Results Are In! Find Out the Lasting Impact of Williamson Six Months On
12/08/2025
We are living in a time that demands more from leaders than ever before. Across every sector and community, we face challenges that are uncertain, interconnected and constantly shifting.
Some describe this as VUCA - volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Others call it a polycrisis - where issues like climate change, economic instability, and geopolitical conflict collide all at once. Whatever term you use, the reality is clear: leadership today requires new ways of thinking and acting.
Why Adaptive Leadership Matters
Research shows the scale of the challenge. A 2025 McKinsey and World Economic Forum study found that 84% of executives feel underprepared for today’s uncertain times.
Here is where adaptive leadership provides the capability to respond, learn and adjust. Studies have identified the key traits of adaptive leaders as flexibility, empathy, innovation, and long-term vision. These qualities make a measurable difference, with research showing that innovative leadership directly enhances organisational resilience and performance (EconStor).
Leadership development can get sidelined in tough times, but it shouldn’t. Leadership is an accelerator of impact. Strong leadership and connections enhance resilience, enable better decisions in crises, and make every other investment more effective and future-focused. The real question is not whether we can afford to invest in leadership - but whether, in these times, we can afford not to.
In the below video, Leadership Victoria CEO Katherine Ellis (WCLP ‘07), Leadership Victoria Leader in Residence Chris Kotur (WCLP ‘94) and Leadership Victoria Faculty Lead Dr Katy McDevitt, speak to the importance of adaptive leadership in today’s climate alongside Leadership Victoria Alumni.
How the Williamson Community Leadership Program Equips Leaders for the Future
We recognise that leading through polycrisis requires collaboration and systems thinking, not individual problem-solving. No single sector can meet today’s challenges alone. We need leaders who can draw together diverse voices and mobilise collective action, which requires deliberate investment. Leadership used to be seen as top-down and individual - the ‘hero’ leadership model. Now, the most effective leaders are those who share power, listen with curiosity and humility, inspire hope and agency, and build collective approaches across boundaries.
The Williamson Community Leadership Program (WCLP) is designed to meet the need for more adaptable leaders. For over 35 years, it has provided an environment where leaders come together to stretch their thinking, confront complexity, and strengthen their capacity to lead change.
Through immersive experiences, exposure to diverse perspectives, and a powerful network of peers in addition to cutting-edge leadership development tools, WCLP challenges leaders to see beyond their own lens and grow the adaptive leadership skills our communities and organisations need today.
Watch the below video to hear how WCLP Fellows and current participants describe the program and it’s impact on their leadership, in their own words.
