What Australia's Leaders SHOULD be doing

The cycle is never ending. Australia has been plunged into lockdown after lockdown. Australians are struggling to get access to rapid antigen tests (RAT) as new COVID-19 cases rise across the country, we are now facing limits on meat products, pain killers and toilet paper at grocery stores and local businesses and essential services have been severely impacted by the current Omicron outbreak. 

The Queensland Government has also confirmed that school children won’t return to the classroom in 2022 until February, much to the dismay of parents and teachers, and Australia’s employer groups are pushing to overhaul coronavirus isolation rules and free up supplies of RATs. 

The one question on every Australian’s mind is “when will this end?”

The answer is clear to me. We cannot keep living in this cycle of leadership chaos, we have already been through the panic buying, the pandemic outbreaks, the lockdowns and many businesses have only just opened their doors, only to close them once again. 

What have we learnt? What have our leaders learnt from the past two years? Why are we living this cycle yet again? How many more times will we have to live through it?

Someone needs to tell our leaders that the older and tired methods of leadership are not working. We need more direction, courage, kindness and open communication. We are seeing a greater need for these kinds of authentic leadership qualities in 2022, Australians are right now crying out for real leadership and during these difficult and challenging times, we want our leaders to be at the forefront of change.

We can do and we must do better. Our leaders must start putting Australians first.

My concern is that until our leaders step up and start leading by example, the lack of leadership Australians are currently experiencing will lead to an even bigger crisis. One that Australia may not bounce back from.

Whether it’s the current pandemic wreaking havoc across the globe, a natural disaster, a business or workplace issue, in a time of a crisis, we naturally look to our leaders to lead. Because we trust that our leaders have our best interests at heart and will continue to protect these interests and steer us out of the storm, so to say. 

This is why a lack of leadership, especially in a time of crisis, can be devastating.

This pandemic is unlike anything we have dealt with before and we need leaders who will be able to get us safely to the other side safely, so we can get on with a post-pandemic future.

As a Leadership Coach, I am seeing so many leaders wanting to know how to build courage and take themselves forward to new directions of success that will have lasting impact, but many are unsure of where and how they can start. In response to this urgent need, my company LeadershipHQ launched the Courage Intelligence Model and various Leadership Programs as well as online workshops and keynotes to provide future focused leaders with an opportunity to build their courage as a skill.

Our leaders could do with taking a leaf out of the books of leaders who are actively embracing change, who are seeing the ways they can improve, who are putting their team members and the community first, who takes the time to analyse where they went wrong so they can take measures to prevent these issues from affecting the community, businesses or organisations.

We need leaders to learn from their mistakes, break the cycle, have a clearer direction for our country and put Australians first. 

By Sonia McDonald

Founder and Managing Director of Leadership HQ and McDonald Inc. Leadership coach, entrepreneur, CEO and author. 

sonia@soniamcdonald.com.au
0424447616

Sonia McDonald is changing the face of leadership across the globe. She believes we should lead with kindness and courage, from the heart, and is known for her mantra ‘Just Lead’. She leads by example in all these areas and through her transformational coaching, leadership training programs and cultural transformation for organisations and encourages others to do the same. Sonia has helped thousands of people on their leadership journey to become the best version of themselves and in turn, inspire and bring out the best in others.

Sonia is a founder and CEO of McDonald Inc., LeadershipHQ and Global Outstanding Leadership Awards and the newly launched Courage Conference. For more than 25 years, Sonia has been on the front lines of leadership and she is beyond committed to her mission around building a world of great leaders.

She has held leadership positions worldwide and through experience, research and study come to realise what it takes to be a truly great leader. She has been recognised by Richtopia as One of the Top 250 Influential Women across the Globe and Top 100 Australian Entrepreneurs.

Sonia has an ability to speak bravely and authentically about her own development as a leader, personal and career challenges in a way which resonates with her audience. She is a leading coach, an award-winning published author of newly released First Comes Courage, Leadership Attitude and Just Rock It! and has become an in-demand keynote speaker on leadership, kindness and courage.

Sonia has become recognised for her commentary around the topic of leadership, kindness, empathy and courage as well as building outstanding leadership across the Globe.