THE COURAGE TO LEAD INTERVIEW SERIES

3. Erin Longbottom

Erin is the Team Leader for the St Vincents Hospital Homeless Health Team. An incredibly humble leader with enormous skills to lead people to make a difference and provide dignity for homeless people who need medical and other forms of support. A former ICU specialist nurse, decided to leave the high demanding environment to go onto the streets and provide support for the forgotten people sleeping rough on the streets of Sydney. A story about leading an award winning response during the Covid Pandemic to ensure homeless people had support during the most demanding times of the pandemic. A story about how to influence policy and funding changes just by building relationships and providing evidence. A story about leading a team of people when they are dealing with people in despair but at the same time providing hope. Perhaps the most special part of Erin's story is there is always hope and always and ability to make people's lives better if you care. I wish we had more leaders at the level and calibre of Erin Longbottom, the world would be a better place. At the same time Erin is the mother of two children with her wife, living in the inner suburbs of Sydney. If you enjoy this interview please leave your rating and review on Spotify, Apple podcast or Soundcloud.

2. Mick Willing

How does a boy from Dubbo join the NSW Police Force in 1990 and rise to the rank of Superintendent as the Commander of the Homicide Squad for 6 years, then the Assistant Commissioner of Counter Terrorism then lead the Recovery Strikeforce for the South Coast Fires in 2019/2020 after being asked to "Turbo Charge" the Recovery Strikeforce by Commissioner of Police Mick Fuller, on New Years Day. Mick Willing brought a level of leadership and coordination that had never been seen before for a level of disaster that had never been contemplated after the fires destroyed over 2000 homes and disrupted the lives of whole communities.
Mick is also a Harvard Business School Graduate, having the privilege to receive lectures from the world Change Management Expert and Guru, John Kotter (so jealous).
Mick was then promoted to Deputy Commissioner and interviewed for the role of Commissioner of Police. He was nominated as the preferred candidate for the role of Commissioner of Police by one Premier, but a change in Premier saw him loose the nomination and shortly after loose his job completely.
The interview will leave you in awe of the dignity and professionalism of Mick Willing after this challenge created new opportunities for the next chapter of Mick Willing's life.
A common theme in Mick's chat in this interview, is that all leaders are essentially the same, it's just the situations and arenas they work in that changes, and how they lead in those arenas.
I apologise for the quality of the audio in this interview, we had to go to phones rather than direct video link due to Internet Challenges. The responses and answers given by Mick Willing were too good to try and recapture, so I encourage you to listen as the interview is good enough to capture everything Mick Willing says.
It was a privilege to do this interview as it is a story of some excellent skills and achievements, and despite all those significant attributes and good standing, a story of incredible challenges. It was only through the support firstly of family, close friends and a trusted medical team do we see who comes out the other side. An inspiration to all of us, about never giving up.
If you like this interview please leave a rating and a review so others can learn the wisdom, resilience and dignity shown.

1. Wayne Larden

Wayne Larden - Managing Director of Pont 3 the company that has the rights to the Sydney Marathon.  How does a boy from Mount Druitt end up with the rights to the Sydney Marathon from 2005, turning it into a world class event that is being short listed as a World Marathon rated marathon at the same level as the London, New York, Boston and Tokyo Marathon Events.  A true example of leadership, attracting and working with the best people, and maintaining relationships across govt and community.