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ARCS Summit Round Up - Stream 'F' - Leadership in times of change

​ARCS Summit Round Up - Stream 'F'

Leadership in times of change

F1. Defining visionary leadership in times of change

What’s required to be a visionary leader? This is the topic of Session F1 at this evenings ARCS Summit: “Defining visionary leadership in times of change”.

KEY INSIGHTS PROVIDED BY THE PANEL WERE:

Effective leadership

is playing an essential role in guiding society through our current disruptions and changes.

COVID

has highlighted the attributes required of leaders.

Today’s essential capabilities include:
  • The ability to deal with ambiguity

  • Collaboration

  • Open-ness

  • Transparency

  • Honesty

  • Flexibility

  • Resilience

  • The need for empathy

  • The skill of story-telling

  • The ability to respond quickly to change

  • The ability to absorb and manage complex in-formation and then to discuss it simply

  • Authenticity

  • The ability to build a safe and trusting environment


Encouraging a risk management culture

will drive innovation and competitive advantage, especially in today's environment.

Visionary leadership

is about getting people to comprehend, believe and work towards goals for the organisation ie encouraging alignment around a common purpose.

CONNECT TO THE SPEAKERS
Jennifer Herz
Kathryn Jajko
Peter Riddles AM
Anthony Ferrier
Fiona McLean

F2. Leadership Learning during times of crisis & uncertainty – What does the future hold?

With the growth in virtual teams a key leadership challenge is how to stimulate creativity. This was a topic of discussion during tonight’s ARCS Session. Industry leaders provided their insights on techniques to increase engagement and creativity, within a virtual environment which included:

Starting meetings with 2 minute break out rooms

so that people can connect with others; breaking larger teams into smaller groups; practicing mindfulness techniques; encouraging the spirit of curiosity; tailoring programs to determine what works best for individuals; organising problem-solving meetings rather than update meetings; starting meetings with 3 ice-breaker questions; and encouraging flexibility to stimulate creativity.

The panel offered insights on how to prevent burnout including:
  • Encouraging engagement and frequent communication

  • Acknowledge the fear and anxiety

  • Providing flexibility

  • Keeping the element of fun

  • Encourage exercise

  • Encourage annual leave

Communication, connection, agility and adaptability are key for success in our new environment.

CONNECT TO THE SPEAKERS
Erin Cramlet
Kelsey Dobell-Brown
Tracy Morgan
Claudia Lincoln
Catherine O'Mahony


F3. Leading distributed teams

The focus of this Wednesday evening's ARCS session is on leading distributed teams in our new environment.

Key leadership skills include:
  • Understanding others

  • Connecting with others regularly

  • Embracing technology

  • Being visible

  • Actively listening

  • Showing vulnerability

  • Having empathy

  • Practicing effective time management

To be effective it’s important

to reflect on the concept of the Circle of Concern. This involves firstly looking after yourself (because only then you can help others), then looking after your team members, then others.

Key skills shared for looking after yourself include:
  • Focusing on your well-being

  • Taking time to ensure that you’re OK

  • Taking time to switch off

  • Resetting your own expectations regarding what you can achieve

  • Connecting with others

  • Practicing gratitude

  • Communicating to the team about how you are managing ie being authentic

  • Understanding yourself and what’s important to you

To support your team members

role model the importance of connectivity, commitment and caring. Share, and encourage the sharing of personal stories.

CONNECT TO THE SPEAKERS
Rod Matthews
Taneen Hisgrove
Kaylene O'Shea
David Wilks

F4. Women in leadership – change and diversity on steroids

Evening session of Day 4 of the ARCS Summit and industry leaders are offering their insights on: “Women in leadership”.

Advice from the panel:
  • Be curious

  • Have a sense of adventure

  • Be empathetic

  • Accept differences in opinion

  • Know that its OK to leave meetings early to attend to family responsibilities

  • Focus on developing a diverse leadership team

  • Lead diverse teams

  • Champion all aspects of gender diversity

  • Ensure that senior leadership role model diversity and equality

  • Work hard to ensure you get diversity in all aspects of decision making


Ask: 50:50 – If not, why not?
Be passionate about increasing gender equality.
Organisational culture

change programs involve working in partnership with senior leaders, focusing on ‘what else can we do to be a truly exceptional organisation’, focusing on transparency and flexibility.

Set up metrics

to make sure you are eliminating bias and measuring the level of flexibility, measure the opportunities by gender, measure gender pay differences, and have policies in place around your suppliers to ensure they support your values.

CONNECT TO THE SPEAKERS
Liz Chatwin
Anne O'Neill
John Moller
Lil Bianchi