Recently I attended the Australian German Association (AGA) luncheon with Graham Bradley – President of the Business Council of Australia.
  
Graham has a lot of insights for business leaders. Graham has been a partner with McKinsey and Company. From there, Graham’s career has included national managing partner at Blake Dawson and Managing Director of Perpetual Limited before being elected as President for the Business Council of Australia. Graham is also Chairman of HSBC Bank Australia, and Stockland Corporation  

Graham’s subject of discussion for the luncheon was: 
  
Building Common Ground with a Minority Government. 
  
Firstly, Graham explained about The Business Council of Australia, an organisation which represents over 120 of the largest employers in Australia - representing over 50% of exports and more than 30% of Australia’s GDP 
  
Their membership is united in the need for a strong and productive economy that considers the impact of a regulatory regime on our economy. 

Graham shared the similarities with Australian and German economies… 

• Both Australia Germany have federal women leaders in minority governments that are emerging strongly from the GFC
• We both have a low national debt and unemployment
• Both economies advocate free trade
• Another very interesting similarity is our dependence on China

  
Looking at the Differences between Australia and German economies… 
 

• Germany has a strong trade surplus. Despite 50 year high terms of trade, Australia remains an importer
• Australia has a strong currency whilst Germany is tied to the weakened Euro
• Australia’s interest rates are strong whilst Germany’s are weak
• Australia has a free floating currency whilst Germany is tied to the Euro
• Australia has a growing population whilst Germany has a stagnant population
• Australia has a resource based economy whilst Germany is a manufacturing based economy

  
Some issues affecting both our economies are similar. 
  
1)      China – with global imbalances, how does China lead beyond recession 
2)      US and Europe deficits 
3)      Strengthening banks without credit squeezing globally 
4)      How do we achieve energy security (Carbon Emissions) 
5)      Population Policy 
  
The BCA have looked at several things they want the coming government to do to lift productivity, and support a stronger economy and community prosperity and they have been encouraging the government to focus on a few priorities. 
  
The reality is, that with the Rudd majority government there was a lot of discussion, though these priorities were not put into practice. 
  
The key areas of priority for reform in our minority government leadership are: 
  
1)      Gather community support behind future changes 
2)      Focus on a consultative government 
3)      Both parties need to look for common ground 
  
It will be a disaster for Australia if we don’t take advantage of the opportunities we now have to react to the 5 key issues explained above now that we have a minority government. 
  
So what are the 5 priorities that The Business Council of Australia sees as most important? 
  
1) Give us a National Infrastructure Plan 
Currently Australia is behind other countries with a growing population 
A cost benefit analysis is required. 
Infrastructure Australia can help with providing solutions, given the poor planning to date, particularly with State governments. 
BCA recommend an audit of infrastructure priorities and recommend Infrastructure Australia as the best for doing that – independently. 
Our future infrastructure needs with future population growth will require private economy investment to build this investment in our infrastructure. 
  
2) Energy Security Policy 
Future energy needs and costs for power uncertainty still exists. 
If you look at Germany – nuclear power is key 
Australian’s need to know more about where energy is going to come from and what are the costs. 
  
3) Tax Reform – Development of a Common Ground 
Graham suggests that BCA are critical of some elements of the Henry report but it remains a good starting point for a long-term comprehensive tax reform agenda.

An increase in GST is recommended in replacement for a reduction in other taxes that don’t disproportionately favour wealthy people. To date neither government party are committed and the BCA recommends the Tax Summit forum in June 2011 should put all options on the table to find solutions. 
  
BCA responses to government have suggested an increase in GST and reduction in personal and corporate tax rates. These changes will require a process. With no process there will be no common ground. 
  
4) Refocus Council of Australian Governments (COAG) – with common ground 
COAG has become the dumping ground for every policy. With 80 ministerial councils and 82 priorities. 
What’s more important is that the hard decisions do not get traction. 
The BCA recommend COAG are re-focussed, particularly in the areas of competition reforms to energy and transport, business regulation, infrastructure, education and e-health.
  
5) Independent Office of Budget Integrity. 
An independent group with a mandate on their own initiative to review government spending periodically is recommended. 
Looking at the ‘Sacred Cows’ of funding should be embedded in review. Particularly considering 80% of budget spend is based on previous commitments. 
All spending requires independent reviews 
  
Whether all these 5 priorities come into place is to be determined. 
  
One thing is for sure, in a minority government where both parties and their political partners are living in a fragility of government, the BCA are seeing more interest in working together with business. 
  
I won’t go into the answers that were privy to people attending the luncheon during question time. To experience these discussions – attend future AGA events. Given the exclusive attendants – questions and answers always provide the best information to complement their presentations – under ‘Chatham House Rules’.

If you like this article you are also likely to enjoy:

A Luncheon with Dr Bob Every - Chairman of Wesfarmers and Boral

A Luncheon with Bill Evans - Chief Economist for Westpac

A Luncheon with Professor Roy Green - Dean - Business UTS 

Another Directors Report by Grant Crossley

Adaptive Leadership and the Need for Reflection

Several months ago Australia acquired a new Prime Minister.

This was an extraordinary and unusual event for a first term government to depose an existing leader and elect a new one. The consistent reasons reported for this change of leader were the themes of a breakdown and a lack of confidence in leadership. The failure in leadership was not about any paucity of intelligence, or a deficiency in qualifications, or any immoral intentions, or an insufficient understanding of the challenges that needed to be dealt with. What was in limited supply were skills such as the ability to consult and listen; the willingness to seek and value broadly based experienced counsel; the capability to delegate and trust others; the aptitude to build a high performing team and the facility to create enough consensus to ensure that others were taken on a journey of change. There was no evidence of any reflective processes or incorporation of feedback mechanisms.

I have been reflecting that one of our often innate and immediate leadership responses in a time of crisis or uncertainty or chaos is to try to concentrate power rather than devolve it. This is because our natural human response is to try to control and command the situation when we are dealing with complexity, a high degree of uncertainty and challenging environments. What we should be doing instead is having high visibility, devolving issues to the experts in our team and making ourselves the ‘glue’ that holds it all together that allows the best choices and decisions to be made.

We can all learn from Kevin Rudd’s experiences and consider how we could become better leaders and what is that we need to personally do to develop and hone our leading skills. Wise leadership requires we expand our abilities to:

• act with courage,

• create, develop and use a team that is high performing that plays to individual strengths,

• strengthen our individual character based skills – integrity, positive influencing, communication abilities, wisdom capacity

• increase our communication abilities, and

• improve our processes of listening, reviewing, modifying, valuing feedback and executing.

When times are tough, the issues complex and the pressure feels relentless, it is important that we pay deep attention and part of this requires that we give ourselves time to reflect. One of the recurring themes that are highlighted about Kevin Rudd’s leadership was that he slept very little and didn’t have any personal space or time to consider the broader implications of what was unfolding.

Recently I did a course which examined key concepts held by the ancient Greek philosophers (including Socrates, Plato and other different schools of thought). One of the most interesting insights I had was no matter what the philosophical underpinnings, the ancients emphasized that to create and foster wisdom requires daily ‘spiritual’ exercises that build fitness.

The ancients saw that as fitness and daily exercises were required for the physical, they were also required for the ‘spiritual’. Spiritual exercises were not based in a religion or an ideology but were practices of reflecting, meditating, contemplating individual life impermanence, reading of texts, writing and engaging in robust discourse. All of this with the aim to facilitate the individual to interrogate reality, where appropriate challenge the status quo, question their own and group beliefs, thinking and motivations and act with wisdom.

The Ancient Greek view of spirituality was that individuals must embrace their own humanity so that they could be the most fully human, alive, aware, and wise, living in harmony with others to their fullest capability.

One of the best passages on the rationale for daily spiritual exercises quoted in book “Philosophy as a Way of Life” came from George Friedmann, who in 1942 wrote: “Take flight each day! At least for a moment, however brief, as long as it is intense. Every day a ‘spiritual exercise’, alone or in the company of a man who wishes to better himself….Leave ordinary time behind.

Make an effort to rid yourself of your own passions…. Become eternal by surpassing yourself. This inner effort is necessary, this ambition, just. Many are those who are entirely absorbed in militant politics, in the preparation for the social revolution. Rare, very rare, are those who, in order to prepare for the revolution, wish to become worthy of it’.

Here is a list of potential activities that can be used to create and build your menu of exercises to provide a means to reflect and assist our personal leadership journeys:

• Writing, journaling

• Relaxation, meditation and breath exercises

• Imaginative and mindfulness exercises

• Music – listening, chanting, playing instruments, singing

• Story making/telling

• Nature – connecting to nature through solitude, walking, reverence and living/being in nature • Painting, drawing, collage, image making – giving an opportunity for subconscious images to come forth

• Art making in any medium or any form that we are drawn to

• Poetry – reading, writing, reciting

• Dream work – activating and working with dream images and stories

• Sacred/Ancient texts – working with them in a deeply in ways outlined in this letter

• Movement of the body – yoga, dance, walking or any physical exercise which facilitates and allows you to feel an expansion of connection

• Intentions, Prayer and Blessings – not a necessarily a religious view of prayer, but one that suits you i.e. labyrinth walking, personal ritual, showing gratitude and creating intentions In my view adaptive and wise leadership requires a daily willingness and ability to broaden and deepen inner capacity and capability.

Such capacity and capability (foundation or platform building) allows and facilitates wise holding (internally and externally) of conflict, confusion, uncertainty, fear, opposing views/ideologies/forces, chaos and complexity so that the wisest path can be navigated which will allow the best resolution or an elegant solution to be created. The benefit for such discipline and attention accrues to us as individuals as well as our organizations.

Lindley Edwards July 2010

About the author: Lindley Edwards is the Group Managing Director of AFG Venture Group (www.afgventuregroup.com) and its various subsidiaries. The Group undertakes corporate advisory work which involves merger, acquisition, divestments, strategic consulting, fund raising and licensing for its client base of public and private companies based in Australia and in Asia. AFG Venture Group has a full or representative office in nearly every Asean country. In addition AFG Venture Group also has a joint venture with Gemini Carbon, the UK carbon trading company.

Learn more about Responsibility and Responsible Leadership and The Responsible Leadership Global Road Map project at www.TotalExec.com.au

Source:

Total Executive

http://www.TotalExec.com.au

Ralph Kerle interviews Elizabeth Ann MacGregor about her participation in the 2020 Summit and the role of art in the development of business, creativity and education

<p>Ralph Kerle interviews Elizabeth Ann MacGregor, Executive Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney Australia from Grant Crossley on Vimeo.</p>

Source: www.TheCreativeLeadershipForum.com

One of Australia's most valuable assets is the great capacity of our people to innovate and adapt to change.

Our history and achievements provide proof that Australians are resourceful and flexible. In today's increasingly globalised world, these qualities are even more important.

Innovative techniques have applications for all aspects of the Australian economy, including finance, education, human resources, mining, manufacturing, design and construction, science, medicine and agriculture.

Investment in innovation is crucial in helping to secure our economic future. Backing Australia's Ability - the Australian government's five-year $3 billion commitment to innovation - is built on pursuing these endeavours.

John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia

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