5 Minutes With Cricket Australia Chair Mike Baird
The chair of Cricket Australia and former premier of NSW has learnt to shut out the noise and focus on what really matters.
Trust your instincts and your beliefs
Early in my career [at Deutsche Bank], I wasn’t sure whether I was as fulfilled as I should be and I certainly wasn’t sure I was having an impact on others. A lot of people get on a treadmill. They don’t necessarily keep the same job but whether it’s industry or trajectory, they follow along without any doubts or challenging themselves. It’s quite easy to push questions aside – “This job’s not perfect but it’s paying well and I can see the next promotion.” That’s a trap for everyone. I thought that I could have a greater impact elsewhere. We’re much more effective and impactful if we’re doing something we’re passionate about.
Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not
You’ll often be challenged to say or do things that other people think you should. But if you say and do what you believe in, you have a much greater chance of being authentic. People will follow someone who is all-in, genuinely themselves and at the same time interested in who they’re leading. Early on in my political career, [former NSW Premier] Bob Carr heard my voice on radio and called me up. I thought, “Oh, this is going to be great. Bob Carr’s called.” He said, “Just heard you, mate. You need voice training.” In politics, you can get dismantled into pieces. It was a pivotal moment for me – my voice is my voice. There’s so much pressure on leaders to conform or present in a certain way. Just be yourself.
Be prepared to change your mind
There are times when you think, “Well, I didn’t get that right. So we’re going to pivot and do these things to make it right.” There’ll be mistakes but power and acknowledgement are given to those who own them. The issue shouldn’t be about you and your leadership. It should be about the broad stakeholders – the public in the context of politics – and being prepared to pivot and change. I think the community is much more forgiving than our political leaders give them credit for.
Know when to go
You want to complete leadership roles as you run through the finish line but many leaders stay beyond that. It’s natural – you get comfortable and comfort can sometimes be a positive for leaders but it can also limit them. Towards the end of my time as premier, I found myself feeling numb at key meetings and moments. In public life, you often meet people who are in challenging and difficult circumstances. For 10 years, I was able to feel that pain and understand what they were going through. So that sense of numbness was quite startling because I didn’t think I could be my authentic self and continue to do the role if that’s how I felt.
Don’t worry what other people think
People can have very colourful views. But while they might have some of the information, they won’t have all the information. They certainly won’t know you or the process that you’ve gone through to come to a decision. The moment that you take it personally is when you really struggle. I’m not going to pretend you’re not impacted by it – you are. We’re all human. But perspective is important. In my last couple of years as premier, I’d take a week off and go hiking with disadvantaged youth. When you’re out in the middle of nowhere with young kids who’ve overcome real challenges, what people might be saying about you is well down the list.
