QUT has launched the QUT Leadership Institute, a new initiative focused on strengthening and reimagining leadership capability in an increasingly complex global environment.
Co-led by Executive Director Professor Sarah Kelly OAM and Professor Gene Moyle, the institute was developed in response to challenges facing business, government, sport and not-for-profit sectors across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, as the state prepares to monumentally lift its international profile.
Professor Kelly said organisations reported they were navigating a perfect storm of issues including technological disruption, increasing governance expectations, and growing complexity in decision-making.
"There is a pressing need to strengthen our current leaders and to grow a new generation of leaders equipped to navigate this upheaval. Equally they need to be prepared for the scale of the opportunity being presented as our region takes centre stage in the world," she said.
"We know from the experience of other cities and countries that have hosted major events there is the potential for an exponential leap in economic expansion. We witnessed that when Brisbane hosted World Expo in 1988, but that was nowhere near the scale of what lies ahead."
The QUT Leadership Institute will deliver high-impact programs led by industry leaders, across the private and public sector, along with researchers who draw on evidence from every field leadership touches.
Experts and leaders mentoring participants come from diverse fields including information systems and data centre infrastructure, deep tech, healthcare and health-tech, defence, banking, consulting, legal, energy, mining and resources, advanced manufacturing and creative industries.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Sheil AO said the institute directly responds to demand for short, non-award programs that support targeted leadership capability development and address emerging challenges across sectors, with a focus on long-term leadership impact.
"The QUT Leadership Institute will operate as a central platform to connect external demand, industry partners and leadership development opportunities with QUT expertise," she said.
"Its establishment is a deliberate strategic choice for our university that builds on our real-world focus."
The QUT Leadership Institute will offer five leadership programs built around strategic challenges pertaining to various career stages, in addition to experiences including boardroom roundtables and problem-solving activities with global experts and Leaders in Residence.
The programs will be tailored to undergraduate students in their penultimate year, emerging leaders, C-suite leaders, senior leaders shaping organisation direction and sport executives.
The first cohort of QUT Leadership Institute Leaders in Residence will include:
- Olympian John Bertrand AO, skipper of the Australia II in "Race of the Century" America's Cup win in 1983; chair of Sport Australia Hall of Fame; author and speaker; former president of Swimming Australia.
- Najoh Tita-Reid, global chief growth officer at Mars Petcare and a global leader on AI and ethics, who has also worked in senior positions at Bayer, Hero Group, and Logitech across the UK, continental Europe and the US.
- David Moffatt FAICD, chairman of Ventia Services Group, chairman Australia-New Zealand for Apollo Global Management, and chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia.
- Kristina Karlsson, founder of stationery and lifestyle brand kikki.K over the course of two decades to become a household name in retail; now the founder of Dream Life, a business that provides coaching, programs and products centred around inspiration, planning and wellbeing.
"We want more 'lighthouse leaders' in our region – those who can shine the way for others based on their lived experience of leadership," Professor Kelly said.
