This week marks the halfway point for Future Shapers, the community leadership course I was lucky enough to get a scholarship for this year. We’re essentially teetering at the top of a very steep roller coaster. The first half of the year was loaded with experiential learning, or the course ‘theory’ and the second half is dedicated to our community projects. However, we still have a trip to Canberra in September which I’m very much looking forward to.
The halfway point is a great opportunity to reflect on what progress has been made so far. Fortunately this blog meant I was able to reflect back to the exact moment I decided to apply to be a Future Shaper. At the time, I was so full of self-doubt. I didn’t think I had enough leadership experience to warrant being part of the group. Luckily I have some very supportive and encouraging women in my life who told me to stop being so ridiculous and apply.
Boy, am I glad I did.
I pretty much wrote a whole blog last week about how much I’ve changed over the duration of Future Shapers. After discovering that my core strengths are honesty, gratitude, hope, curiosity and zest I’ve been able to lean into them more intentionally and become far more effective. I’d argue that the flipside of clarity of strengths is revealing your weaknesses and navigating these more thoughtfully has really helped me reposition my expectations of myself.
Part of the feedback this week came from the group as we were able to share with others where we’ve witnessed them using their strengths. This resulted in an envelope bursting with kind and encouraging words that I will treasure and keep for reading whenever I’m feeling a bit shit.
As I mentioned on the day, it can be really hard reading the label from inside the jar so getting this feedback is really useful. I think it goes without saying that all of the feedback was awesome! All the things I now believe about myself were confirmed over and over again. My vibe is energetic, confident and people feel good when I walk into the room (isn’t that awesome!).
There were a few comments in particular that struck me. One comment was that someone sees the above vibe in me and wants to apply it to their life. Without sounding like a wanker, when I do something that resonates with someone so much that they’re willing to change their behaviour it fills me with an immense sense of pride. This is being the best kind of influencer. It makes me feel like I’ve won twice! Not only do I get to live it but someone else gets to benefit from it as well.
Another repeated comment through the feedback was encouragement to keep going. What Matt and I are trying to do with HUCX is pretty outrageous if you ask me. 1000 houses a year is optimistic to say the least. The terms ‘change the world’ and ‘meaningful impact’ were used more than once and every time I read it I felt my ability to actually change the world increase. No one doubts our ability to achieve this goal more than me it seems! This is good news and something I must keep in the front of my mind when the aroma of self doubt starts to waft back in.
Sitting at the top of this roller coaster also gives me a chance to look forward and think about what I want to achieve for the rest of the year. A successful community project goes without saying but there are few more aspects of good community leadership that I’m interested in exploring. Number one would be how different leaders lead. We’re so lucky to have a great mix of Future Leaders in our group and I’ve really started to admire how powerful being calm, cool and consistent can be.
My leadership style is so obvious. I’m sometimes too honest, confident and full of energy. I’m such a people pleaser that I make myself cringe all the time. What I’d like to observe more over the next few months is how others lead when they’re not turned up to 11 like me. I don’t doubt that my leadership style is effective and it's authentic as hell but it’s not always required or received well even.
Last night I attended the Committee of Ballarat Roundtable dinner with Hon Julie Bishop. I’ve never voted liberal (or voted in this country to be honest - citizenship has been on my ‘to-do’ list for 20 years) but what an impressive woman. Coincidentally she spoke about some of the world leaders that she’d met through her awesome career and noted what type of leader’s they were. Her number one take away was that all the leaders she admired, for better or worse, were authentic. Trump, for example, maybe a troll with no grace, self-awareness or humility but he owns it. He’s the first to admit he’s a bully.
As one of the first women in cabinet Julie was a trailblazer. In a room full of men her job didn’t stop at Minister for Ageing when she was first appointed in 2003. It was on top of the full time job of constantly pushing against the patriarchy whilst being true to herself and her values. That's what authentic leadership looks like. Being able to zig when everyone else is zagging. Julie’s reflection on the state of the US presidential election was super interesting as well - FYI - She thought Trump would’ve won if Biden hadn’t stepped down. Kamala Harris and her running mate will definitely shake up the race.
Listening to Julie reflect upon leaders on the world stage resonated with me because I’ve always surrounded myself with ‘accidental mentors’ as I like to call them. These are friends and acquaintances that I admire and love to learn from (this is all of you by the way). It can be as simple as admiring how gracefully someone makes introductions or how genuine an ‘acknowledgement of country’ is. Everyone has got something special to offer the world and I greedily soak it up, taking mental notes and am always adjusting my behaviour to test out new ways of being.
Circling back to the idea of influencing others for the better, this is what I’d like to do more of. If HUCX wants to build 1000 homes a year then we need others to believe in us. Not just a little bit but a lot! Authentic, collective and purposeful leadership is the only way forward.
