University Faculty or Divisional Name Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Creating a Culture of Leadership: Lessons, Experiences and Food for Thought? Professor Andrew Beer Centre for Housing, Urban and Regional Planning School of Social Science University of Adelaide

Introduction Conventional wisdom in Australia Alternative perspectives from Europe How can Australia move forward with leadership for and through regions Conclusions

The Conventional Wisdom in Australia The Australian understanding is: – Largely derived from business studies into the nature, origin and functioning of ‘leaders’ Often trait focussed on individualistic accounts – Leaders seen to be the ‘vision holder’, able to communicate with the broader community Leaders able to mobilise resources independent of formal governmental processes – Focussed on entrepreneurs and those working with the private sector – Often presented within the context of individual action or group action, independent of the structures of government – Inclined to overlook the formal processes of politics, though not in all cases (Sorenson, Gray).

The Conventional Wisdom in Australia At a program level: – Regional leadership in Australia often encouraged by governments, with schemes in place now or in the recent past in WA, SA and Queensland – Non government organisations also active – Links to a ‘self help’ ethos and policies that encourage communities to create their own future – Leadership is subsequently often conceived as something operating at a very local scale

The Conventional Wisdom in Australia An example of success: – Revival of fisheries and development of an aquaculture cluster in Port Lincoln, SA – Led by the ‘cappuccino’ club of tuna boat owners Wealthy, immigrants, high profile – Significant investment in pen rearing of tuna, leading to investment in abalone, mussels, sardines, an integrated supply chain

University Faculty or Divisional Name Life Impact | The University of Adelaide

University Faculty or Divisional Name Life Impact | The University of Adelaide Slide 6

Alternative Perspectives from Europe Emphasis on the leadership of regions or places is differentiated from conventional accounts of leadership in business Greater focus on public sector leadership and the role public agencies can play in initiating change – In the context of a larger public sector, European Union, adoption of subsidiarity, often unitary states Regions and regional leadership as metropolitan as well as a non metropolitan phenomenon

Alternative Perspectives from Europe Leadership often seen to be comprised of networks of agents or actors, including regional development professionals – Explicit attention paid to relationships between leaders and central governments Leadership not constituted in individuals, but often held collectively – And often enacted on a large scale: populations of a million or more

Understanding Regional Leadership in Europe An example of success – – Advantage of West Midlands Established when BMW sold out of MG Rover Created to prepare West Midlands for life post MG Rover Reduced total regional impact of MG Rover closure in 2005 by 100,000 workers by diversifying regional economy – 90 per cent of redundant MG Rover workers in full time employment after 12 months Significant role more recently in responding to the global financial crisis and subsequent economic recession

Leadership as a Relay Soturatua – innovation in both the public and private spheres often involves a ‘relay’ of leaders individuals and groups may be important, and play varying roles, over different time periods In his work on the development of a stem cell jaw he noted a chain of actors – Regional development academics – Economic development practitioners – Government officials and hospital administrators – Stem cell researchers – Surgeons – Regional development academics – Economic development practitioners

Regional Leadership in Australia and Europe Compared Australia – Small scale, community focussed Community building – Private sector orientation Short term success possible, but long term? – Independent of government processes – Leadership as a characteristic of individuals – Weak relationship with politics and governance Europe – Large scale Perhaps community blind – Embraces both public and private sectors Significant engagement by professionals Capacity for both short term and long term success – Leadership as an achievement of groups Diffuse, shared, enduring – Engagement with formal politics and government

Moving Forward – Leadership Costs Leadership costs – Time, effort and money – How can we distribute those costs? Vail – distributed across individuals and across time Vail’s leadership has been an on-going sequence

Moving Forward – Is it Hierarchical? Leadership is often presented as something bestowed from above by the great and the good – Often eulogised individuals – But there are other models of leadership – ‘the leadership of the led’ (Collinge 2010) drawn from work on the ATLAS project Leadership is often shared, a network of actors and leaders – Eg the Vail video of development in the 1960s

Moving Forward Perspectives that emphasise the role of the charismatic, transformational leader leave little ground for leadership development – Independent reviews of leadership programs in Australia are not flattering Perspectives that emphasise the process of leadership contain scope for a more systematic approach – Developing and strengthening the supply chain of innovation – Building the vision across sector for the region or place – Engaging with different agents, at varying points of time for diverse roles – Collective ‘ownership’ of the vision – Capacity for professional support for that vision and engagement with government

Moving Forward – Leadership can be Learned - by Groups and Individuals Role of tacit and formalised knowledge – Learning to take and manage risk, to share a vision, and to look belong obstacles Something Australians do poorly Success in leadership can feed upon itself – But it is an episodic process – Important to plan for succession Not present in Port Lincoln

Moving Forward Rethinking leadership as a property of communities of interest rather than individuals empowers places – Can work for, and toward, leadership – Recognises the roles of paid leaders – Acknowledges the differentiated but equally important parts people play – Accepts and defines roles for both the public and private sector

Conclusion Australians often fail to acknowledge the importance of leadership in our regions – We know leadership takes time and effort, but we often focus on the qualities of leaders, rather than the quantity of their work – A more systematic approach to leadership both sheds more light on the issue, and can help all regions grow and become more creative