Leadership for Change

by Ade Isyanah

According to Prof. Geoff Gallop (Graduate School of Government, The University of Sydney) leadership is the biggest challenge of all: for individuals, organizations, and governments. It is the inevitability of change.

The major drivers of change are Technology (do business through the internet), Economic (China becoming a powerful country because of its emerging economy, Cultural (powerful force), Social (expectation of people), Environmental (climate change), Political (new political movement is coming) and Events (no one can predict what will happen in the future). The world is changing because of globalization so we have to understand the world and think forward.

Politics is not a science because we cannot possibly know the future’s precise contours. Human affairs are too sensitive to serendipity and chance, to fad, to the whims of leadership, and to the unexpected advent of new technologies.

The importance of leadership are the narrative for the times, public policy “horses for courses”, personal and political skills. Prof. Gallop said that leadership is about judgment, judgment, and judgement.

LECTURE SUMMARY

Lecturer : Prof. Geoff Gallop (Graduate School of Government – The University of Sydney)

Summarized by Ade Isyanah, IALF Jakarta, April 15th 2009.