In a recent interview with Peter Switzer on SKY NEWS Money, Peter suggested that both the Australian cricket team and the governing Liberal party have been not getting the results that should be coming from the talent and skills within the team.
So he posed that one of the possibilities for poor results lies in the leadership of both teams – in fact any team whether it is sport, politics or business.
There is no doubt he is correct about the concept and delivery of leadership from the leader at the top.
If the talent and the skills within a team are at least comparable to the opposition, then there are other elements to peak performance that are not right or not happening.
During the interview I discussed one of the key roles of the leader is to light the path – set the vision for the team. This vision must be different to the rest. Why would you want to play the same game as everyone else? Set yourself apart. Be a game changer. Be prepared to lose to win. Be bold.
Of course this will not please everyone, and so the leader needs to work very closely with the captain in the case of cricket, and the leadership group in a political party.
It is here that the Leader must be prepared to hold their ground, even if it means he or she may lose their job because they are unable to convince enough supporters to follow them.
The point is that they deliver consistently on message. The leader does not shift from one set of messages one day to another set the next, simply to shore up his or her position pending on prevailing trends. The leader must stand for something and deliver with integrity, personal values and beliefs.
It will be interesting to watch both leaders over the next few months as they both strive to reshape their teams and drive for better results.
It would seem that the PM and Darren ‘Boof’ Lehmann may have a lot more in common than first thought.
