In this episode, Sheena Ireland speaks to Clare Gunning, Head of Government Relations and Partnerships at the Business Council of Australia.

Clare speaks openly about what has shaped her leadership style over the years and the importance of self-awareness as you learn and grow in your leadership roles.  

Clare points to a time when she first realised (then, as an Executive Level 1 in the Australian Public Service) that her aversion to hard conversations, and desire to always please people, was detrimentally affecting her ability to lead a small team. "I wasn't really being fair to my team, because I wasn't really giving them honest feedback, I wasn't talking about anything that was slightly difficult and my main way of operating was to try and make everything ok."

With some focused coaching she was able to develop more self-awareness, and was able to see and understand the areas where she needed to change to not only improve her leadership style, but ensure those around her benefited too.  

"When leaders step up and have courageous conversations, when they're brave in the way they communicate...it is of huge service to the people that you lead. Because they, for the first time maybe, are going to get real insight into what's required of them, what the expectations are; they feel a sense of safety, because they know you're holding their best interests at heart...it actually helps them go from strength to strength."  

A key discussion is what Clare labels her "shadow side", those areas where she is challenged the most; and being able to acknowledge them and grow from them. 

Her simplest advice is to reflect on your own strengths and learn what your areas of development are. She says to be brave enough to ask for constructive feedback, particularly from other leaders. Also think about what you're good at and if you sometimes overuse your strengths, for example, Clare as an extrovert, who is happy to speak at events, is now aware that if she overuses that strength, she doesn't allow others enough space. She says its important to know the flip-side, the shadow side, that needs development to allow for growth.

Importantly, Clare says its vital to be kind to yourself as no one is perfect. She says it's important to understand that as a leader it's OK to have good and bad days; and there's much to learn from both scenarios.