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As part of our regular segment, Our Community Leaders - Great Australian Leaders in Focus
which features the thoughts of some of Australia's great leaders,
this month we feature Dr Anne Summers.
Dr Anne Summers AO
journalist, best-selling author
This month's interview is with Dr Anne Summers AO, journalist, best-selling author and feminist.
Anne has had a long career in politics, the media, business and the non-government sector in Australia and abroad. She is the author of several books, including the now classic Australian book, Damned Whores and God's Police, which was first published in 1975.
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Our Community: Who do you consider to be three great leaders of our time and why?
Anne Summers:
- Simone de Beauvoir - who was the first modern woman to lay out the case for women's emancipation and thus inspired a generation of women to throw off the shackles.
- Hillary Clinton - who has shown that if you are brave enough you can continue to seize opportunities and re-invent yourself, thereby casting aside the restrictions of both society as a whole and, especially, people's preconceptions and expectations.
- Nancy Pelosi - who has shown how a woman can be a superb political leader, achieving lasting change (health care reform) and never forgetting the movement that made her journey possible.
Our Community: What are the three attributes you would consider to be essential to a leader?
Anne Summers:
- Courage
- Honesty
- Willingness to take risks
Our Community: What are the greatest barriers to new leaders emerging in Australia?
Anne Summers:
- Our society does not embrace diversity, thus excluding many people of potential leadership ability
- Cynicism around the possibility of real change in this country
- Celebrity valued above integrity
Our Community: What advice would you give to a potential leader to take them to the next stage?
Anne Summers:
- Don't be afraid to take risks (including the personal risk of showing your true self, however vulnerable you might be
- Never stop learning, from people, from books, from self-reflection
- Work hard
Our Community: What three insights have you gained personally on your leadership journey and how have they impacted on your style of leadership?
Anne Summers:
- To be brave and not be afraid of failure (there is always another way or another chance)
- To take risks, expand the possibilities and thus create a different future
- Work hard and know your stuff
Our Community: Who have been your own leadership mentors and how did they assist in developing your own leadership style?
Anne Summers:
Max Suich and Max Walsh taught me how to be a good journalist. Professor Henry Mayer taught me how to think, to question, to argue, to be accurate. Without him I would not have written Damned Whores and God's Police.
Our Community: Thinking about your own leadership journey, what are you most proud of and what would you change if you had the chance?
Anne Summers:
- Having written books that people have responded to and, in some cases, claimed to have had their lives changed by.
- Having been able to improve the lives of the women and children who took refuge at Elsie (a women's refuge) in the early days.
- Being able to influence the public debate and (to some extent) the policies needed to give women greater opportunities in Australia.
Our Community: If you had a magic wand, what would you change about community life in Australia right now?
Anne Summers:
I would remove discrimination, unfairness, prejudice, narrow-mindedness and bigotry and I would encourage people to think big, be brave and not be afraid of change.
Published Feburary 2011
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