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*|FNAME|* Welcome to the February Leadership News!
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Through the National Workforce Development Fund (NWDF) the Australian Government is providing $700 million over five years (2012–2016) to industry to support training and workforce development in areas of current and future need and your organisation may be eligible for training subsidies. This is an opportunity to access government subsidies of between 34% and 67% (on a scale dependent on your workforce size) on eligible nationally recognised training programs.
Organisations can identify their workforce development needs and apply for funding under NWDF to support the training of existing workers and new workers in areas of shortages. The government has published a Priority Occupation List (POL) which includes Chief Executives, Managing Directors, Human Resource Managers and General Managers and a wide range of other roles across Professional, Management, Sales, Clerical & Administrative and Technical positions.
Funding is available for upskilling existing workers to Cert III level and above, and for new workers, Cert II level and above.
If you would like to find out more about the possibility of covering part of your Leadership Dimensions training investment through NWDF subsidies, please contact Louise Quinn or Sue Fricke immediately on (03) 9510 0477 or email info@leadershipdimensions.com.au
Visit the Government's National Workforce Development Fund website here.
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Darwin's Lessons on Leadership - A postcard from the Galapagos
My family and I were recently lucky enough to visit the site where Charles Darwin landed on the Galapagos Islands off of the coast of Ecuador. Nothing quite readied me for the stark beauty of the environment and the adaptation of the species living on it.
I first read Darwin’s “The Voyage of the Beagle” as a teenager and then “The Origin of Species”, which was written in 1859. Darwin’s most widely known theory is wildly summarised into the phrase, “the survival of the fittest”. During this trip I reflected on Darwin’s findings and how they might relate to management and leadership in organisations.
The real premise of Darwin’s observations centre around the concept that species evolve in response or reaction to their environment. Those that can adapt to new or challenging environments survive, and those who won’t, can’t or don’t, die off. 
I witnessed this adaptation close up - finches that had adapted beak shapes to be able to find a niche food source; the iguanas who’d adapted to swimming and eating algae underwater; and the lichen and cacti adapting to life on sterile, newly formed lava fields.
 I also saw that being strong and relying on size and the ability to make a ruckus to command attention is not a lasting strategy. Bull sea lions are big and scary and fast when their family and territory is challenged. My teenage children found this out when they ventured within three metres of a couple of females and calves sunning themselves. The bull (the boss) noisily launched himself in their direction. My children got the point and moved very quickly away. We later learned that the bull’s behaviour - his constant energetic outburst, micro-management and gate-keeping - would eventually cause him to run out of puff, he'd eventually be challenged by younger bulls ready to take over his domain, and be banished from the group.
How does this play out in organisations?
These experiences really helped me to think about organisational life, leadership and follower-ship cultures. When any organisation (large or small) decides (or is forced) to adapt, it immediately causes it to move into a less comfortable or familiar environment where it can’t rely on its past ways of working, despite the cry of many: “we are in the mode of change but until it is complete it is business as usual”.
Success is dependent on how well the organisation can adapt to a new situation. Whether adaptation will be successful short or long term will greatly depend on the choices it makes (similar to the mutation of the DNA in animals and plants). In all cases, it will mean giving up something from the past that may have been precious and assumed to be ‘vital’ but will not be useful in the new world.
However, we need to remember, the degree of change that we need to make to adapt may not necessarily need to be large. The finches in the Galapagos focused on variations in their beaks, not in completely changing their size or whether they would still fly, etc. Human DNA sequencing is 96-98% the same as a chimpanzee - yet it's that 2-4% difference which makes human capable of expressing complex ideas through language.
To transpose Darwin's ideas to the areas of leadership and organisational growth, the key for us is to find the variances that create significant opportunity whilst still being ecologically sound to the values, vision and desired focus and behaviours required for such adaptations to be sustainable.
It is not about change for change's sake. It is about making changes in a way that adds value to the organisation. It is about doing so in ways that ensure that we allow flexibility in the way minor adaptations are made to fit the environment in which we live and operate. AND it is about being strong enough to remove those things that no longer add value, even though they have been prized in the past.
Kevin Obermuller - Managing Partner, Leadership Dimensions
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Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts
 In a culture where being social and outgoing are highly prized, especially within the workplace and leadership, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, some of the world's most transformative leaders were introverts. Introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated. Here Susan Cain makes a case for the quiet and contemplative.
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From our sister organisation:
Free Safety Webinar - "Building a strong safety strategy in tough economic times: what’s essential, and what’s an ‘extra’?"
Thursday Feb 14th 12.30pm Melb/Syd, 11.30am Bris
 How do you keep the focus on safety when there are competing demands in today’s tough economic times?
As leaders in the safety arena – how do we guide our teams and the broader organisation to focus on what is essential, the must haves? In these current ‘tough times’, what part of your approach could be negotiable, or done differently, without causing harm to your workers' safety?
And how do you position safety as a strategy that enables the current focus of your leaders, not as an additional expense to the organisation?
The insights presented in this webinar are invaluable when you need to scrutinise where every dollar is spent.
Join Louise Quinn, Managing Partner of Safety Dimensions for this free 30 minute webinar and discover the essential and non-essential elements of a safety strategy when money and resources are tight.
 Live webinar broadcast times in your city
THUR 14th Feb:
Melbourne/Sydney 12:30pm – 1:00pm
Brisbane 11:30am – 12:00pm
Perth 9:30am – 10:00am
Auckland 2:30pm – 3:00pm
Kuala Lumpur 9.30am – 10:00am
London 1:30am – 2:00am (a recording will be available)
WED 13th Feb:
Los Angeles 5:30pm – 6:00pm
New York 8:30pm – 9:00pm
Please feel free to share this webinar with your colleagues – we look forward to you joining us!
View other Safety Dimensions webinars on demand here
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*|FNAME|* What do you need and how can Leadership Dimensions help? Your invitation to suggest a webinar topic.
Leadership Dimensions is excited to announced that our 2013 webinar schedule begins again in February. We've enjoyed all the positive feedback about our webinars to date from viewers in Australia, New Zealand and spread out across the planet and would welcome an opportunity to reach out to viewers and newsletter subscribers for suggested 2013 webinar topics. In short, what would you like us to explore and share via a 1 hour webinar? We'd be delighted to take on board your suggestions and put together a free webinar program that delivers exactly what you and your organisation needs.
We look forward to hearing from you at info@leadershipdimensions.com.au with your webinar topic suggestion.
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You can watch a series of YouTube videos by Leadership Dimensions featuring videos covering:
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Contact Leadership Dimensions
Leadership Dimensions Head Office
Level 1, 37 Langridge Street Collingwood Victoria, Australia 3066
T: +61 3 9510 0477 F: +61 3 9510 2977 E: info@safetydimensions.com.au
To contact our other offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Kuala Lumpur click here
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