What leaders can learn from the PM’s rally performance
This week’s clamour over whether Prime Minister Anthony Albanese did or didn’t expect to speak at a major public rally has brought an essential leadership principle into the spotlight.
When there’s a problem in your organization and tensions are running high, as a leader you can’t loiter on the sidelines as a spectator. You must be prepared to step up and communicate.
In difficult times, people look for clarity from those at the top. They need to hear from their leader, even when the future isn't clear.
Whether the PM spoke or not should have been sorted out before the rally, not left to evolve in an already emotionally-charged situation.
Perhaps it was a misunderstanding or something more deliberate. That’s now a matter of debate.
Either way, it was unrealistic for anyone to assume the most senior politician in the country could attend as a passive participant, without an expectation of taking to the microphone to share his position.
When your people are under stress, don’t be a bystander. Communicate in a way that builds connection, even if you don’t have the answers.
