What started as one woman’s desire to demystify the concept of leadership has resulted in the birth of company dedicated to developing and promoting Australia’s current and future ‘super leaders’.
Entrepreneur, executive coach and single mother of two, Carmen Parnos, 43, started the Super Leaders organisation with a view to providing people with multiple ways through which they can improve and hone their leadership skills.
The company’s first project is the publication and release of an annual coffee-table book entitled Super Leaders of Australia Vol 1. It is followed by a series of Super Leaders networking events, seminars and leadership development ‘boot camp’ programs.
The common theme throughout the company’s product offerings is what Parnos refers to as ‘super leadership’.
“A Super Leader is geared for today’s ever-changing and highly competitive marketplace. A Super Leader is somebody with a high level of self- awareness who has a strong positive impact on people’s behaviour, calibre of thinking and performance. They know how to motivate and drive people to perform at their best. They also recognise that an organisation’s success is based on the efforts of individuals,” she says.
Super Leaders – the book
The Super Leaders book features 50 of Australia’s most talented and inspiring business and community leaders, as well as essays by the Women on Boards chair, Ruth Medd; corporate social responsibility expert, Jerry Marston; Dr. Retha Wiesner: Emerging themes in Leadership and generation Y authority, Peter Sheahan.
According to Parnos, the book is designed to help people learn from the best in the business.
“Too often when people start talking about leadership, particularly in business, they can get bogged down with academic argument and theory when in reality leadership is as much about common sense, strong communication and people skills as anything, and this comes through clearly in the book,” she says.
“My goal has always been to make leadership accessible and easily understandable. The aim of the book is to inspire and motivate Australia’s future leaders by demonstrating what true leadership is all about and by providing practical examples and advice from some of this country’s best-known leaders.”
While each of the people featured in the book clearly have their own style of leadership, a number of common threads exist. For example, Parnos says, many of the leaders interviewed understood the importance of corporate social responsibility and giving back to the community.
Big Picture View of Things
“They realise leadership is not just about growing revenue and focusing on the bottom line, but that companies and organisations have a responsibility to the people they employ as well as the broader community in which they operate,” she says.
“Super leaders are by nature broad-minded. They take a big picture view of things; they read people well, they have empathy and understand the other person’s point of view.”
Some of the leaders interviewed for the book include:
- Peter Bush (McDonald’s)
- Janine Allis (Boost Juice Bars)
- Richard Kimber (Google)
- Glen Boreham (IBM)
- Dr Geoff Garrett (CSIRO)
- Stuart Davis (HSBC)
- Russell Hewitt (Vodafone)
- Sarina Russo (Sarina Russo Group)
- Prof. Ian Goulter (Charles Sturt University)
- Dr Tony Penna (Children’s Hospital Westmead)
- Paul Thompson (DMG Radio Australia)
- Robert Tickner (Australian Red Cross)
- Peter Widdows (H.J. Heinz Company Australia)
- Christine Nixon (Victoria Police)
- Leanne Preston (Wild Child)
- Geoff Wilson (KPMG)
Hugh Evans, the ‘Gen Y’ founder of not-for-profit organisation, the Oaktree Foundation, is also profiled in the book. Evans, 25, was a driving force behind the 2006 Make Poverty History concert in Melbourne and received MTV’s Free Your Mind Humanitarian Award for his efforts
International Expansion
According to Parnos, who describes herself as an entrepreneur who likes to “throw myself in, boots and all”, the goal is to roll out Super Leaders internationally.
“We’ve had initial discussions with embassies and consulate-generals in China, Indonesia and Singapore with a view to producing Super Leaders books in those countries. At the moment, we’re concentrating on Australia, but international expansion, including Europe and the US, is definitely on our radar,” she says.
“In a world where the skills and talents of Super Leaders are critical, where challenges cry out for the sort of leadership embodied in the individuals profiled in our book and featured at our events, the imperative is clear.
“Our intention is to harness the knowledge, experience, insights…indeed, the essence of what makes these leaders extraordinary, and via this mutually beneficial forum, build a leadership community that inspires and motivates others to follow,” says Parnos.
Super Leaders of Australia Vol 1 is available now via www.superleaders.com.au; 20 per cent of profits from the book will be donated to World Vision (www.worldvision.com.au).
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