Australia is entering an era defined by uncertainty, interdependence and accelerating change.
Climate instability, technological disruption, global tensions and profound social fragmentation are reshaping every sector — demanding leadership capable not of controlling complexity, but of navigating it.
In this moment, the ANU Leadership & Complexity Lab, supported by the Menzies Leadership Foundation, has emerged as one of the nation’s most significant investments in understanding and strengthening leadership for a complex world. 2025 has revealed a year of meaningful progress — new research, new partnerships, and a bold roadmap for impact.
A Turning Point — and a New Opportunity
The Foundation welcome incoming Menzies Fellow Dr Kerry Elliott as she deepens the foundations and alignment with the School of Cybernetics and the wider ANU College of Systems and Society.
This recalibration has strengthened the Lab’s core purpose: to cultivate the capabilities, evidence, and partnerships needed for individuals, collectives, and systems to thrive in conditions of complexity.
A Year of Momentum: Research, Reach and Impact
2025 marked a year of significant achievement, demonstrating both traction and future potential.
- Growing Research Influence
The Lab secured multiple competitive research investments, including:
- Principals Australia Research Foundation grant to investigate system leadership and reform — described by the funding panel as “timely and innovative.”
- Sharjah Education Academy seed funding to begin building a global Future-Fit Leadership Capability Framework.
These projects reinforce the Lab’s leadership in shaping the next generation of research on collective efficacy, system leadership, and capability development in complex environments.
- Advancing Scalable Leadership Development
The Rising Team for Schools initiative — co-developed with partners in Australia and the U.S. — continues to evolve as a global platform for building collaborative capacity and collective efficacy at scale, supported by new AI-enabled coaching features.
- Building a Transdisciplinary Research Environment
Work underway spans multiple domains inside and beyond education:
- Systems thinking and leadership effectiveness
- Leadership training for complex, boundary-spanning systems
- AI-enabled organisational transformation
- Cybernetic and systemic decision-making tools
- Water governance and diplomacy sandpits to explore cross-sector leadership
Collectively, these efforts position the Lab at the intersection of practice, research and experimentation.
Strategic Focus for 2026 and Beyond
The Lab’s plan for 2026 is unapologetically ambitious. It focuses on expanding partnerships, strengthening measurement and capability-building tools, and deepening the empirical evidence base for leadership in complexity.
Three Core Research Streams Will Drive the Next Phase:
- Leadership in Complex Systems
Exploring how individuals and collectives act purposefully, collaboratively and cybernetically in environments where no single leader can “see” the whole system.
- Learning Experiences (LXs) as Research Sandpits
The School of Cybernetics’ immersive LXs will serve as sites for testing leadership frameworks, evaluating impact, and generating new insights for practice.
- Leadership in the Age of Quantum and AI Technologies
Defining the ethical, cognitive and system capabilities leaders will need to steward increasingly intelligent socio-technical environments.
A Laboratory for Australia’s Leadership Future
The Leadership Complexity Lab is building durable infrastructure:
- Leadership capability frameworks
- Research-backed measurement tools
- Scalable learning modules
- Lightweight data systems
- Global partnerships
Supported by the Menzies Leadership Foundation, the Lab has achieved an impressive pipeline of activity in a short period — with major milestones ahead, including this week’s 2025 Australian Leadership Summit and the 2025–26 Menzies Orations.
A Shared Commitment to Leadership for the Greater Good
The Lab’s work represents a broader national movement: leadership that is adaptive, ethical, collective, and oriented toward the greater good and Dr Elliott’s recognition as a 2025
Australia is entering a decisive moment — shaped by uncertainty, interdependence and accelerating change. In this landscape, leadership is no longer about control or certainty, but about the capability to navigate complexity with purpose, ethics and collective intelligence.
Through the ANU Leadership & Complexity Lab, supported by the Menzies Leadership Foundation, a new standard of leadership is being built — research-led, system-aware, and grounded in stewardship for the greater good.
If you are committed to strengthening Australia’s capacity to lead amid complexity, we invite you to stay connected with the Menzies Leadership Foundation and the work shaping our leadership future.
