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By Dr. Aiden M.A. Thornton “The leadership we need will not happen by chance. There needs to be ever-stronger purposeful support and development.”  This quote from Leading in Complexity: An Initial Enquiry in Tasmania highlights a concern familiar to many leadership scholars and practitioners:  effective leadership does not simply emerge from good intentions or coincidence […]

Episode 1, A Purposeful Edge: Leading in Uncertainty When old certainties collapse, leadership must become something more than operational, it must become deeply transformational. In this first episode of the A Purposeful Edge: Leading in Uncertainty podcast series, Dr Peter Collins is joined by Professor Rufus Black, Vice Chancellor of the University of Tasmania, to

Exploring new governance models through participatory grantmaking.  At the Menzies Leadership Foundation, we believe leadership must evolve to meet the complexity of the challenges we face—climate uncertainty, social disconnection, and growing mistrust in our institutions. This evolution calls for bold, experimental models that shift power, foster civic agency, and invest in local capability.  As part

By Dr. Aiden M.A. Thornton “Generational changes are always a challenge… there are many older leaders at sea to understand how to approach leadership with the younger generations.” This quote from Leading in Complexity: An Initial Enquiry in Tasmania vividly illustrates a tension that many leaders are feeling: how to lead across difference in a

The Menzies Leadership Foundation, in partnership with Global Voices, is proud to announce the inaugural cohort of the Sir Ninian Stephen Law Delegation Fellows. These three emerging legal leaders—Samar Batool Athar, Tiarna Williams, and Nashita Pasha—have been selected to represent Australia at the United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee (Legal) in October 2025. This prestigious

By Dr. Aiden M.A. Thornton  “My complexities as a leader relate to organisational culture and introducing and managing change…”.  This quote from Leading in Complexity: An Initial Enquiry in Tasmania captures a reality that many leaders feel acutely: the pressure to manage change at the pace it is unfolding. It’s where good intentions collide with

Overview Over four years, from 2020 to 2023, the MedTech Actuator, in partnership with the Menzies Leadership Foundation, delivered two national science entrepreneurship programmes. These initiatives were designed to bridge the gap between scientific research and commercialisation by equipping researchers with essential entrepreneurial skills. The programmes offered robust and practical training, one-on-one mentorship, and facilitated

A powerful new suite of research, released today by the Menzies Leadership Foundation and First Australians Capital, highlights the systemic challenges, and the transformative leadership, of Indigenous women entrepreneurs in the Kimberley. Funded by the Menzies Leadership Foundation and First Australians Capital, the research supports Future Weavers, a movement led by Kimberley Jiyigas founder Natasha

By Dr. Aiden M.A. Thornton  “System complexity is an ever-increasing challenge for leaders… I feel like the level of overwhelm being experienced by leaders is increasing.”    This powerful quote from Leading in Complexity: An Initial Enquiry in Tasmania expresses something many leaders are feeling but perhaps struggling to articulate: the creeping weight of complexity, and

By Dr. Aiden M.A. Thornton  “We are a small community. Leading change will typically upset members of your social circle or even family. That makes leadership in Tasmania particularly challenging – but we need it!” This quote reflects a reality that many Tasmanian leaders know all too well: change isn’t just an organisational process, it’s