Understanding future leadership needs

The Murray–Darling Basin is a complex socio-economic, cultural, political, and environmental landscape where decision-making spans various governance levels, regions, and sectors. This project hypothesises that cross-boundary leadership is crucial for fostering productive, resilient, and sustainable irrigation regions, and seeks to better equip leaders to succeed in a changing world.

About this project

The Murray–Darling Basin is a diverse and complex region, encompassing a wide range of socio-economic, cultural, political, and environmental aspects.

Decision-making in this area involves various stakeholders, from individuals and community groups to organisations and governance bodies across different levels, regions, and sectors. Effective leadership that bridges these diverse groups is crucial for fostering productive, resilient, and sustainable irrigation regions, especially in the face of climate change.

However, there is limited understanding of the competencies and behaviors required for effective cross-boundary leadership in this unique context.

This project will explore leadership in the Murray–Darling Basin, focusing on three areas:

• Cultural boundaries: Bridging gaps between formal and informal leaders, organisations, communities, industries, and First Nations and Western leadership styles.
• Geographic boundaries: Enhancing collaboration between different catchment areas, the north and south basin, and various basin states.
• Generational boundaries: Facilitating leadership across different generations, ensuring effective succession planning and empowering young leaders.
  

The project will develop research-informed recommendations and practical resources for workshops and training to enable leadership across these domains.

The project will be conducted in three phases:

1. Gap Analysis:

Researchers will conduct market analyses and review existing cross-boundary leadership training and research, and ientify the current state of knowledge and practices related to cross-boundary leadership in the Murray–Darling Basin.

2. Interviews and Data Collection:

Researchers will engage with cross-boundary leaders and leadership facilitators through interviews, and gather insights on the competencies, mindsets, and behaviors required for effective leadership.
3. Workshops and Training:

Finally, this project will test and refine leadership principles through workshops and training sessions, and develop and implement a rapid prototype of a data toolkit for enhancing knowledge sharing.

Outcomes

The project will develop tangible, research-informed recommendations for enabling leadership across the many complex domains and industries that exist in the Basin and provide resources for workshops and training to enable this learning.