TAREE’S Dr Ken Henry addressed a crowd of over 130 people at last Monday’s Rotary Club of Taree meeting.
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Dr Henry is the chairman of NAB Bank and served as the secretary of the department of the treasury from 2001 to 2011.
For his speech, he chose the topic of leadership for three reasons.
“Firstly I am in a room of Rotarians, so there is plenty of leadership here. Secondly, I’m in banking, which are some of the most influential organisations in our country. Lastly, as we edge closer to a federal election we look at what leadership we need in government.”
Dr Henry said leadership is about the “question of identity and organisational identity.”
“This identity is defined by the people in the organisation and the vision it holds now and for the future.”
He explained the vision of the treasury was that all “Australians have the capabilities that allow them to choose a life of value”.
“Our mission was to improve well-being,” he said.
Dr Henry said a vision needs to be “cohesive” and “it must bind people together and stand the test of time.”
“To find its vision organisations and public figures must ask themselves, ‘What is our mission? what is our purpose in society?’”
Dr Henry spoke strongly on leadership in politics.
“For those seeking national leadership, you would hope they would have an appropriate set of people values, and of the values present in Australian society and culture and what they should be,” he said.
“You would hope they’d have a compelling vision for the future and they could test this vision against reality. That is, to develop effective strategies to meet challenges which Australia faces.
“You’d hope they’d think of the capabilities of Australia’s education standard and the systems through which our activities are administered.
“Today, I think you would be as disappointed as I am. I don’t see the leadership I would like to.”
Dr Henry spoke of the profound challenges those face in government, including population growth and an ageing population, along with opportunities from China and India.
“The opportunities for China are immense. It is not the just the agriculture industry that is exportable, but the service industry. Chinese consumers want to be provided with high-quality products.”
