Featuring Dr Peter Rogers AM
Leadership is often associated with moments of consequence: a difficult decision, a public stand, a major organisational change. But some of its most important expressions are far less visible. They happen when someone turns up.
For Dr Peter Rogers AM, an engineer, educator and community leader, service has been less a discrete part of his career than a way of understanding his place in the world. His philosophy can be traced to a simple idea instilled by his parents: if you want to live in a better world, you have to help build it.
It is a deceptively uncomplicated principle. Yet it challenges a persistent assumption about leadership: that contribution begins once we possess sufficient authority, expertise, status or time.
Peter’s experience suggests something different. Leadership can begin with taking responsibility for what is immediately in front of us.
He recalls being appointed bell monitor at primary school, charged with ringing the school bell at precisely the right times. Earlier still, he and another student would arrive early to move bottles of school milk out of the sun. Neither task was remarkable. Yet each contained a small lesson in responsibility: notice what needs doing, understand that others are relying on you, and do your part.
That principle has continued through decades of professional and voluntary service.
For Peter, “showing up” remains important. Attending an AGM, volunteering when something needs to be done or simply being reliably present may feel insignificant to the individual, but it can be what allows an organisation or community to function.
There is an important distinction here between service and self-sacrifice.
Peter is clear that sustained contribution also needs purpose and enjoyment. People are unlikely to remain committed indefinitely to work they do not believe matters. Service becomes sustainable when responsibility, meaning and personal motivation intersect.
It also changes our understanding of leadership development. Rather than waiting for a leadership position to practise leadership, we develop it through repeated acts of responsibility. Reliability creates trust. Participation creates understanding. Taking responsibility creates capability.
Over time, seemingly modest acts accumulate.
Peter’s own career has included engineering, education, mentoring and extensive civic contribution, including efforts to advance women in engineering and contribute to Indigenous and community development. Yet the philosophy underneath those activities remains remarkably consistent: make yourself useful to the communities and institutions of which you are part.
In an era in which leadership is often measured through visibility, influence or scale, there is something powerful in returning to that foundation.
Leadership does not always announce itself. Sometimes it looks like noticing. Sometimes it looks like helping and very often, it simply looks like showing up.
About the series
Voices of Leadership, Extraordinary Impact is a collaboration between the Order of Australia Association and Menzies Leadership Foundation, bringing to life the stories and insights of Australians recognised for their contribution and service.
Hosted by The Hon Vicki O’Halloran AO CVO FAICD, former President of the Order of Australia Association (2023-2026), the eight-part series explores the lived experiences, values and leadership lessons of Order of Australia recipients and what their stories can teach us about leading in service of others.
