Table of Contents
There are five basic principles that are imperative to the successful leadership of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The first principle is to provide clear direction. It is necessary to provide a vision, intent and goals that are successfully communicated to other people. If this clear direction is met effectively, people tend to follow you. The second principle is to establish and maintain the right culture, a value-based culture. Values should define the way the leadership in the organisation behaves. If you can establish the right culture in your organisation, goals are much easier to achieve.
The third principle is effective leadership. People demand and require leadership that is focused on people. Therefore, effective leadership is essential when dealing with people. Leadership is also about empowering your people and avoiding micro-management. The fourth principle is communication. Face-to-face communication is the most effective form of leadership and I find that if you engage in this type of communication you get much better results than if you try to lead via the written word.
Finally, the fifth principle is to develop cooperative and harmonious relationships. Having relationships with people in the leadership frame promotes good results and thus relationships are vitally important. Without being able to develop relationships, I would have got absolutely nowhere and, of course, the most important relationship of all for me, in the present context, is the relationship I have with the Secretary of Defence, Nick Warner. This relationship is known as a diarchy and forms a partnership and a very effective form of leadership.