Former Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon delivered last Thursday’s Lunchbox/Soapbox on the subject of leadership. Comparing what she argued are old and new models of leadership, Nixon stressed that qualities such as independence, lateral thinking and openness to the needs of others are key to leadership in a progressive society. She also acknowledged the reluctance of some to leave behind the comfort and security of militaristic, top-down command, a reluctance she attributed to a reluctance by the old guard to relinquish power.
Nixon pointed to Prime Minister Julia Gillard as an example of a new style of leader being judged on an outdated model. Dismissing the media’s undermining “voice of ridicule”, she argued that Gillard is dealing with “an incredibly complex system where she is in a minority government, having to make sure that a whole range of other people are a part of it”. This ridicule, she says, is borne from fear. Rather than being weak for capitulating to the ideas of others, though, Nixon praises leaders like Gillard and Obama for their strengths in consensus governance.