Leadership Blog

On International Women’s Day 2024, Leadership Victoria honours the trailblazers and fearless leaders that have challenged the status quo and paved the way for progress in their organisations, communities and beyond.

Today, we can all draw inspiration from the women who are leading the way and leading by example whilst forging the way forward for others. Let’s celebrate their achievements, impact and contributions towards an equitable, inclusive and sustainable world.

At the same time, we all need to continue to be intentional about addressing systemic inequalities, challenging biases, and forming policies and practices that promote gender parity.

This year’s theme of “Invest in Women, Accelerate Progress” urges us all to invest more in women – time, resources and finances – to drive meaningful change towards gender equity. As we reflect on this work, we can recognise just how much there is to be done and how leadership, now more than ever, is crucial. A key aspect of leadership is energising others, lifting them up, creating pathways for success, and fostering an environment where individuals from all backgrounds feel welcome, respected, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives.

Addressing and breaking down the barriers for women in leadership and decision-making is fundamental to fostering this environment. According to the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency, in 2022 Women in Australian workplaces held 17.6% of chair positions, 31.2% of directorships, represented 19.4% of CEOs and 34.5% of key management positions despite making up 47.9% of all employed people in Australia.

It is everyone’s responsibility to invest our time, resources and finances into changing this, working towards a fairer structure. On this International Women’s Day, we urge you, the LV Community, to consider how investing in the following in your own organisations and communities can accelerate progress through:

• Opening Space: Intentionally considering female representation in key roles and projects, and opening spaces for women to lead.
• Sponsorship, Mentorship and Coaching: pairing talented women with experienced leaders who can provide support, guidance and insights. Sponsorship and mentorship are crucial in helping navigate difficult and complex challenges as well as be identified for opportunities, build confidence and access professional networks.
• Networking Opportunities: Events, workshops and conferences offer opportunities to connect, share experiences and gain knowledge from each other. Networking also allows for women to access new opportunities and advance their career prospects.
• Diverse Representation: Ensuring that women from diverse backgrounds including those from CALD backgrounds, the LGBTQ+ community and those living with disabilities are represented and supported in leadership initiatives. Embracing intersectionality and recognizing the challenges faced by those with intersecting identities is vital.
• Visibility and Recognition: Highlighting the achievements and contributions of women leaders through awards, speaking opportunities and leadership roles in high-profile projects boosts confidence and inspires other women to pursue leadership opportunities.
• Policies and Practices: By accommodating the diverse needs of women through policies such as parental leave and work from home policies promotes a better balance of professional and personal responsibilities, allowing them to thrive in leadership positions.
• Advocacy and Empowerment: Driving and supporting initiatives that promote gender equality, diversity and inclusion empower women to take on leadership roles in traditionally male-dominated industries.
• Ongoing Learning and Professional Development: Access to training programs, workshops and resources that enable women continuously work and enhance their skills, adapt to industry changes and developments boosts confidence in their ability to lead in their organisations.

Through investing in these aspects, we can create pathways for women to excel and organisations and communities can better utilise diverse thought, perspectives and outlooks, in order to influence change.

If you are looking to gain a deeper understanding and to enhance your own leadership skills or for a woman leader in your organisation, please have a look into our Women’s Leadership Program.

Our upcoming three-day Women’s Leadership Program (in May) is for mid-to-senior leaders looking to enhance their skills, confidence and build on their network to be a change-maker in their organisation or community.

Meet Linda Liwewe, Valedictorian of the 2023 third series of the Joan Kirner Emerging Leaders Program. Named in honour of Victoria’s first woman Premier, Joan Kirner AC, the program aims to give women in leadership the tools, strategies and support to develop and advance their careers.  

Linda is an emerging leader who has spent the last several years in the Victorian public sector, specifically in the criminal justice space as a Senior Project Manager with Victoria Police. Her interest in systemic thinking has seen her contribute to a more inclusive community. This has shown through her work in managing public sector digital and reform projects aimed at greatly enhance the lives of Victorians, in particular women, CALD and LGBTIQ communities. 

As an Alum of LV’s Leader Evolution program, Linda was once again drawn to Leadership Victoria, this time through the Joan Kirner program. She strived to tackle a challenge that she was facing in her organisation as well as the barriers that many minority women face in accessing leaders representative of the communities they belong to. Her pressing question when entering the program was “How can I improve my leadership capabilities?”, a question that many leaders ask themselves throughout their leadership journey.  

In 2019, Linda wrote an article titled “Miss Not Good Enough”, detailing a struggle with imposter syndrome and developing an authority to speak on her own work. Ultimately, she concluded that the feeling of inadequacy in a room of formidable leaders was “brought on entirely by [her] own decision to measure [herself] against a group of individuals whose journeys had nothing to do with [her] own”. Today, she describes her leadership challenge as something similar, leading with confidence and trusting that the decisions she is making are the most beneficial for her team and organisation. 

Linda explained that the emphasis on psychological safety during the Joan Kirner program allowed for an environment where participants were able to freely express themselves, ask daring questions and push themselves to be creative in their thinking. After a long time of holding the perception that there was a static definition of leadership, Linda stated that “I’ve come to realise that I have to decide for myself what it means to be a leader…I thought I had to mould myself into this shape that was already predetermined, which is not fashioned into the shape of a black woman for example”. She found freedom in letting this notion go, discovering that she was able to start from a place of truth about who she is and what her values are. Linda stated that only then was she able to become a more effective leader.  

When reflecting on her greatest takeaway from the Joan Kirner program a few months later, she described the ability to lead with clarity. The most impactful outcome for how she chooses to lead today was overcoming imposter syndrome and having certainty in her skills and capabilities as a woman in leadership. Linda encourages other emerging leaders in all sectors to understand their values as a leader, and to focus on not compromising these. She also emphasises building the confidence to step outside the idea of the perfect leader and trusting one’s own expertise. 

About the Joan Kirner Emerging Leaders Program 

The Joan Kirner program aims to empower and support women to identify the leadership challenges they face, and develop practical skills and strategies to advance their leadership and careers. Delivered in partnership with Leadership Victoria, round four of the program will be held from 11 October to 20 November 2023. Learn more here.

We recognise & celebrate First Nations people who have occupied and cared for this continent over 65,000 years. Particularly this week, as part of the NAIDOC celebrations, the Leadership Victoria team acknowledges the leadership, contribution, and impact of First Nations alumni.

Troy Austin (WCLP‘07), Karen Milward (WCLP‘05), Anthony Cavanagh (WCLP‘15), Deb Walsh (WCLP’09), Laura Thompson (WCLP’18), Stephen Korp (WCLP’19), Helen Kennedy (WCLP‘98) and Kylie Belling (WCLP‘17) in particular for the ongoing guidance and contribution to the Williamson Leadership Program, and more broadly to Leadership Victoria, including through the Alumni Reference Group.  

I’m going to talk about this year, however, to do this means picking up a thread from 2018. During Laura Thompson’s Williamson experience she was wondering ‘How do we make change? How do we influence?’. Past participants of LV programs will know the ritual of thanking speakers with socks. Laura recalled how she was ‘in awe of the way program participants weaved a story into the socks … thanking speakers and acknowledging their contribution to a more inclusive, healthier, happier and harmonious Australia’. Plain socks moved over for a new Aboriginal design from Laura.

However, this is about more than socks. The leadership challenge to Leadership Victoria, alumni, and those who follow in future programs, is one of acknowledgement. Of the deep, rich history in this Country. Of each of us recognising and respecting First Nations peoples and of the contribution to a more inclusive, healthier, happier, and harmonious Australia for all. 

We acknowledge Laura’s leadership and also her contribution to Williamson this year as a speaker. Also, Anthony Cavanagh, opening the Williamson Welcome Retreat with a Welcome to Country to the group in Marysville and more recently speaking about the work of Ganbina, and Stephen Korp guiding the group through a workshop to understand on a deeper level the theme of Privilege. We also thank & acknowledge Stephen’s colleague Simon Penrose, Denis Rose from the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owner Aboriginal Corporation, Larissa Falla and Rianne Hood from Ganbina, Leanne Miller, Levi Power and Lisa Thorpe from the First People’s Assembly of Victoria for the generosity of their contributions, insights and time with Williamson participants this year.

From socks have come scholarships. Catalysed by alumni from 2018 and supported by others in the LV Community, Aboriginal Victoria and Eastern Health Foundation, Williamson has a number of scholarships for First Nations people next year. They are a pathway to continued leadership, contribution, and impact of First Nations alumni for years to follow.

NAIDOC is a celebratory reminder of First Nations leadership, and that the land on which we stand – the very first footprints on this Country – belong to First Nations peoples. Always Was, Always Will Be.

– Angela Rutter (WCLP’09 and LV Program Designer and Facilitator)

Visual: This image story featured is from Stephen Korp (WCLP‘19). It represents the 40 Aboriginal languages in Victoria, with the white lines representing their path to all come together as one. Always Was, Always Will Be.

Leaders will never do more important work than they’re doing right now to manage a crisis while building the future.

In my consulting work, I’ve hosted numerous conversations in communities across country Victoria over the last seven months, with people trying to take the best out of circumstances that radically changed their outlook on life and they’ve taught me some really important lessons about leadership that I can best summarise through these observations.

They often reminded me that we can choose to stay locked down (in every way) through negativity, resentment and anger or we can take opportunities to create better days without trying to somehow get back to a normal that no longer exists.

The numerous leaders I’ve learned from most recently don’t have roles in big organisations or companies. They don’t have executive power or impressive titles. They described themselves as “just regular people…we’re not big or important”. Some are members of local associations and clubs. Some volunteer, others hold down a couple of jobs (all vulnerable) and some are unemployed. They seem indifferent to acknowledgement or reward and are literally offered leadership because they’re people of good will who are selfless and offer a positive, problem-solving orientation.

These people turned up to our sessions thinking that discussions to explore positive ways for the community to move beyond the covid crisis would be worthwhile. They came along optimistic about creating a more positive future if people listen to each other and share ideas to take small steps toward bigger successes.

And they were right.

Our sessions gathered countless stories of community-building efforts such as growing a diminishing volunteer base, of successful advocacy that raised money and political support for new infrastructure, of starting initiatives to grapple with local problems, of support for vulnerable groups like young people at risk of poor mental health, or the elderly or isolated who are suffering, of local collaborations around resilience and recovery, of plans to re-energise

community spirit and support local commerce through sport, music, play, marketing local produce, encouraging tourism and rethinking the use of public spaces.

To me, these people are extraordinary connectors (because they rally others, they network, encourage, urge and persuade) and act as spotters (of opportunity and luck) and boosters (because put simply, they make things happen, “we always have the next project ready to go”).

They show up. They adapt (even if during 2020, this has meant upending their lives) and show others it’s possible to move beyond a longing for a lost past. They accept that many changes we’ve had to make during this year will stick. And not all changes have been bad.

They have a go. “We don’t always have a firm plan…we nut things out and change as we go so we don’t try to measure success too early. That’s why we keep and share a journal with ideas and lessons”

They don’t wait for help to arrive. They get on with it. They admit, “change is hard, we make mistakes, we mess up but then we just think roadblocks are new challenges and we look for others to help”.

Their positivity and enthusiasm is infectious.

These are so many Victorians who have showed up and become purposeful leaders without even knowing it!

At Leadership Victoria we have many opportunities to seek out and support more purposeful leaders, to help strengthen their skills, spread their stories and show all Victorians what we’ll need to know and do to reset the best of community life. I for one, can’t wait for more leadership lessons.

Chris Kotur
Leader In Residence, Leadership Victoria

Looking for some inspiration, and wondering about what to expect from the program experience? Here’s the advice a Williamson alumna would give her pre-Williamson self. 

 

Well hello over there

It’s me, the future you

Don’t worry, I won’t stay too long

I’ve got a job to do

 

I see you’re busy packing

Sprawling clothes all over your bed

Heading to Marysville in the morning

Would you pause a moment instead?

 

You see, I feel compelled

To let you know some things

To prepare you for the year ahead

And what the future brings

 

Don’t roll your eyes, I know I know

It’s more fun to just jump in

But here’s a handy tip or two

That might help before you begin

 

Get a decent backpack

A comfy pair of shoes

You’ll be walking A LOT

And sore feet bring the blues

 

Oh, and really get up to speed

On Zoom meetings too

Best not to faff about

Just before every session’s due

 

And really make the effort

To mingle and carpool and connect

The people are the bomb

Some of the best you’ve ever met

 

Now please listen to this bit

It’s something I’d love to change

Take a few days off work at the very end

You’ll be so utterly drained

 

In fact, try give yourself some time

All throughout the year

To reflect and think and wonder

At the experience you’ll soon hold dear

 

Oh, and how you’ll grapple

With the simplest thing ever

Simply putting up your hand

Amongst a group so confident and clever

 

But there’s going to be this moment

That you do, and oh my lord

It’s really something special

People will applaud

 

There’s really nothing like it

Facing nerves and fear front on

The adrenaline, the deep breathing

Believing you are strong

 

So you see, the thing is this

You gotta get brave

Keep saying it over and over

It’ll change the path you pave

 

Just like the people before you

And those that will soon follow

You’re now on the hook officially

To make a better tomorrow

 

So here I am, before you

The one year older you

A bit more confident, a bit more purposeful

Perhaps a bit more true

 

 

I’ll let you get back to packing

Here’s my farewell wave

Remember this, if nothing else

Now’s the time to get brave!

 

Start an application today and take your first steps towards purposeful leadership.

In March, the 2020 Williamson cohort are exploring the theme of belonging and its different forms in the context of place, identity, community and work. They’ll be examining attitudes towards cultural diversity, inclusion and heritage and considering the challenges for community groups as well as organisations seeking to meet social need. What does it mean to belong? What does a socially cohesive society look and feel like? What voices are not being heard? And what is the experience of exclusion? As part of the Williamson program experience, participants will be visiting The Islamic Museum of Australia. Maryum Chaudhry, General Manager of the Islamic Museum of Australia shares her thoughts on belonging:

Belonging by Maryum Chaudhry (WCLP’14), General Manager, Islamic Museum of Australia

 

As I write this, the team here at the Islamic Museum of Australia is in the midst of developing an exciting new exhibition, highlighting the voices of ‘every day’ Muslims in the community.

It has been interesting to hear the voices of people, all of whom come from a minority group or groups: They’re all Muslim – some wear pieces of clothing that make them identifiably so – they are mostly non-Anglo, hailing from countries across Asia, the sub-continent, Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

Some have recently, or not so recently come from elsewhere: carving a place in a foreign country, learning a new language, culture and way of life, finding employment and embedding themselves and their families into their new country.

Others are the voices of first and second generation Australian-born Muslims: They’ve known no other country to be home, yet they’re pigeonholed by their religion, clothing or colour of their skin by others and considered to be from elsewhere.

It should come as no surprise then, that one of the underlying themes arising from the stories captured for the exhibition, is that of belonging.

The common thread that binds them is that a sense of belonging is often driven by self-acceptance and indeed, finding this is very much a journey for the individual.

This said, harnessing a healthy sense of belonging is not a one-way street. It begs the question: in the workplace, as in the wider community, what can others – specifically those in leadership roles -do to enhance the sense of belonging of others?

Empathy is critical, yes. But so too, is leaning in to the unknown, embracing the opportunity to learn something new, no matter how big or small.  Certainly in the case of Islam and Muslims, much of what is understood by others is limited to what they read and see in the media – this in itself is often the driver of negative narrative.

Personally, I find it’s far more productive to respond to sincere questions, than to laugh off the feigned pity and jokes about our inability to join the rest of the team in finishing the working week with a glass of wine. The latter only serves, perhaps unconsciously to draw a line between ‘us’ and ‘them’, and feeds into any self-doubt around belonging.

A handful of our ‘every day voices’ were quick to acknowledge they were perhaps more fortunate than most, applauding their employers for seemingly small but significant measures: the occasional pilates class instead of drinks at the pub; support during Ramadan including adjusted hours; the provision of a place to pray, twice a day for ten minutes at a time; or simply asking questions to better understand the religion.

What can be said with little or no argument, is that to not feel a sense of belonging, to feel excluded, is a lonely place. At work, this can translate to poor workplace culture, poor productivity and a lack of pride in one’s work.

Ignorance, indifference, fear and apathy are the best of friends to social incohesion, yet the solution in part is simple.

Lean in to what you don’t know and take affirmative action. More and more, minorities are occupying a greater space in the workplace and at the Boardroom table, where they belong. Commit yourself and your team to cultural awareness training (there are tremendous programs on offer, including one offered by the Islamic Museum), ask questions, engage and embrace.

 

Maryum Chaudhry (WCLP’14)

Maryum is the General Manager of the Islamic Museum of Australia. She is the President of Sanad Foundation and Vice Chair of Centre for Muslim Wellbeing. She was previously a Commissioner for the Victorian Multicultural Commission, Vice President of Islamic Council of Victoria (CV) and CARE With ME (foster care), Member of the Women’s Legal Service of Victoria, Alumni of the Williamson Leadership Program and an AFL Multicultural Community Ambassador. Read more about the Maryum and the Islamic Museum of Australia here. 

The Everyday Opportunity

By Kipp Kaufmann (FCLP’17)

When was the last time you had a great opportunity just drop in your lap?

You may have been working towards a new challenge or opportunity that has come along or maybe you didn’t see it coming and suddenly there it was. Many of us are constantly focused on the ultimate goal and asking questions such as:

“When will my next leadership opportunity come up?  What is the next ‘BIG’ thing I can do? What change can I lead?  Why hasn’t it come yet?”

Instead, we rarely focus and enjoy the process we take to get to our goal.

Every day presents an opportunity to rise to the leadership challenge. Instead of being so focused on the next big thing, we can gain so much by focusing on the individual moments of the leadership journey that make a difference. This doesn’t need to be groundbreaking, it could be as simple as finding time for someone when you don’t have any, chatting with someone you don’t know or do something that makes you uncomfortable.

For me this can be well summed up by looking at the sporting world.  It’s often assumed that a sports person only focuses on the major goal for the year – “we must win the Grand Final”, “I must get a gold at…” but every great team leader (coach, captain or athlete) is also focused on the moment and the current day practice. Reaching a goal and great performances are about delivering consistently.  It’s this consistency which develops trust, interest and success.  Great performances have been proven to be a summation of a series of moments that led to a great outcome.

It’s incredible to consider the ongoing moments we are offered and how they can develop our leadership capability.  Some days you might have particularly intense leadership challenges while others come easy. Whatever the opportunity that presents itself, it’s a chance to learn and improve. Leadership shouldn’t be defined by one major opportunity or achievement, instead it is a series of moments over a lifetime where you choose to lean in and take the leadership challenge.

The next time you think that you are doing something mundane think of how a change in this moment can link to a series of moments to demonstrate exceptional leadership.

 

Kipp Kaufmann (FCLP’17)

Kipp is currently the General Manager – Sport at Cycling Australia where he is responsible for international and national events, coaching and officiating.

He has previously held roles as CEO of Cycling Victoria and the Alberta Bicycle Association.

His journey in sport management began at McMaster University in fundraising, alumni development and the 2010 Commonwealth Games Bid for Hamilton.

Moving to Australia to pursue his Masters degree he had roles at Yachting Victoria, 2006 Commonwealth Games and Blind Sports Australia.

Kipp also has a Masters of Business (Sport Management) from Deakin University and a Hons. Bachelor of Kinesiology from McMaster University.

Kipp is a graduate of the Leadership Victoria Folio Program.