I have been rather critical of Julia Gillard and her leadership in the early stages of her prime ministership. Maybe she’s been reading my articles? Highly unlikely but would be great to think so! “Julie Hyde, Leadership Advisor to the PM”, I think that sounds marvelous but I’m now back on planet earth. I’ll save that task for next year! Back to business.
I read an article on Julia Gillard in Melbourne’s ‘The Age’ newspaper. She stated in the article that she had learnt some valuable lessons while reflecting on her early leadership. She is acutely aware of the criticism and why and said it’s tough to hear and read it. However, something seems to have ‘clicked’ for Prime Minister Gillard.
Let’s be honest, Ms Gillard is a formidable character. She is a woman in politic and has the nations top leadership role. You do not get that title if you are a flimsy character. Not at all. Her reputation prior to her taking over the top job, by all accounts, was someone who was highly intelligent, courageous, confident and savvy. You can’t lose all of that within a couple of months. Some yes but not all.
While stating in the interview with ‘The Age’ she is going to use her intuition more and go with her gut, she seems to have tapped into the very attractive and powerful resource of confidence. The opposition leader having an incredibly bad week in politics has helped this, but she appears to be a woman on a mission and people have noticed.
Julia was experiencing a leadership crisis, and still is, but as I have mentioned, it is in times of crisis that a great leader emerges. Watch this space. The next couple of months will be a telling sign if we see a successful term of Prime Minister or if she has to continually watch her back. You can’t win the hearts and minds of people by being highly scripted and unauthentic in your leadership. Oh and waiting in the wings, is Kevin Rudd.