The merits of peer learning for leaders

Leadership is a transformative process – once you’ve become a people manager your thinking around leadership changes. As you progress every day, many factors influence how you learn, and suddenly that is no longer an activity reserved only for the classroom. Not surprisingly, the best way to learn could be through your peers.

 

The way we learn is changing

A recent study reveals that 70% of workers learn from their peers and only 21% rely on what their L&D or HR departments offer as learning options.

Because leaders bring with them a unique set of skills, knowledge and experiences, the advantages of learning from peers are further magnified when applied to this group. According to organisational development expert and facilitator of IML ANZ’s Intentional Leadership Foundations program, Kerry Irwin, sharing these aspects amongst peers enriches the learning experience.

Irwin explains, “The theory and practice delivered in a peer learning program is brought to life by the participants’ past experiences. It embeds the learnings. So whilst the theory may fade in the mind of participants, the examples shared by others in the room means the learnings are brought further to life and they stick.”

 

Diversity of thought is better

Several perspectives are also better than one. Irwin strongly believes that leaders benefit from the wide experience and views brought into the room by a cohort of peers.

“A teacher-led or trainer-led approach limits the participants to only one view. Either that of the trainer or the organisation who designed the program.”

Irwin adds that effective peer learning does not require a trainer or a teacher. “You need a facilitator who understands and encourages the flow of discussion, which brings about fruitful learning,” she said.

 

Not a silver bullet

Of course, peer learning should be just one element of the way leaders learn. Irwin points out that coaching is best conducted one-on-one and when it comes to technical learning, courses that are focused on the individual’s skills gap, and therefore the need, is best.

Adult learning delivery should vary according to the individual’s personal learning preference, and this is a key consideration as to whether peer learning is the right choice. “Some may learn better as an individual, for example online, if group work makes them anxious therefore hurting their learning experience”.

 

Learning from and with like-minded individuals has its merits when contrasted to the typical classroom-based, teacher- or trainer-led approach. Mainly when peer learning is an element of a leadership development program, participants have strong shared motivation: learning to be better leaders. Irwin also states the importance of being open to others’ views and experience. She concludes, “If they approach the session with a curious mindset – even better!”

Why do organisations need learning leaders?

Have you ever noticed that the difference between the words ‘leader’ and ‘learner’ are merely two letters? Perhaps it’s because the best leaders are ones who constantly seek to learn and encourage the same of others. We unpack why the learning leader is the best type in today’s modern business world.

Organisations know that good leaders never stop seeking development. According to IML ANZ’s latest research on employer and graduate expectations around leadership skills development, 72% of employers believe they need leadership skills development in their organisation.

In addition, the 2019 National Salary Survey found that one of the top human capital challenges for organisations is the need to develop effective leaders (44%). Interestingly, survey respondents (52%) also rated this as a crucial value-add to organisations if managed correctly.

Clearly, organisations will then seek leaders who share their view on the importance of leadership development. For the individual, that starts with their attitude towards the importance of learning.

Another benefit of having a leader who continually seeks to learn is that they will encourage those around them to do the same.

If you’d like to become a learning leader, here are some simple tips:

 

View learning as an unending process

Progress in technology, education and society mean that what we knew a few years ago may already be outdated. The time between when we acquire knowledge and their ‘use-by date’ is shrinking.

Leaders therefore, must look at every opportunity to learn and to update their expertise. When you’re the person in charge of organisational changes, the strategy, business growth and employee engagement, you cannot afford to get left behind.

 

Stop thinking that learning equals courses

As humans, we like to evaluate ourselves based on measurable, tangible and finite outcomes. Part of the appeal of attending a class is that participants normally come away with a piece of paper that tells them they’ve ‘learned’ about a particular topic, skill or capability.

Learning can come from a variety of contexts. Leaders can gain new knowledge from trialling a new process for instance. Shift the focus from the ‘outcome’ to the ‘journey’ and the lessons won’t be confined to just whether the process resulted in a win or loss.

 

Learn from your people

In the relentless cadence of managing and leading the business, it can be easy for leaders to focus only on their individual learnings. However, reflection is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate that you are a learning leader.

Involve your people when reflecting on outcomes, processes and areas of improvement for the team and the business. Each person has a unique way of viewing things and no two people will ever come up with exactly the same idea – no matter how similar they think and behave. By taking in the perspectives of others, you’ll open yourself up to experiences and ideas that would have simply been impossible for you to learn about.

Ten ways to make an impact from the middle

By Lisa Calautti

 

While chief executives and their C-suite colleagues often hit the headlines in the business media, the vast majority of managers do not actually operate at that high-profile level. Most are ‘middle managers’ who sit between senior management and the wider workforce. This silent majority can sometimes struggle to make their voices heard in their organisations, but it’s important for everyone that they find a way.

Sam Bell FIML, IML ANZ’s Corporate Services and Research General Manager, says that influential middle managers are invaluable because they help secure the willing cooperation of staff, assist in garnering support from colleagues and earn a hearing for their views and opinions among bosses and senior leaders. Influential middle managers are often the catalyst for positive change in a business – securing approval for new ideas, proposals, and initiatives.

For those middle managers seeking to develop their influencing skills, Bell shares the following tips:

 

1. BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

Influencing is about getting a hearing for your own ideas and perspectives, about playing a role in shaping agendas and strategies, promoting change in your organisation and getting approval for new initiatives and projects. You will be unable to achieve this, without a clear understanding of your exact aims and objectives. Keep up to date with the current position of your organisation and the market or sector in which it operates.

 

2. UNDERSTAND ORGANISATIONAL DYNAMICS

Gain an understanding of your organisation’s culture. Remain alert to the unwritten rules of how things are done and be aware of the dynamics of power and authority within your team, your department and the organisation. Ask yourself: Who are the prime movers and shakers? Who has a reputation for being able to get things done?

 

3. UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES PEOPLE TICK

If you are to influence anyone, whether it is those you manage, colleagues in other departments or senior managers, you need to get to know them and to understand what motivates them and what their personal and professional goals are. Pay attention to body language, tone of voice and facial expressions.

 

4. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

Network widely across all areas and levels of your organisation, so that people know who you are, what you do and what you stand for. Take an interest in people and invest time and effort in developing relationships.

 

5. FORM ALLIANCES

To develop real influence, you will need to go beyond a loose network of contacts. Build alliances and coalitions of supporters based on common interests and values. Weigh up who is most likely to support you and who will be the most valuable partners.

 

6. PLAN AHEAD

It is vital to be proactive and plan ahead if you are seeking support for a particular course of action. Think carefully about what you want to achieve, whose support you need to gain, when is the best time to introduce your ideas and what is the best way to do it.

 

7. HONE YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Communication skills play a crucial role in influencing. Active listening and questioning skills will help you to read other people and to pick up on subtle verbal and non-verbal cues as to what they really think.

 

8. LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS

Your enthusiasm and even passion for your ideas can be a powerful force. Influencers need to be assertive – to express their views confidently, to make reasonable requests of others and to set boundaries. On occasion, you will need to stand your ground and rebut criticism. But don’t allow assertiveness to degenerate into aggressive behaviour.

 

9. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES

Don’t become discouraged if your influencing tactics are not always successful. Recognise that you won’t win every battle and resolve to learn from your failures. When things go wrong, try to identify the reasons and consider what you could have done differently and what might work better next time.

 

10. DON’T LOSE YOUR MORAL COMPASS

While being influential does require single-mindedness and a degree of calculation in working towards your goals, it’s important not to lose sight of your personal values. Positive ethical influencers seek to demonstrate the benefits of their ideas, not just for themselves and their position but for their colleagues, the wider organisation and society in general.

ACCELERATE YOUR LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Leading and influencing from the middle of the management hierarchy comes with pressures from above, below and laterally. IML ANZ’s Intentional Leadership Accelerate Program equips managers with the skills required in this crucial leadership position.

The program blends facilitated learning, online study, practical workplace projects, leadership coaching, mentoring and diagnostic reports. See how Accelerate delivers development differently here.

 

The business development journey for B2B leaders

By Adrienne McLean MIML

 

Understanding the business building journey is vital for B2B leaders whether they are the business owner or involved in sales and marketing. The more the whole process is understood, the better it is for everyone involved in helping the business grow.

However, there can be quite a perspective gap between the marketing team and the sales team. Primarily because marketing sees the process in a different way to the sales team. When understanding the business development process and their part to play, the truth is that they are closely dependent on each other. In fact, they are interdependent on each other for making the sale happen.

The three most significant, umbrella parts to understand about the process are:

 

1. Setting the stage

Marketing sets the stage for the business. The truth is that the marketing doesn’t get the clients, it is what happens next that books the business. The marketing defines how to introduce products, creates visibility and awareness of the products and importantly keeps the product front of mind for when prospects are ready to buy.

The role of marketing is to build a strong foundation for the identity of the product, the brand and the connection between the brand and the target market. Clearly detailing the problems that the target market will be facing and then detailing the solutions and the benefits that the product brings.

Marketing is an overriding title to cover:

  1. Lead generation
  2. Setting a fundamental understanding of products and services
  3. How the business builds trust and credibility
  4. How the business stays “front of mind”
  5. Define the channels to distribute messages
  6. Define the strategies to raise awareness of the business

 

2. Building credibility

This is an often-overlooked section when it comes to building the business. Professionals must remember that the right mindset has a major part to play in creating strategy and seeing the bigger picture. How open minded are you to change? How ambitious are you with thinking through bold plans for growth? How confident are you to action those plans? These are leadership and management skills can influence business success.

Because personal selling is about mindset and personal promotion, it can be uncomfortable for some. Service professionals are excellent at selling their product, but when it comes to promoting themselves, it’s another matter.

Skills like presenting, speaking to groups, communicating, speaking to camera and creating video, speaking on radio, creating podcasts, speaking with clients and prospects on the phone – all these have an impact when it comes to connecting and promoting yourself and your brand or organisation.

For leaders, developing these skills in for both themselves and their staff will help the business grow. These skills are learnt skills and building their employee’s confidence in these skills will deliver huge benefits. Developing communication and leadership skills empowers individuals, giving them life skills and building their confidence.

 

3. Closing the sale

Now, this is the stage of the business development process where the sales team takes the prospect from the building of trust and credibility to closing the sale. The marketing team has set the stage then hands over the prospect to the sales team to get the sale over the line.

To do this, the sales team will need to find out:

  • What are the problems they are experiencing?
  • What are their desired outcomes?
  • What products or services can the business offer to help them?

 

Only when the sales team can respond positively to these questions do they stand a chance of getting the prospect sold. This will require regular communication to ascertain whether your organisation can provide the suitable solution.
In the B2B business world, the sales team coordinate with marketing who hold a list of prospects in the pipeline. By presenting a credible persona and connecting with the prospects, the sales team could get the sale across the line.

Ideally, for the business development system to work, the marketing and sales teams are integrated working together to build the business. For B2B business leaders, building the connections with the marketing and sales teams is ideal for a coordinated approach with the vision focused on growing the business.

Adrienne McLean MIML is the founder and principal marketing and speaking coach for The Speaker’s Practice – which runs workshops, coaching and events that help professionals to improve their marketing and communications.

IML ANZ Members in Sydney are invited to join Adrienne at the Professional Services Marketing Conference on August 17th, 2019. This information conference takes delegates on the business development journey starting with marketing and digital marketing, going through to sales topics with mindset topics covered throughout the day. IML ANZ Members who book by July 17th enjoy a 15% discount when they use the code IMLEB. To book or find out more, visit www.professional-services-marketing-conference.com.

Champions of Change

By Anthony O’Brien

Our leadership community is privileged to have two leaders who exemplify excellence and integrity and who encourage the highest ethical standards: noted humanitarian Professor Shirley Randell AO FIML and Dr Donna Odegaard AM, CEO of Aboriginal Broadcasting Australia. They share some inspiring leadership insights with Leadership Matters.

Dr Donna Odegaard AMTHEIR LONG ROADS TO LEADERSHIP

A long-time public servant including stints in the Department of the Prime Minister and the Public Service Commission, Randell was one of Australia’s 100 Inaugural Women of Influence in 2012. She is also a big supporter of International Women’s Day, which is fast approaching on 8 March. Prior to her public service, Randell taught Aboriginal children in remote schools in Western Australia before moving to Papua New Guinea to lecture at teachers’ colleges operated by the Uniting Church.

After her first retirement, Randell owned and operated consultancy businesses in Sydney, Rwanda, and Vanuatu. She also worked in a consulting role in Bangladesh in 2004–5 and 2014–15.

Darwin-based Odegaard is the founder and CEO of Darwin-based Aboriginal Broadcasting Australia, which is seeking to establish free-to-air television operations in every capital city. Currently, her unique television licences are regulated to broadcast nationally. As a result, the busy Odegaard is collecting frequent flyer miles taking her vision for her businesses to boardrooms across Australia.

It’s an impressive result for Odegaard who started her business career selling handmade clothes to support her family. She is recognised as one of Darwin’s most respected businesswomen and has strong views on what it takes to be a leader and manager today. Odegaard also has robust opinions about how business leadership has changed for women since the 1970s. She explains, “I’ve seen some massive changes in the past 30 years for women leaders, especially Indigenous women. We were breaking some ground in the 1970s but mostly in the areas of activism, politics, education and the arts.

“Today, young women are trailblazing in areas such as business, economics or they are entrepreneurial and are looking at global markets.”

Professor Shirley Randell AOWOMEN HAVE COME A LONG WAY

There were very few women in leadership roles when Randell joined the Commonwealth workforce in the mid-1960s. “I’m pleased to see that we now have many more women leaders,” says Randell who cites former Victorian Premier Joan Kirner and philosopher Jean Blackburn as inspirational female leaders.

“There’s more individual support for women today from other women, and we have more men who are fighting for women’s rights. In regard to whether we are better off, of course, we are.”

However, there is no reason for complacency, counselled Randell, “because, in reality, for example, we’re still a tiny percentage of engineers, surgeons, and parliamentarians in the Liberal/National party coalition.”

Odegaard, who earned her PhD from NSW’s University of Newcastle, agrees and even as recently as the early 2000s discovered there were still gender roadblocks for female entrepreneurs. “I very carefully ventured into the media and had a lot of pushback from males in the industry. But I just kept quietly chipping away to try and get more of a voice not just for women but for Indigenous people.”

Randell warns that when female leaders earn some successes, there can be a backlash. “When countries, for example, are taken over by fundamentalism, which we are now seeing, women’s rights are one of the first things to go.”

MEN’S VIEWS ARE CHANGING TOO

With a working résumé stretching over 60 years, Randell says she took her first significant leadership role in 1984 when she was appointed Director of Programs ACT Schools Authority in Canberra. She then honed her management skills when she was named CEO of the Council of Adult Education, in Melbourne from 1991–94. In this challenging role, Randell was responsible for 1,000 teachers and 50,000 students. When she first retired in 1996, she was CEO of the City of Whitehorse, the second-largest city in Victoria.

Men’s view of leadership had to change too over the past 30–40 years to help open doors for female leaders, opines Randell. “Quotas for women in leadership roles are important. Men had to change as well, and we’ve had these champions for change in Australia who are doing tremendous work in supporting women such as Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Things are changing to help us achieve gender parity.”

Having more women on public and private sector boards is a must to promote gender diversity, argues Randell. “On those boards and in those executive suites where men are welcoming women, the fact that women are there is a considerable incentive to other people. However, in my opinion, quotas need to be there to achieve balanced leadership across the boards.

“We haven’t yet done this with business, but Elizabeth Proust who has just retired as Chair of the Australian Institute of Company Directors has been talking publicly about the importance of targets if we want to change the position of women on business boards.”

Randell recognises the success of diversity targets in the European Union and the United Kingdom to illustrate the effectiveness of getting more women and minorities onto boards. “We need to do the same in Australia. However, for this to be effectual, you need men welcoming women.”

ADVICE FOR YOUNG LEADERS

Randell advises young leaders to pursue the routine actions involved in climbing the leadership ladder such as:

  • Working hard
  • Completing academic qualifications
  • Getting published
  • Attending conferences

She adds, “When you make mistakes you don’t stop.

“I’m a great believer that in every setback there’s an opportunity. That’s happened to me. I’ve had disappointments in my career, but there’s always a silver lining. In every loss, there’s always an opportunity.”

Odegaard advises aspiring women leaders to harness the power of social media. “Through social media women can connect to other support groups, and to networks such as IML ANZ.

“Those of us who were doing business in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s were doing it basically on the smell of an oily rag. We were doing it out of our homes, we were poor, but we had a lot of creativity, but back then we didn’t connect as a community of women because we just didn’t do that. You couldn’t even think about doing things like that.”

The roles of women in business are changing, continues Odegaard, who is confident the younger brigade “are strong, confident and are sort of quietly changing things”. The television executive is fond of asking young aspiring female leaders, “What do you want to do?”

“If they have dreams and aspirations, I advise young leaders to stick close to good people and networks such as IML ANZ.

“The Institute can also provide valuable mentoring services, and certainly good advice and experience. Get as much out of it as you possibly can.”

Resilient Porters seizes its opportunity

By Lachlan Colquhoun

 

If only he could know it, Charles Porter would be delighted that a sixth generation of his family is now working in the hardware stores which bear his name in Mackay.

Porter’s business was born of necessity and then opportunity. He arrived in the North Queensland town in the early 1880s to build a hotel and found there were virtually no building products available.

So he transported what he needed from Europe, Brisbane and Sydney by boat, and once the hotel was built he stayed behind and founded the Porter’s hardware supply business.

135 years later, Porters Hardware and Building Supplies is a fixture in Mackay but despite its longevity and strong local roots, it hasn’t always been easy for the business to thrive.

 

A BOOMING SECTOR

In fact, as Managing Director Gavan Porter (Senior) Corporate member of IML ANZ puts it, the business is only now coming out of a “perfect storm” of a volatile boom and bust cycle which severely tested its resilience.

“We’ve been through two World Wars, the Great Depression and credit squeezes, but the past four years we had a big contraction with the resource sector downturn. It was brutal,” says Gavan (Senior).

“Most of the contractions have historically been 12 to 18 months. This one went on for four years.”

However, back in the early 2000s Mackay was growing rapidly as a service centre for the resources industry. Multinational companies set up business in the city for the first time and the population increased sharply.

It created a building boom that was good news for the Porter business, where trade comprises 80% of turnover, including the company’s manufacturing divisions, which fabricate aluminium and glass products as well as roof trusses and wall frames.

The boom in Mackay also attracted the attention of bigger national hardware players. Woolworths’ failed Masters chain opened up a store, and market leader Bunnings added a second Mackay store in response.

Porters were also not the only independent operator. They had for decades been in competition with another Mackay family, the Woodmans, who had allied themselves with the Mitre 10 buying and marketing group and had a strong retail and trade presence.

“We went from one ‘big box’ store operated by Bunnings to three in total including Masters, and Woodmans had the advantage of being part of Mitre 10 with their resources,” says Gavan Porter (Junior) CMgr AFIML, who is the company’s CFO.

“There might have been room for everyone during this extraordinary growth period, but then the downturn hit.”

 

SURVIVING THE DOWNTURN

As the economy ground to a halt, the mines made employment cuts and 9,000 jobs were lost across the resources sector supply chain.

With people now leaving Mackay to find work elsewhere, new home building approvals slumped by 90%.

“This was all very new to us, because Mackay had always been a steady growth sugar and coal town,” says Gavan (Senior).

“But after all that growth, the market collapsed, and Mackay collapsed with it. It went off a cliff.”

For the first time, Porters was forced to downsize and initiate staff redundancies; a difficult process for a company where the family ethos often extended to employees.

Out of the downturn, however, an opportunity presented itself.

 

ENDING THE FAMILY FEUD

“With our external advisors we created a strategic plan in 2015 and one of the parts of that was the option of regional consolidation,” says Gavan (Junior).

“In the downturn it was clear that there were too many players in the market and the only way to survive was consolidation.”

A conversation was “struck up” with the Woodman family about a “way forward” for both family businesses, and an amicable deal was made for the Woodmans to exit the hardware supply market in Mackay and sell their retail stores to the Porters.

“It was great for two such staunch independent competitors, who had been competing in the same market against each other for decades, to come to an agreement,” says Gavan (Senior).

“It was clear that the market was very tough and there had to be an exit of one of us and they agreed to exit.”

The deal worked for both companies, and families.

The Woodmans kept other manufacturing businesses in Mackay such as aluminium and glass fabrication, roofing, and roof truss and wall frame manufacturing, where they still compete with the Porters.

That deal gave the Porters a network of stores that spanned not only Mackay and its surrounds but also extended to the Whitsunday region.

The acquisition gave Porters more stores and removed a longstanding competitor, but also introduced them to a new, and powerful, partner in the Mitre 10 group. A new licensing agreement was reached, and the company now trades as Porter’s Mitre 10.

“Mitre 10 was also a good move for us,” says Gavan (Senior). “They are a strong buying group and we needed to buy better to compete against bigger players.”

 

STRIKING UP A GOOD PARTNERSHIP

Just as timing played a role in the severity of the downturn, so it worked in the Porter’s favour in terms of Mitre 10’s own competitive position.

With the demise of Masters, Woolworths also put its wholesale hardware distribution business up for sale, and it was purchased by Mitre 10.

The move transformed the national market and made Mitre 10 Australia’s second biggest player in the hardware sector next to Bunnings.

Such was the timing that Porters went from being an independent player in an overcrowded market to being a strong second placed rival to Bunnings, with the advantage of being able to leverage Mitre 10’s brand name, buying power and marketing.

“They are the strongest partner you can have if you are an independent owner,” says Gavan (Senior). “We have always been strong in trade, but Mitre 10 is a powerhouse brand which has helped us continue to reach a retail target audience.

“And going forward we are able to use some of their benchmarking capabilities to understand where we are compared with our peers, and we’ve already been out to have a look at some of the bigger stores in the group, and this is something they encourage.”

Eight months after the deal, the acquisition is still being bedded down just as the market conditions are showing signs of improvement.

To prepare for the expansion, the Porters created an implementation plan across eight different areas of the business, from facilities management to IT and HR. Focus groups of employees, the number of which has increased by 25% to 250 across the group, were held to review and reset the firm’s culture.

The result has been the definition of five key criteria which will be ingredients of the culture moving forward: focusing on performance delivery, being driven by customer outcomes, valuing relationships, keeping everyone safe, and having fun at work. “We’ve got a way to go but we believe we are on the right track,” says Gavan (Senior).

“We’ve broadened our base, increased our trade and retail presence, and expanded our geographic footprint.

“As the economy improves we believe this will give us a solid platform.”

 

BUSINESS WITH A FAMILY FLAVOUR

The resilience of the Porter’s business, says Gavan Porter (Senior), has come from the company’s financial and management discipline which has helped it adapt to change.

A key to this has been to adopt many public company structures and processes into the way things are done, including the longstanding addition of independent directors onto the company board.

“It was my father who initiated this when he was running the company,” says Gavan (Senior).

“He understood that it had to be about the business, and not the family, and for that we needed that outside and independent perspective.”

Gavan (Senior) has been a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors for many years, and many AICD practices are implemented at board level to create a structure and a discipline.

The company has a relationship with a firm of advisors, with extensive experience in larger family businesses, who played a significant role in creating the strategic plan which identified the consolidation opportunity and led to the Woodman’s acquisition.

“We have all the structures of a listed public company, but with a family flavour,” says Gavan (Senior).

The Porters joined the Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia and New Zealand in 1956, as they sought to keep up with changes and trends to incorporate into their business.

Gavan (Junior) has been on the local IML ANZ committee for the past five years and has pursued a qualification as a Chartered Manager. “Leadership and management is very important to me, and we have such a large staff now that I find it invaluable to share current ideas and thinking,” he says.

Female Leaders in the Strongman Era

By Nicola Field | Photo by Michael Bowers

 

Laura Tingle has a celebrated career as a journalist and author. Formerly the Political Editor of The Australian Financial Review, Tingle is currently the Chief Political Correspondent of the ABC’s 7.30 program. Leadership Matters caught up with Tingle to seek her views on the changing nature of leadership, and how different female leaders have adapted their style to achieve success in the male-dominated world of politics.

In her recent essay Follow the Leader: Democracy and the Rise of the Strongman (Black Inc.), Tingle pulls no punches about the state of leadership in modern politics. She kick-starts her commentary noting that the qualities and requirements of leadership are eternal, and observes that history is peppered with great leaders who have shaped our views of what makes a true leader. In particular Tingle observes, “Political leadership should be about building a consensus for change, giving people a map to follow, and bringing together different parties to achieve an outcome.”

It’s a definition of leadership that certainly isn’t exclusive to political circles. The same notion of a leader as someone who can inspire, motivate and galvanise a team to achieve collective goals applies in the business world also.

But that may be where the common thread ends.

In Canberra, at least, recent years have seen a revolving door of leaders, and this has forced incumbents to become more focused on controlling the inner ranks of their own party rather than guiding the electorate.

 

CRASH OR CRASH THROUGH

“There is something of a ‘crash or crash through’ approach in politics at present,” observes Tingle. “Right now we see situations – not just here in Australia, but elsewhere in the world also, where consensus building is no longer valued, and this can pervade the culture in business as well as politics.”

Tingle points to former Prime Minister Paul Keating who is often cited as an example of the ‘crash or crash through’ approach. Yet she notes that he also argued, “You have to bring the mob with you”. Tingle points out that at least Keating regarded his role as setting the right direction and then persuading enough people that he was right, to enable him to follow that path.

It’s a very different matter with some of today’s leaders. And, for many people, US President Donald Trump will come to mind as the embodiment of what Tingle refers to as “our conflicting expectations and frustrations when it comes to leaders”. Tingle’s essay sums up Trump’s presidency this way: “We are as alarmed by the apparent powerlessness of American institutions to contain or direct him as we are by the erratic ignorance and nastiness of his actions.”

The prospect that Donald Trump could be a bellwether for future leadership will be worrisome for many, and Tingle observes that he could herald the return of the strongman to politics. But how will this affect women aspiring to leadership roles – be it in politics or the commercial world?

Tingle is quick to highlight that leadership is not the same as authority and power. “Leadership can come from the foot of the table, it doesn’t have to come from the head of the table,” she says. “But whether it is in politics or business, women are increasingly holding senior, leadership positions – and that is threatening for a lot of people.”

 

A REAL SENSE OF MACHISMO

This threat can make the challenges of leadership far greater for women than for their male counterparts. Tingle notes, “There can be a real sense of machismo in the political arena, and women in politics can face an extra layer of hostility.”

From power struggles to coups, Australia’s first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard faced both – and a whole lot more. Tingle was well-placed to observe how Gillard handled the challenges, and how she responded by cultivating her image to maintain her political clout. An inherent degree of sexism made this transformation essential. Tingle explains, “Since leaving office, Gillard has met other powerful women in politics around the world who tell stories of being in high-level meetings surrounded by men in suits, and being mistaken for one of the catering staff.”

Indeed, Gillard herself has commented that she would often take part in gatherings of world leaders, yet the Australian media would focus on the clothes she was wearing rather than any contribution she made. Tingle agrees with the former PM’s assessment: “Gender wasn’t everything with Julia Gillard. But it was certainly something.”

 

MISOGYNY HAS DEEP ROOTS

In offering an explanation as to why women in political leadership roles can face gender issues, Tingle refers to the UK’s best-known classicist Mary Beard, whose book Women & Power: A manifesto, which traces the roots of misogyny all the way back to classical Greece and Rome. Beard argues that silencing the voices of women was, in effect, a natural part of manhood, and this has established a precedent for women aspiring to leadership positions.

“Mary Beard has really drawn attention to perceptions of women – and how perceptions of power are hardwired within us,” says Tingle. “History has shaped our views about what people in authority should look like”.

Those perceptions saw Julia Gillard take steps to alter her image as a leader. Tingle describes the evolution of Gillard’s public persona, saying, “Over time, Julia Gillard transformed herself. She felt she could no longer make jokes, but rather had to be sombre and serious.”

Tingle notes that Beard argues women have tended to adopt many outward signals of ‘manliness’ in attempts to establish their leadership credentials – from dropping their voices when they speak, to wearing the ubiquitous pants suit favoured by so many modern female leaders.

She adds, “We see something similar in Angela Merkel [who has served as Chancellor of Germany since 2005], who always wears the classic pants suit.”

Not even a political heavyweight like Angela Merkel is immune from superficial criticism. In 2013 for instance, Le Journal International allowed fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld open slather against Merkel’s dress sense in relation to her “special proportions”.

Indeed, when it comes to political leadership, women tread an especially fine line with their wardrobe. The 2016 US election campaign saw Hillary Clinton blasted for wearing a $US12,000 Armani jacket. UK Prime Minister Theresa May sparked outrage for wearing a pair of £995 leather trousers.

Tingle notes, “These examples highlight how we are all struck by implications of what power looks like, and how hard it can be for women to break through this sort of nonsense.”

 

SHOULD WOMEN ADAPT?

Is it essential for women in leadership to alter who they are, what they wear, and even change their voice to fit in with popular perceptions?

Tingle refers again to Women & Power, citing questions Mary Beard raises about how women can be heard – and whether it involves exploiting the status quo. It’s no secret for example that former UK PM Margaret Thatcher followed the advice of minders to lower the pitch of her voice (and thereby sound more masculine) in order to win the 1979 election.

“We often do things to increase perceptions of our authority,” says Tingle, “and that can include changing aspects of ourselves to create a perception of male authority. It’s just what we do.” She points out for instance, that Julia Gillard “eventually developed a persona of speaking slowly to convey a sense of being in control.”

However, some women do successfully break the mould. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has created a very different prototype of female leadership. Not only has she seemingly missed the memo about the need to look and sound more masculine, the announcement of her pregnancy saw her public support swell.

“Jacinda Ardern is fascinating – and an extreme opposite to someone like Angela Merkel,” observes Tingle. “She is not perturbed by motherhood, just as she wasn’t perturbed by issues over whether Russian spies were in New Zealand [which was a question Ardern faced in March 2018 following the Novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the UK].”

Tingle continues, “Jacinda Ardern just stays cool, and focuses on the important things – and this has given her an authority that she didn’t start out with.”

 

TEAM AHEAD OF SELF

In her essay on political leadership, Tingle points out that, “We bemoan a lack of leadership. Some yearn for the good old days when we had it. Yet when we get it, we sometimes don’t recognise it, and even if we do, we seldom reward it.”

She explains this view saying, “We don’t have a very sophisticated assessment of leadership. We have started to adopt a one-dimensional view of leadership, and the continuing change of leadership [in Canberra] has undermined what it means to be a leader.”

According to Tingle, our structure of government has reached the point where it is not possible for any one person to bring about significant policy change, no matter how persuasive an advocate they might be. “It means the skill and obligation of leaders lies in changing relationships within the ranks of their colleagues and the electorate so that they are not operating on their own.”

Tingle believes that effective leadership comes back to identifying self-interest versus collective interest, and cites the Labor Party as a good example of this. “Bill Shorten is not always popular among his parliamentary colleagues,” she explains. “But the collective interest of the party is what drives his team to get on with the job. This is tremendously stabilising because the Labor Party as an organisation knows it won’t get into government if it looks like a rabble.”

As Tingle points out, “This demonstrates that it is possible for people to learn to put team interest ahead of self-interest. The crucial thing is for people to understand the collective self-interest in order to make rational decisions.”

It’s not a bad maxim for managers and leaders, male or female, to follow, and it provides hope that the strongman approach won’t win out – in the business arena at least.

Kicking Goals On and Off the Field

By Lisa Calautti

 

Sport, community and professional life have always been intrinsically linked for Canberra-based Dixon Advisory associate director Genevieve Bond AFIML.

As the youngest of five children who all loved sport, some of Bond’s earliest memories were watching her siblings from the sidelines, inspiring her to have a go at most sports from a young age. As a teen she played touch footy at state level and as the famous adage goes – the rest is history. “I have just never stopped playing,” she says. “There is something about sport, it’s more than just the physical workout. It’s an opportunity to de-stress and provides a strong sense of community.”

Sport has played a significant role in Bond’s life, personally and professionally. “Most of my closest friends are those who I have met through sport, I even met my husband on the touch football field,” she says.

Professionally, experiences in sport have taught her several important life lessons – many of which have translated to the workplace. “Every person on the field has an important role to play,” she concludes. “And this absolutely relates to business, when everyone works together to achieve something, there’s a shared sense of knowing that your contribution matters.”

As if the demands of touch footy weren’t enough, Bond started playing Women’s AFL as part of Canberra club team, the Belconnen Magpies. For a long time, Bond balanced her career and love for sport; progressing professionally, playing in representative teams across both sports; and still managing to find time to volunteer across both codes. “It’s important to give back, it ensures longevity for these local clubs – who can then have a positive impact on the lives of others,” she says. Now a mum of three children, Bond has scaled back her sporting commitments, but continues to play social touch footy weekly.

It was Bond’s AFL connections that led her to becoming a member of the GIANT Hearts Canberra, a women’s business coterie linked to the GWS Giants. “It’s a group of senior women in business affiliated with the sport, and it allows us to share our love for the game and benefit from each other’s support and networks. It has formed the loveliest little community bringing women together from all disciplines; from public through to private,” Bond says.

The camaraderie between the women has been rewarding on both a personal and a professional level, helping Bond develop as a person and as a leader in her career.

“I think for me my sporting connections and experiences have been incredibly valuable from a professional perspective. I’m a strong believer that you as an individual are responsible for your development, so it’s important to do things in your own time that help you improve professionally and personally. That’s what I have always done through sport, through memberships such as IML ANZ and now through the GIANT Hearts.”

Genevieve will be speaking on the impact of financial wellness on individuals in the workplace. IML ANZ Members enjoy free entry to this event to be held in Canberra on Tuesday, 14th May. Book now to attend a Focusing on Financial Wellness session in Canberra, Sydney or Adelaide.

Harmony at Heart

By Lisa Calautti

 

Preventing heart disease and improving the heart health and quality of life of all Australians is at the core of the National Heart Foundation ACT’s mission. For its CEO Tony Stubbs, a vital element in ensuring this quest is a success depends on a united team of staff focused on this mission.

 

PEOPLE AND PROCESS

Stubbs, who has been at the helm of the foundation for a decade, manages a mixed team of 12 staff, comprising of part-time and full-time employees, as well as some volunteers and contractors. Respect for each team member is crucial to ensuring everyone works as a team, he says. “Regardless of whether they are a volunteer or a leader of a major project, it’s about listening to them and also empowering and supporting them,” Stubbs explains. “But generally giving people your respect and giving them the opportunity to grow and develop and do the best they can in the particular role they’ve been given is vital.”

That doesn’t mean that achieving team nirvana is easy for Stubbs. Quite simply, he explains it all comes back to process. It is remembering the foundation’s mission, key strategy areas and work plans so people can see how their role fits into the broader picture. Once this is set in motion, bringing all team members together to deliver a strategy is possible. “Once that’s at play, then people get on board and actually start to deliver in their programs as they are clear what they need to achieve,” he says. Once a collaborative effort is put in place, a sense of unity ensues, and a sense of accomplishment is achieved, he explains.

 

GUIDING MISSION

Keeping the foundation’s mission of reducing the impact of cardiovascular disease in the community at the fore of employees across all departments from finance, to marketing to health is vital. “Importantly, it’s about saying to them, ‘What are you doing to ensure you are working towards the mission?’” Stubbs says. “It’s also them being aware of the key strategies and what they are doing to link to the mission and support them to develop their work plans that are linked to these, so they can see what they are actually doing that ultimately goes towards achieving the mission but also the impact it has on individuals in the community.”

For Stubbs, good teamwork comes back to staff understanding how they fit into a ‘bigger team’. “Teams fall apart when there is a lack of clarity around what they are trying to achieve,” he believes. “It’s having that clear process around roles and responsibilities.” Regular performance reviews, staff meetings of all employees and frequent internal communications help foster and maintain a united workforce, Stubbs believes.

 

ONE NEW HEART

Educating the public about heart disease, its warning signs and the services available to those living with a heart condition, has helped inform the organisation’s new One Heart Strategy. “We all work in very different areas,” Stubbs notes. “For example, marketing and health program areas are different parts of the business that do different bits. But, if you allow them to go ahead and do their work alone, they’ll end up doing it solo.”

The key to achieving the strategy is ensuring all teams are working collaboratively together to develop the best possible product and be clear who is leading each process, Stubbs says.

 

PERSONAL CONNECTION

On a personal level, the values of the foundation strongly align with Stubbs. His aunt died of a heart attack on the doorstep of her GP’s practice and the effect her death had on his family was something that had a lasting impact. “She didn’t know the warning signs of a heart attack or that heart disease was an issue for women,” Stubbs says.

While the foundation’s work can be seasonal, with National Heart Week in April and May being a particularly busy period, 2019 has a steady program of events, where Stubbs concedes staff will be quite busy with little breaks between campaigns.

Major campaigns this year will include a ‘warning signs’ campaign and another targeted at people aged 45-plus to educate them about the importance of getting a heart risk assessment with their GP.

The impact the foundation’s programs has on the community, and the feel-good factor of helping others is a shared passion among the foundation’s team, says Stubbs. “In most jobs unfortunately, people get caught up in the day-to-day operations and forget what is at the heart of their work,”

Stubbs says. “For us, it’s really getting back to what are the key things we want to do to achieve our mission.”

Regularly reviewing projects and campaigns and seeing data on how many members of the wider public have benefited, in addition to hearing about specific case studies, is a rewarding aspect for all of the team. “We focus on impact not output, and it’s more about what impact our projects are having on the community,” Stubbs notes.