems. For example if we think of all the space that is taken up by peoples roofs, if this was all utilised for power generation we could power the whole city.
The inevitable is that Melbourne is growing and will continue to grow. There is a basic need to provide homes so as to keep the supply demand balance and ensure prices don’t go through the roof. Hence the need for growth areas that are connected to activity centres and also the need for higher density housing on transport routes in the inner city and connecting suburbs.
There needs to be more transformational change especially with regards to the planning system/process. Another common theme was the need to eliminate silos and get different agencies working together to get better more integrated solutions e.g. integrated land use and transport. The other blockers to getting policy implemented include contractual obligations, democracy, and misaligned priorities. We do need better alignment of governance from local to state to federal. But it is all of our responsibilities to do what we can and take leadership to resolve these issues, to work more collaboratively to see the bib picture and challenge ourselves to what is achievable.
A relevant leadership insight is that we need to focus our energies both publically and privately on what as individuals and as organisations we can change… e.g. we need to have the biggest impact we can!
Leadership Learning’s
Overall it was interesting to see the different styles of leadership from the different speakers, all having their own advantages and disadvantages. It made me think that I need to not be as positive about everything as I am but to put on a black hat be more critical and question things to make sure that everything is being doe that should be done and also to look more strategically into the future and have greater strategic foresight.
There were some really insightful topics covered on the Saturday the first was around the ways in which people push-back on leadership or change, namely being marginalised, diverted, attacked and seduced. It was interesting reflecting on this as in our daily lives we use these techniques. I know my wife is an expert of diverting me when it comes to something she’s just bought that we couldn’t afford! By being more aware of these ways in which people might react it can help us to better manage a situation.
Talking around the need for pressure in the workplace but then having two much can cause negative impacts. The following was explained:
Pressure = Results
Pressure + Fear = Stress (i.e. don’t use Fear in the workplace!)
We also did a great exercise, which I would highly recommend – The Journey of Self Discovery. By knowing the past we can better manage the future. All you do is get a piece of paper and write a timeline of your life noting all the significant milestones in your life – good and bad (use the vertical scale of how each of these events made you feel). It is in actual fact quite an emotional exercise. We then did an exercise in story telling whereby one person tells the story, one person inquires and one observes. This again was a great exercise and made me realise that we all need to listen more!!
One final parting provocation was for me to think about what particular challenge/opportunity of strategic importance to VicRoads I would like to address with the input of the whole group. So if you’ve got ideas let me know!
Oh and finally I had a great insight about leadership that followers actually transform a person from being a “Nut” into a Leader as there is no movement without followers check out the 3-minute utube clip!
April’s topic is on Health so if you have any views then let me know.
The Opening Retreat 25-27 Feb 2010
I have just returned from the three day opening retreat at Lorne, both enlighten and excited about the year ahead. I’ve now learnt a lot more about the program and the participates on the Williamson journey for 2010 which I will go through first. I‘ll then provide an overview of what happened at the opening retreat including my insights and learning’s.
As I am uploading this, my wife is in labour and I should be a Dad within a couple of days and I’m sure my life and values will change!!
I would like to ask one thing up front and that is that you provide feedback on this update. I know its long but as this was the only three-day retreat all my future updates should be shorter so your feedback will be appreciated.
Learning about the Program for 2010
The program presents a unique learning opportunity that is an issues-based program rather than a skills-based program. The external community focus allows us to examine the underlying causes and forces that shape society and impact on all of our everyday lives. The main element is to explore the main social, political, economic big picture trends of the coming decade and how we can take leadership to ensure improved outcomes for our own organisations or for the not for profit sector.
The group is a mix of people from corporate, government and not for profit, all having extremely different views and backgrounds. People range from the Body Shop to Department of Treasury and Finance to the Bush Fire Reconstruction Authority. This is one of the challenging components of the program as each of us challenges each other’s values and opinions to diversify and broaden our thinking.
The actual program itself is still being developed although the dates for a Friday and Saturday a month along with an evening activity (Which Wife’s/Partners can come to) are locked in the calendar. We have all had input into the program which every year is different which allows it to bring a freshness and maintain its currency and relevance. Also on the 20th anniversary of Leadership Victoria and the Williamson Program the founding Executive Director retired and a new Executive Director has taken on the role. This is now a period of change and advancement for Leadership Victoria and for the program that makes for an even more dynamic year. The program is only confirmed one event at a time, which keeps us on our toes and allows the program organisers to adapt and change elements to make it as dynamic as possible. I think this is great as I get the sense that I am on the journey of my life but without having any other expectations and are trusting of the program and that the group I am with will also make it an outstanding experience.
Learning's from the Opening Retreat
Firstly can I highly recommend the Mantra at Lorne for a retreat!! It’s right on the beach and wherever we were we could hear the crashing sound of the waves. When we split down to do exercises in our syndicate groups we would grab the white board and head to the beach. I can’t think of a better environment to work in!! Maybe I could try and convert my office when I get back, get a load of sand, water and palm trees!!
Anyway the first part of the day was really getting to know everyone with each of us introducing our “Buddy”. My buddy is Nicole Highet who is the Deputy CEO of Beyond Blue, she’s a really interesting person and I’m sure I can learn loads from her over the year. During the introductions I realised that one of the main parts of the program is the contribution that each of us brings and together we represent such a diverse spectrum of backgrounds and views.
We did an exercise in our syndicate groups where we had to choose an ultimate Leader and present back to the rest of the group. It was interesting that most of the groups chose Christine Nixon. Our reflected reason for this was that she was the safe choice and for a first exercise everyone wanted to be respectful and not rock the boat. We chose Anita Roderick (Founder of Body Shop) and also mentioned that we did discuss Hitler and other “evil” leaders but in the end didn’t decide on them.
After this we did a session with a facilitator who is going to do a number of sessions throughout the year, his main role is to interrupt, confuse, irritate and rock our world!!! And he certainly can do this!! Things that were covered were that:
The learning zone is the productive zone of disequilibrium!!
Leadership attributes are not achievable as they are polar opposites e.g. must be a big picture thinker that also knows all the detail……
Need to be open-minded but always call the bullshit!
The world is changing faster than institutional change and this is our challenge as leaders to address this in-balance
Vision should be about how the world should be and not about what the organisation wants to achieve, as this is simply strategy.
Challenge and test all assumptions. When things look the same work out why they are different. When things look different work out why they are the same! Be creative!!
Never kill an idea, question anything that sounds like bullshit, and don’t do anything that is not critical for you to do, but then always give something a go.
At the end of the day we had time for reflection to think about what we had learnt and I think the two main reflections for me are that I need to work harder on establishing an environment of CREATIVITY at work and that the achievability of leadership is the thing that excites and inspires me.
On day two we had a speaker talking about Ethical Community Leadership which is based around, Honesty, Respect and Standing for what you believe. A simple test for any decision is the “Could I defend this if it was on the front cover of the Age” test. The presenter made me realise the real impact that our decisions have on our Community and the reality of it. We are responsible for the fact that we make the Community worried and anxious about things and we need to take a much better proactive leadership role to address this. It made me reflect that I need to be much more conscious of challenging myself to identify things that maybe fundamentally wrong.
We had another session where we went through the decades looking at themes and trends that help inform us of what we need to do in the future. It also made me reflect that what we should take a different approach and look forward 2 decades and identify the cock-ups that would have been made and then change what we do in the next decade.
We then did a session on Wicked Problems. These are the problems or issues that are adaptive, representing competing values and are ones where it is hard to understand the problem. As maybe what is identified is just the outcome of the problem and not the problem itself. For example take social cohesion, is the problem to this racial discrimination or is it the other way around. Then once you know the problem what is the solution. Other examples include indigenous health and education etc. A help can be to think of the difficult truths of a wicked problem that then may help us to find the solution. E.g. a wicked truth of social cohesion might be that as Australians we are racist or that we hold our national pride to a level that then prevents us for accepting social cohesion.
We then had another interruption/irritation about what leadership is and our assumptions around this. Challenging questions such as: What is the purpose of leadership? Does it work? Leadership is either vague or simply a badge that we put on people who take charge! We were also exposed to a whole list of things that we hear in the work place v’s what is really being said e.g.
Oh we don’t do it like that here = We’ve given up on ever getting it changed
I think that would be difficult to change = I can’t be arsed
That isn’t in the spirit of the organisation = The boss would never say yes
This had everyone laughing as I think we were all disturbed about this difficult truth that we could all connect with. Our challenge is to see past what we hear to what is “Really Being Said”!
We went through all the different categories of leaders and examples of them. These ranged from explores to dreamers to inventors and unifiers.
Who really is the leader is it the figurehead who walks around having their photo taken or is it someone else who has the vision and ability to drive the organisation to be successful or is it the combination of the strengths of all the individuals of the organisation working together?
We looked at the purpose of leadership and I think what I took from it is that a leader needs to;
Pick the right battle, at the right time for the right reasons
Take people on the journey of change. This means navigating the canyon of risk, fear, anxiety, blame, and shame to the nirvana of the next best idea that subsequently is just next door to either a crap idea or a load of nonsense. Hence this journey that the leader needs to take the people on is fraught with danger!!
A useful model is to think about a house renovation and what things need to be chucked, the things that you need to keep, the things you want to change and the things you want to add. This is the leaders renovation delight!
My final clarification from this session is that if I’m not able to add maximum value to the place where I am then I need to move on, so as to make the biggest contribution which is fairer to my work and to myself.
Finally we did our Myers Briggs and the Washington sentence Completion Test (which measures your stage of consciousness). This is part of a research project to see if on completion of the program our consciousness level has increased. For those people who would like to know my Myers Briggs I am a definite ENFP!
Oh and finally finally we did our 10 year and 10 month life plans that got put in an envelope that we will be given back at the end of the program to reflect on. Lets see if I can really see the future!!
Leadership Victoria was established in 1990 to focus on developing community leadership. Today, Leadership Victoria encompasses a number of innovative programs and community services one of which is the Williamson Program.
The Williamson Community Leadership Program provides a unique year of leadership–focused activities and experiences. Throughout the year, I will gain access to prominent and influential guest speakers in a program that is designed to develop and inspire the leaders of tomorrow.
In an action-packed year, I will be able to go behind closed doors to engage with a remarkable cross-section of today’s leaders, hear and challenge frank opinions and concerns, and learn from the experience of peers and people at the peak of their careers.
“To prosper in the future, Australia needs initiatives like the Williamson Program and a vigorous national discussion on our long term future that draws on a diversity of talent, ideas and energy that exists right across the community.”
Mike Smith, Chief Executive Officer, ANZ Banking Group Ltd
I will taking part in an opening retreat and then two full days and one evening per month, from February to November. I will upload stories and learnings from all of these events and activities throughout the year. Enjoy!
Hugh Williamson and History of Leadership Victoria
Hugh Williamson was born of pioneering stock in Ballarat, Victoria, on 4 February 1901. At 16 he joined the Ballarat Banking Company, resigning a year later to join the Bank of Australasia, the organisation where he would spend most of his working life.
By the age of 22, after working in Warrnambool, Traralgon and Wycheproof, Hugh Williamson qualified as an accountant. A year later, he was transferred to the inspectors' department of the bank. In 1928, he was appointed the youngest manager of the Bank of Australasia and opened its Dandenong branch. Eight years later, he was promoted to manager in Townsville, with responsibility for eight regional branches. He moved to New Zealand as an inspecting officer, managed an Auckland branch and, on return to Melbourne, became chief inspector.
In October 1951, the Bank of Australasia merged with the Union Bank of Australia Limited to become the ANZ Bank. Hugh Williamson was appointed its chief inspector. Three years later, he was made assistant general manager and then general manager, a position he held until his retirement in June 1961. Hugh Williamson also maintained a steady, stimulating and profitable interest in the sharemarket, the money from which he used in typically generous ways. This stemmed from his strong religious and moral sensibilities and a desire to help the community.
He enjoyed a full and active life in retirement, channelling his energies into community work. A founding Trustee of the William Buckland Foundation, established in 1966, he also worked closely with the Victorian Arts Centre Trust as its honorary treasurer. He funded the Hugh Williamson Room, which occupies a significant space within the Arts Centre.
Always farsighted, Hugh Williamson established his Foundation well before his death in 1985, personally appointing the trustees who still have responsibility for the Hugh Williamson Foundation today.
The Hugh Williamson Foundation operates under the three aims of benefiting the needy, encouraging initiative and enhancing the lives of Victorians.
Williamson had long been considering ways to shape the future leaders and volunteers of non-profit organisations.The Hugh Williamson Foundation set out to address this with the launch of an independent, non–profit organisation called the Williamson Community Leadership Program Ltd in 1990 and the first program was conducted that year. This organisation was fully funded by the Hugh Williamson Foundation for the first three years and is now dependent on financial support from the corporate, government and community sectors.
In 1995, the effectiveness of the Williamson Community Leadership Program was augmented through the addition of SkillsBank which harnesses the skills of our Fellows for ongoing pro bono strategic community involvement.
In 1998 the Board Orientation Series was developed to prepare alumni to be effective members of non – profit organisations. In 2000 this program was made available to any member of the public either serving or considering serving on a non – profit board. This series was so popular that in 2005, Leadership Victoria increased the frequency of this program to twice a year.
The organisation’s name was changed in 2000 to Leadership Victoria.
In 2006 the ExperienceBank Program was introduced. ExperienceBank is an innovative program designed for senior leaders & executives keen to offer their professional skills & leadership experience for community benefit SkillsBank also offer the skills of graduates of this program – known as Leadership Victoria Associates - to non–profit organisations.
Over the years, Leadership Victoria has continued to grow and now offers the Non–Profit CEO Workshops and Roundtables which encourage conversation and enhance the skills of Non–Profit CEOs.
Leadership Victoria also encompasses the annual lecture on ‘Leadership’, the Leadership Week Forum, and the ‘Leadership’ magazine.
http://leadershipvictoria.com/
