I enjoyed being involved in a leadership development day recently held at Glendal Primary School (my former Primary School) involving about 60 student leaders (predominately house and school captains) from Glendal, Glen Waverley Mount View Primary Schools.
I presented a one hour session on leadership. In preparation for the session, 25 council officers and councillors responded to my request seeking feedback on their attitudes towards leaders and leadership traits. I also asked them to nominate one example of a ‘great’ leader (keeping in mind the audience of Grade 6 students).
There were certainly some interesting nominations in the responses I received – such as Captain America and Grant Denyer. Less surprising though was that Nelson Mandela was the standout choice with 8 of 25 respondents choosing him. The only other person nominated more than once was Malala Yousafzai (the Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban) who was nominated twice – showing just how varied people’s attitudes towards leaders are.
Below is a list of what the 25 Monash respondents nominated as the most important leadership quality (note, I have grouped these under different subheadings which I have chosen):
Skills
- Good communication
- Ability to listen
- Capacity to take advice
Personal qualities
- Integrity
- Courageous
- Dynamic
- Resilience
- Empathy
- Optimism
- Self-awareness Approach to others
- Appreciates other opinions
- Good understanding of their team
- Looks after their team
- Supports their team to grow
- Inspires people
- Make decisions based on the best outcome for all involved
Behaviours
- Lead by example
- Consistency of approach
- React appropriately to difficult situations
As well as asking respondents to nominate what they see as the most important leadership trait, I also asked them to nominate someone who they think is an example of a great leader (bearing in mind the Grade 6 audience) and, in one sentence, why?
Below are the responses which I received.
Politicians
Gough Whitlam – a principled Prime Minister who inspired a generation.- Anna Bligh – she’s intelligent, strategic, brave, humble and genuine.
- Barack Obama – doesn’t try to sell himself as the source of all knowledge, uses the expertise of others, and appears to be accessible and approachable, and has demonstrated a willingness to make unpopular decisions.
- Jeff Kennett – great leadership associated with raising the profile about depression and mental health.
Sports people
- Steve Smith – Cool under pressure, scores when under pressure, leads by example, supports his players.
- Cameron Smith (Melbourne Storm) – Always in action tackling etc, takes responsibility for team, never in trouble re drinking etc, good family man.
Helping people
- Fred Hollows – Because quite often famous people are just a name. Picking famous people isn’t always justified because we know so little about them good or bad apart from what the press wish to show us. Someone like Hollows is a better example because we can see the effects of them being a leader in their field.
Business people
- Richard Branson – His philosophies and customer service are based around his employees. Always energetic.
Breaking down barriers
- Nelson Mandela – 8 nominations.
- Someone who communicated well and used friendship and common ground to build bridges.
- This great man led by example and understood the gift of forgiveness. He was courageous.
- His relentless struggle against racial discrimination led him to experience a long term prison sentence and then upon his release continued with his beliefs to become the first democratically elected President of South Africa. His determination and resolve changed a nation and indeed the world.
- Put in jail on a trumped up charge for 20 years. Didn’t let the unjust situation change his belief in healing the nation and fixing many major problems. And he became President against the odds.
- His firm beliefs and being able to show leadership and produce change in many situations (as a rebel, in prison and in government) make him a great leader.
- Martin Luther King – because he fought for what he believed in even when it was hard, unpopular and dangerous to do so
Overcoming adversity
- Turia Pitt – She has survived horrific burns and is an inspiration to making the most out of life and its opportunities.
- Kurt Fearnley (Paralympian ) – Through great personal adversity, he has achieved much more than most. A truly inspirational man.
- Malala Yousafzai – 2 nominations
- She won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17, “for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education”.
- The young Pakistani girl who was shot for wanting girls to go to school. She is the winner of the Noble Peace prize too.
Television personalities
- Grant Denyer (on Family Feud) – might sound strange but without him knowing how to communicate to a group of people with no formal television training the show would just not be entertaining, he leads with an infectious happy/jovial personality and allows the families to follow by encouraging their behaviour.
- Waleed Aly – He is honest with his opinions and positively lead others to consider aspects that are ethical and for the good of humanity.
Fictional characters
- Captain America – a leader who stands for something, protects and empowers his team members, adapts to strengths and weaknesses and does not seek the limelight.
- Yoda – “Always pass on what you have learned”
At the beginning of the session, and before I shared the Monash staff and councillor nominations, I asked the group of student leaders to nominate five leaders themselves.
This was their response:
- Barack Obama
- Donald Trump
- Vincent Lingiari
- Nelson Mandela
- Mahatma Gandhi
Donald Trump was an interesting choice and caused a number of sniggers and contrary views and was perhaps a controversial choice. However, I think it is both noteworthy and very pleasing that with the exception of Mr Trump, the other four people nominated come from backgrounds which could not be considered prevailing mainstream orthodoxy or the usual ‘white Anglo old man’ background which in the past has disproportionately dominated in any conventional group of ‘leaders’. One area to broaden out though is gender diversity.
I very much enjoyed participating in the student leadership training and found the ideas generated by both the students and also Council’s staff and councillors to be interesting, thought provoking and insightful perspectives on admirable leadership approaches.
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