Leadership, Aviation, and the Asian Century - Swinburne University ...

Leadership, Aviation, and the Asian Century
Professor Kenneth Chern
Thanks so much, Jim Carden, for your kind introduction. I’m delighted to be here at the Asia Pacific
Aviation/Aerospace Leaders Summit, and to take part in this afternoon’s panel with Margaret Staib
and David Hall, and with the entire audience.
Our institute, the Swinburne Leadership Institute, was established less than a year ago, in April 2012,
with the aim to address the vacuum that has developed in authentic leadership civil in society; to
explore the nature of sustainable, ethical leadership; and to encourage and promote the
development of such leadership in Australia and its Asia-Pacific neighbourhood.
To do this, we are building twin pillars – ethics and leadership in business, and public trust and
service in government – that are critical to our mission. We are building these pillars through
interdisciplinary research, leadership education, and public diplomacy. We recently recruited our
first two Research Fellows to undertake the evidence-based investigations which will serve as a
foundation for our teaching and public engagement.
We’ve been excited by the positive response to our efforts by business, government, and the notfor-profit
community in Victoria and beyond; and we’ve just started a series of monthly Swinburne
Leadership Dialogues, open to the public, at which Swinburne researchers and eminent persons
from the outside community will present their findings. We welcome you to take part in these
Dialogues.
I think two of the key lessons I have learned about leadership in my own life is how to listen, and
how to lead by simply moving around. Like most professors, and most Americans, I like to talk. I’ve
learned both through training and through on-the-job experiences that you have to give other
people space (and time) to do the talking that provides the crucial feedback for leadership. This is
especially true in Asia, where people are often reticent about talking (especially to superiors).
Which leads to the second lesson: managing by walking around, an old U.S. Navy tradition, and
actually a tradition that one historian ascribes to Abraham Lincoln, who informally inspected Union
Army troops during the Civil War, as you may have seen in the current movie on Lincoln. When I
was Deputy Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, I made it a point to walk around the building, which
had over 200 staff members (80% of them Vietnamese nationals). People would tell me a lot more
in their own offices than in my own. And over lunch or a beer in a local café, it was amazing what
they would tell me!
Along these lines, one of my best memories from my Foreign Service days was when I was at the
China Desk in Washington, and the EP-3 surveillance plane was brought down on Hainan Island in
2001 after a collision with a Chinese fighter plane. During eleven gruelling days, we at the China
Desk worked day and night to help Secretary of State Colin Powell, an old Army man, and Deputy
Secretary Richard Armitage, an old Navy man, resolve the crisis with their Chinese
counterparts. And half-way through the crisis, into the China Desk suite walked Richard Armitage,
and he came to every office in the suite, and he entered my office, and said, “Mr Chern, thanks so
much for your hard work on this; we’ll be continuing to work you hard.” I was a two-celled animal,
and here was this whale walking down to our offices, and calling me “Mr Chern” and thanking
me. And after that, I’d have put my hand in the fire for those guys. That’s leadership.
Asia Pacific Aviation/Aerospace Leaders Summit 2013

But what about the bigger picture, and the contemporary picture -- the national and international
level of leadership in Australia today? Looking at the bigger picture, and why we are here today, can
Australia assume a leading role in the Asian Century? In the White Paper on Australia in the Asian
Century, Dr Ken Henry’s team has provided a detailed and useful blueprint for future action. And the
government has set itself high standards to ramp up domestic efforts to improve scientific and
cultural literacy, as well as engagement with China and other Asian nations.
But as leaders in the aviation and aerospace industry, you would be well familiar with some of the
issues that arise in trying to implement the White Paper’s ambitious goals. One area of particular
concern is what the Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, has warned is a growing “anti-science
culture” and the avoidance of science and mathematics courses by Year 11 and 12 students – a trend
that Professor Chubb has warned may threaten Australian innovation, education, and economic
well-being. And the decades-long erosion of Asian language studies in Australian schools will not be
easy to reverse. Government, business, including the aviation and aerospace business, and
academia will need all the creativity and political will they can muster to innovate – to lead – in
capturing the imagination of a new generation to truly engage with Asia.
To try to address these and other equally wicked problems, we are extremely fortunate today to
have two of Australia’s aviation leaders, each spearheading their own organisation’s foray into new
markets, and encountering the many cultural and business challenges and critical leadership
questions we have been exploring here today.
Let me introduce Air-Vice Marshal Margaret Staib, CEO, Air Services Australia. Margaret Staib
commenced in the role of CEO at Air Services in October 2012, after a distinguished career over
three decades in the Royal Australian Air Force.
From January 2010 until October 2012, she held the position of Commander Joint Logistics. In 2000,
Ms Staib’s contribution and leadership in the field of ADF Aviation Inventory Management was
recognised when she was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross. Ms Staib was a member of the
Chief of Air Force Advisory Committee. Margaret is also a member of the Industry Advisory Board
for the Centre for Aeronautical & Aviation Leadership and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University. She is a Certified Practicing Logistician and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics
and Transport.
Let me also introduce Mr David Hall, who was appointed Chief Executive Officer, Jetstar Australia
and New Zealand, in August 2010. Previously, Mr Hall was responsible for the Qantas Group’s
technology platform and service delivery, and head of Group Strategy. David has been with Qantas
Group for seven years after joining as Jetstar Airways’ Chief Financial Officer. David has enjoyed an
extensive finance career in public practice, banking, and mining, including positions at Rio Tinto,
National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking Group Limited and WMC Resources Limited.
We are delighted to have them on this panel to engage with the audience on issues for Australian
leadership I the Asian Century.
Asia Pacific Aviation/Aerospace Leaders Summit 2013