Resilience and Leadership with Rachael Robertson

Our 2020 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award State/Territory Winners and Finalists came together for the third workshop of the 2020 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award Capacity Building Program; a program that was implemented to add value to the experience of the women involved in the 2020 Awards due to the current situation with COVID-19. The third workshop in the series was focussed on resilience and leadership.

The session was delivered by Rachael Robertson, International Speaker and Author, who was the second woman and youngest person to ever lead an expedition in Antarctica.

AgriFutures Australia’s Belinda Allitt, General Manager, Communications and Capacity Building said the virtual capacity building program was a great opportunity to hear from diverse speakers on a range of important topics.

“COVID-19 has presented us with a unique opportunity to develop a virtual capacity building program where we can hear from outstanding speakers like Rachael. It has also given us the opportunity to work closely with our 2020 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award cohort to support them in the development of their projects,” said Ms Allitt.

Rachael’s top leadership and resilience tips as follows:

• Respect trumps harmony every time – it is so much more important for a team to respect each other rather than to try and live harmoniously
• “No triangles” – it is important to have the professionalism and integrity to deal with an issue by speaking with the other person involved directly
• Focus on what you can accomplish in the near future, rather than the long-term
• Boundaries and important for productivity – it is okay to say “my plate is full right now, and you deserve my full attention, so I would love to speak with you later”
• You can lead without a title – leadership isn’t just for those in leadership positions; everyone can demonstrate leadership through their own behaviour
• You don’t need to be an extrovert to be a leader or show leadership qualities
• People won’t remember what you say or do, they’ll remember how you made them feel
• The number one motivator within the workplace is to feel valued
• Focus on what you can control, rather than what you can’t control.