What does it take to be a leader in the face of enormous flux, where disruptive change is not an endpoint, but the new daily norm? And what drives leadership ambition in some women and not others? Well, if you’re Trish Bergin, a talented economist and seasoned leader in both the public and private sectors, it’s all about strategic power. Not a quest to own it, but to understand how best to use it in order to shift attitudes, behaviours and ultimately reshape public policy.

Trish is co-Director of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation, at the Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra. As a passionate gender equality and diversity advocate Trish faced perhaps her toughest assignment ever back in 2018, when as Head of the Office for Women, at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, she was required to defend the Australian government’s failure to meet its gender equity obligations under CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. With her heart pulling in one direction and her head in another, Trish endured a six-hour public UN Committee interrogation in Geneva.

In this 6th episode of BroadTalk, with its focus on ‘new leadership’ and an emerging feminised style of leadership that is proving more effective in times of crisis, such as the current global pandemic, we unpack leadership traits and styles. And in a surprisingly personal account Trish also shares her own backstory of hardship, poverty and the lessons learned from adversity.

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