Are we creating a new underclass called MEN?

James Goldsmith (LMCLP 2006) from Birchip asks some hard questions.

In recent years Community Leadership Loddon Murray Inc. has received funding to conduct a range of female events aimed at increasing leadership capacity of women in rural areas. The statistics clearly tell us that there is an in-balance at a senior board level whether it be corporate, industry or community. However, as always, there is more to consider when it comes to gender equity. James Goldsmith (LMCLP 2006) of Birchip has dived deep into some more statistics and noted a few selected observations regarding gender differences.

HEALTH
In the Buloke Shire 50 per cent more males are diagnosed with Cancer than females according to a report released by Cancer Council Victoria in 2011.

In 2007 in Australia 2680 women died from Breast Cancer and the risk of being diagnosed with Breast Cancer is 1 in 9 by the age of 85. In comparison, 2938 men died from prostate cancer and the risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer is 1 in 4 by the age of 85.

Mental health issues are becoming of more concern in rural areas impacted by drought, flood and other long term hardships. Add to this the fact that traditionally men with lower earning capacity have been seen to be less attractive by women seeking partners (SciVerse, 2012), and this may impact on marriage rates, population rates, unemployment rates, crime rates and cause a whole range of other social problems.

The only consolation for this disadvantage is that it doesn’t last as long for men because they die around five years earlier than women according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics!

EDUCATION
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2012 statistics show that girls are enrolled in six percent more VCE units than boys and that the VCE completion rate is one percent higher for girls than boys.

Additional data from New South Wales in 1995 and 1996 showed that the average TER score of females was was 54.4, while the male average TER was 46.45. Of students who received the highest marks 57 per cent were female.

These statistics indicate that Australia is presiding over a system where:
• A lesser percentage of males complete year 12 than females
• Less overall numbers of males complete VCE than females (despite higher numbers of males enrolling in prep)
• Men are less likely to have a tertiary education because their TER scores are much lower than females
• Lower education levels mean males will be applying for low paid jobs and are more likely to be unemployed (Psacharopoulos, 2007).

It’s pretty easy to pick particular flaws in these observation but maybe not in the trend of this argument. My research indicated that males were still dominant in maths methods at VCE level and there is much attention being paid to try and increase female participation in maths methods. On the other hand, there was very little discussion on how to improve the average TER scores of males in any subjects.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:
When thinking about health and well-being issues which messages get the most publicity:
o Breast Cancer?
o Prostate Cancer?
o Lower lifespan of males?
o Lower average wage of women?
o Lower education levels of men?

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP LODDON MURRAY INC. IMPLICATIONS
More women undertake the leadership program than men. Therefore when graduate programs are held doesn’t this fact automatically create gender bias without the need to hold events that exclude men either specifically or by implication?

A large number of CLLM workshops offered to the general public or graduates seem to be targeted at women and either exclude men specifically or by implication. Isn’t gender discrimination something that women have been arguing against for years?

If you have sons maybe these facts raise some questions for you? Of course you may be one of the lucky 99 percent of parents whose son is smarter than everyone else’s. I have one granddaughter and after looking at this information am not particularly keen on having grandsons!

Bibliography
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011, March 23). Life Expectancy TRends – Australia. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from Australian Bureau of Statistics: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features10Mar+2011
Cancer Council Australia – Breast. (2011, September 2). Breast Cancer. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from Cancer Council Australia: http://www.cancer.org.au/aboutcancer/cancertypes/breastcancer.htm
Cancer Council Australia – Prostrate. (2011, September 2). Prostate Cancer. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from http://www.cancervic.org.au/statistics/default.asp?FormSubmitted=true&FormName=statistCancer Council Australia: http://www.cancer.org.au/aboutcancer/cancertypes/prostatecancer.htm
Cancer Council Victoria. (2011, September 5). Victorian Cancer Incidence By Local Government Area. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from Cancer Council Victoria: http://www.cancervic.org.au/statistics/default.asp?FormSubmitted=true&FormName=statisticsform&CurrentPage=1&ContentType=cancer_statistics&ContainerId=&postcode=3483
Psacharopoulos, G. (2007, September 20). The effects of education on employment wages and productivity. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from http://www.mutual-learning-employment.net/uploads/ModuleXtender/Trscontent/10/thematic_paper_psacharopoulos_TRS%20F_EN.pdf
SciVerse. (2012). Gender Difference in Mate Selection Criteria. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from SciVerse – Ethology and Sociobiology : http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/016230959290021U
Temple, D. (1997, February ). Schoolgirls excel at exams then what? Retrieved March 18, 2012, from Wisenet Inc: http://www.wisenet-australia.org/issue43/exams.htm
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. (2012, January 16). Senior Secondary Statistical Information 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority: http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vcaa/vce/statistics/2011/section1/Section1_11.pdf

You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist!

 

Peter Kennedy (LMCLP 2005) is this month’s guest blogger bringing with him the unique perspective of someone who has met some of the nation’s most inspiring leaders throughout his media and political career.  Should it suprise us that, when asked to comment on leadership, he quotes someone from his own community?

Throughout my career I have been very fortunate to meet and interview some of this nation’s most inspiring leaders, from prime ministers and governor generals to premiers, MPs. Mayors and councillors.

I’ve also spoken and listened to some of our truly great business, sporting and community leaders; and I have learned a lot from their different styles of leadership.

It’s well known I even had a couple of cracks at being a politician myself, and while it wasn’t to be, I’ve never lost sleep about what could have been because my job back then was to work as hard as I could to be the best candidate I could possibly be. The rest was up to the people who vote… that’s how democracy works!

As a former Bendigo Advertiser editor and now as general manager of Bendigo Publishing, publishers of the Bendigo Weekly, the Local Phone Book and Bendigo Magazine, I am one who prefers to lead by example. As someone who has made a living out of the written and spoken word, I still believe actions speak far louder. I’ll never ask someone to do something I’m not prepared to do myself – that’s why you occasionally see me doing the dishes at work or taking out the garbage!

I have had plenty of sleepless nights as an editor and manager, but never because I thought I had done something wrong. That would be too obvious! It’s when you do something you know is right, even though it’s the tough option, that really tests your mettle as a leader.

I have a great team of managers around me who know their jobs better than I do. I trust them and do my best to make sure they have what they need to do their jobs well, and to lead their respective teams. Leadership isn’t always about telling people what to do, but it is about getting the best out of your team.

I am constantly amazed at the skills, knowledge and experience our staff have. I recently went and spent a very early Friday morning watching the Bendigo Weekly get collected by the team of walkers who are so important to the delivery of our product each and every week. By the end of the morning, I was in awe of our distribution staff! And I learnt something very important from one of them who said to me of the way he deals with such a diverse group of people – ‘’you can’t shake hands with a clenched fist’’.

That simple line has stuck in my mind ever since. I’ve used it a lot (my column in this week’s Bendigo Weekly for example!) and I keep thinking, if only some of those people I’ve been lucky to meet and interview over the past couple of decades had realised this when they had the chance to make a bigger and better difference to the community we all share.

Shop Rural = Jobs Rural

As the holiday season approaches I am constantly reminded of how easy it is to spend our precious dollars out of town.

The excitement of Christmas and a desire to surprise our loved ones with special gifts unfortunately tends to carry us away to the major centres.  While out of town we also shop for clothes and household items that sometimes we could have purchased locally.

There are many important reasons to spend your money in rural communities and the closer to home the better.

Every dollar spent is an investment in keeping local businesses open for our all year round convenience, and creating jobs for young people.

Despite being in far better circumstances than many of other countries, there is no doubt that the global financial crisis is making its mark on Australia adding to the lingering effects of flood and drought.  It has been another particularly tough year for many businesses and I know that there are many hearts sinking as the cash registers remain silent.

My daughter and I are in our fourth year of business and even some of our closest friends are thoughtless enough to excitedly talk about their plans of a shopping expedition to Melbourne.  These are the same friends that each year expect us to sponsor their community event and consider employing their children in part time jobs after school.

Thanks to my capable daughter, our business is doing ok, but many others aren’t.

When a business does close its doors there is always a public outcry but it is too late and the ripple effect is huge on a rural community.

Naturally you can’t purchase everything you need locally although I do challenge everyone to take the time to look before they go elsewhere.  It is amazing what you can find when you browse like a tourist instead of rushing to the same old section for every-day items.  

Some of my Loddon Murray friends often stop by to say hello and are very impressed with my local shops reminding me of how much is actually here right under my nose.  Funnily enough, when I visit their small towns I am equally impressed with what they have to offer. At least we are supporting each other!

Is the grass always greener on the other side or is it simply that we are more relaxed and in a better mind-set for shopping when we are visitors?

And who is to say that we want fancy gifts?  A gift voucher for a gardener for a day is top of my Christmas wish list!

Either way this holiday season I hope that you can find a way to make your dollars count in a rural community. 

Every little bit counts.

 Kerry Anderson is working on a project entitled Operation Next Gen for Community Leadership Loddon Murray Inc.  www.cllm.org.au/ong2.htm

Leading in Local Government

Cr Ellen White (LMCLP 2011)Leading in Local Government

In 12 months’ time about 1800 people will be nervously awaiting the results of the local government elections. This is the approximate number of candidates who vie for the position of councillor across all 79 municipalities in Victoria. Some positions will be hotly contested, especially in the more populated areas such as Melbourne or Darebin, while others are a cakewalk for the candidate who has no opposition. Until the results are announced, no-one knows who they will be working with to lead the communities in which they live.

I am in my third year as a Councillor with the Buloke Shire. During this time, I have learned a massive amount about strategic planning, negotiation, communication, public speaking, time management, meeting procedure and community engagement. I’ve also learned a lot more about the communities in the Mallee Ward, which I represent with another councillor.

My decision to be a councillor was not one that was taken lightly. In 2005 I unsuccessfully nominated for council. I stood then because I was not happy with many of the decisions that the council had made. By 2008 I had a different job and was enrolled in a Masters course at University. When nominations opened I did not even consider putting my hat in the ring. Until, after numerous phone calls encouraging me to do so, and the lack of other candidates, I thought, okay I CAN do it. There were two nominations for two vacancies. No campaign needed. I used that time to tidy my desk and finish the assignments I had to do.

It has been a whirlwind three years. I am not happy with every decision that Council has made, and sometimes I wish I had put forward a better or different argument for an issue I was passionate about. Already, I am being asked if I will stand again in 2012. I honestly have not yet decided, but as soon as I do, I will let everyone know. And that will be sooner rather than later. It would be great to see all positions contested, allowing people to choose their leaders.

The councillors in every municipality are there to represent their communities. It is difficult to obtain a comprehensive statistical breakdown of successful and unsuccessful candidates in each municipality. However, it is a well-known fact that although women make up 51% of the population, less than 30% of councillors are female. 5 local governments have no female representatives. At all. Only 13 out of the 79 councils have more than 40% female representation.

There are many reasons why women do not nominate for local government. Work and family pressures are the top of the list. Local Government is the much maligned third tier of government in Australia, and many women just don’t find it an attractive option for their participation. Who wants to sit around a table discussing pot holes and building regulations?

Truth is, if you are not there, then someone else will be, and they will make the decisions that will affect how the rates that you pay are spent. Not every meeting is about pot holes or rubbish collection of course. Developing strategy, contributing to community plans, and lobbying government can be pretty exciting, and allow you to feel that you have positively contributed. I like that part of being a councillor. But I also like the afternoon teas with the senior citizens in the small communities, the community meetings where people have an opportunity to brainstorm ideas, and the impromptu meetings you have at the local shop. I like this part because it is where you engage with people, and learn what is important to them. And then you can truly represent the people who live in your municipality.

Councillors are seen to be the civic leaders in communities, and need some skills before they embark on their journey. And what you don’t know before, you can learn on the job. Depending on your municipality, councillors receive a set amount of remuneration, plus a mobile phone, a laptop computer with internet access and printer and access to a vehicle for council business. Throw in some professional development (conferences, workshops) plus superannuation, and you have a pretty good package that many part time workers would love to have. Organise your diary around work and family commitments, and you too can become a councillor.

It is not out of the reach of most people, but before nominating, you should learn more about local government, what it does and how it does it. I believe this is a crucial first step, whether you want to be a councillor or a board member. If you don’t know what the organisation does, how can you guide it? As a civic leader, you should also know about your communities too. There’s plenty of places to learn facts and figures, and the websites below will be useful starting points. But there is nothing like some action learning to stimulate your thinking.

The Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program showed me possibilities, gave me opportunities, and helped me to develop the skills I use in all sorts of leadership positions. It was my springboard and I am still bouncing on it. I went along to council meetings to see how they were conducted, and read their agendas and minutes. I attended workshops, such as Women Get Elected’ and have listened attentively to other civic leaders when they are speaking at events, on radio or TV. It may sound boring to go to a governance workshop, but if your ambition is community leadership, it will give you some very useful skills.

If you do want to become a councillor, then work consciously on becoming the councillor you want to be

• Know and build on your strengths

• Examine and clarify your principles, values and goals

• Prioritise your action according to your own principles and values

• There are as many ways to be a good councillor as there are councillors.

• Allocate your precious time and energy carefully.

Is there an issue in your community you feel passionate about? Do you think local government could use your skills? If your hat is not in the ring, you cannot be elected. In 12 months time, will your name be on the voting paper? Ellen White, LMCLP 2001

Victorian Electoral Commission www.vec.vic.gov.au

Think Women for Local Government 2012 www.women.vlga.org.au

Municipal Association of Victoria www.mav.asn.au

Resilient Rural Communities

Guest Blogger - Rose Harris (LMCLP 2011) from Donald

I was very honoured to receive the Victorian Agricultural Shows Rural Ambassador Award recently and just as chuffed to be asked to ‘guest blog’ for Community Leadership Loddon Murray.

Since winning the state award I have been asked some fantastic questions and been forced to ponder some issues I hadn’t before thought a great deal about, well at least not out loud.

In my guest blogging appearance, I thought I’d take the opportunity to throw some of these open to you as well.

Retaining young people in country areas is always a hot topic.  How do we do it?  Why won’t young people stay in the country?

I guess I take a bit of a different view on this to most.  I would encourage every young
person in the rural setting to go somewhere else for a few years, be it a different
community or the city, across Australia, perhaps overseas.

Because, from my experience, I only came to appreciate just how much I loved my home area until I wasn’t there anymore.  And upon my return – a conscious shift from
Melbourne to Donald to buy our first home and to bring up our young children –
I brought with me a renewed attitude, a different view and a newfound appreciation and above all that, a doubt-free decision that we were in Donald to stay.

And I guess that’s where I decided to stand up and lend a hand in my own town.  So my thoughts are that instead of making ‘young people’ feel bad for wanting to leave, encourage
them, let them go and experience the other side of the fence, but give them something to come back to.

Give them affordable childcare when they bring their young families back, open every opportunity up to them, learn from their experiences gained while they were away, be proud of them and be proud of the fact that they returned.

In our experience all of this (aside from the childcare, but that’s another story) has come back to us tenfold.  In fact just after we had moved, I wrote this on my own blog: http://www.mumisms.blogspot.com/2010/06/it-wasnt-until.html

A supportive community breeds proactive people who go out and achieve great things.  After winning the Rural Ambassador Award, I quickly came to realise the true value beneath it all – community pride.

To see Donald take such pride in the award and extend their continued encouragement and congratulations to me was more reward than anything else.  That award is all theirs, I would never have had the confidence or opportunity to rise to such a level if I didn’t have the community backing I am so lucky to benefit from.

What makes a great community leader?  A great community is the short answer!  What do
you think makes a great community leader?  An exceptional ability to listen is a must and a proactive nature is another.

I was recently fortunate enough to hear Kon Karapanagiotidis, CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre speak and I extend to you some of his amazing words on being a great
leader.

“Stand for what is right, not what is easy.”

“It is imperative to work with ethics and integrity.”

“Be transparent in your decisions.”

Kon also spoke about the fact that there will always be a percentage of people who don’t
subscribe to your vision, but that is something you have to accept and move
towards your greater goal.

One I have heard from many speakers is understand your “why”.

What drives you to be doing this?

The questions are many.  Retaining young people in rural areas; giving agriculture an improved profile; developing leaders, building more leadership skills/programs into schools; what does the future look like; are small towns viable?

What do you think?  What ideas do you have?  Because, you know, the only way to answer
these questions is to start talking, get the conversation started and put YOUR
ideas on the table because you are the people with the answers.

One more opinion from me; we need to tell the “good” stories more.  There is no disputing the fact that in the rural areas we face our fair share of issues, lacking facilities and often feel left out or overlooked.  But we also love where we live; we adore a sunset on a hot summer evening, the crunch of gravel roads, those incredible communities which are always there to catch us when we fall and hold us above their shoulders when we win and the fact that we, right here in the regional areas, provide the rest of the country with their food and fibre.  Let’s talk more about those things, let’s wear a smile and be proud of where we are from.  Who wouldn’t want to return or move to an area with all that going for it?

Rose Harris (LMCLP 2011), Donald 3480

What makes a good community Leader?

As Community Leadership Loddon Murray begins its annual recruitment campaign for participants to take part in the 2012 Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program (LMCLP) our thoughts to turn to what are the qualities of a good leader, and more specifically a community leader?

Each of us has our own ideas about what makes a good leader, and I am assuming many of you can list at least a dozen people whose leadership style you admire and strive to emulate in some ways, and we encourage you to share these with us through posts on this blog.

For me, there are those that I admire from afar having never met them in person – such as Simon McKeon current Australian of the Year, a dedicated philanthropist who understands the need to give back to the community that has given him so much; to some who are more close to home in our own community achieving great things to make the Loddon Murray region a great place to live and work today and into the future. People like Ann Durie and the team at Wycheproof Vision who understand that a strong community needs leaders who are passionate about making a difference, and Yvonne Jennings at Swan Hill who I first met in the early 1990s when I moved to the region who is passionate about the region and helping local women become strong community leaders.

So what is Leadership? According to Warren Bennis, an American scholar, organisational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership studies; leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well communicated, building trust among colleagues, and taking effective action to realize your own leadership potential.

And community? According to Wikipedia, community is a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household.

So if you add community and leadership together, a Community Leader is someone who is self-aware, passionate about a particular cause and/or their community, and who is able to engage with others to achieve tangible outcomes for their community.

Or as Sir Gustav Nossal, a great Australian community leader, scientist, thinker and former Australian of the Year, put it: “Community Leadership is the courage, creativity and capacity to inspire participation, development and sustainability for strong communities.”

These are all values we try to instil in participants in our leadership program, starting at our Opening Retreat Weekend with a session on understanding ourselves and others, and continuing throughout the program year as we meet some amazing community leaders from across our region and beyond.

These are the people who share their stories with the participants as they undertake their own adventure of self-discovery, learning more about the region and issues and opportunities for their communities to be vibrant and sustainable into the future, and to develop a strong support network to help them in their community leadership endeavours.

We recognise that for a community to be resilient, adaptable to change, and responsive in times of a crisis that a range of leadership styles is required and strong communities have leaders who are highly visible, as well as leaders who work behind the scenes to get things done. Both are equally as important if a community is to function well.

The community roles undertaken by our LMCLP graduates is strong testament to this – some have taken on formal leadership roles such as local government Councillors, Board Members of industry associations and government authorities, while others operate at a more grass-roots level including sporting, school, & community group committees of management, community development groups, and active in Landcare, CFA and other important community organisations.

There are many characteristics that make someone a good community leader – passion, vision, commitment, confidence and integrity to name just a few.

Having just completed a two-day workshop on how to understand and communicate your value, I have come away with a very long list of traits that can make a good community leadership:

Adaptable………. Assertive ……….Broad-Minded………. Collaborative………. Committed………  Communication Skills………. Competent………. Confident………. Courageous………. Creative ………. Dedicated ……….Effective………. Efficient ……….Empathetic………. Focussed………. Forward Looking ………. Good Listener ………. Honest ………. Humble ……….Imaginative ……….Innovative………. Inspirational………. Integrity………. Knowledgeable ……….Motivated ……….Open………. Passionate ……….Persuasive………. Reliable ……….Respected………. Self-aware ……….Sense of Humour………. Strategic………. Team-oriented ……….Trustworthy ……….Visionary

As part of the workshop, we were asked to narrow this down to our five core personal values. So I would like to pose this question to you: Which of these (or others that are not listed here) five values do YOU see as the most important in a community leader?

I look forward to your thoughts.

Julie Slater, Community Leadership Loddon Murray

The Next Gen (Millenials)

Recently I read an article about a study commissioned in the United States on “Millenials” and what they want from their workplaces. 

Apart from wondering what a Millenial is – the youngest generation to enter the workforce born between 1977-1997 – this got me thinking about how many community groups complain about the lack of younger people willing to take on leadership positions. 

No doubt we can all think of a million reasons having sat in on meetings where a young person’s enthusiastic idea is quickly hit on the head by a “we’ve already tried that and it didn’t work” statement.

So who exactly are the Millennials?  This is the generation that has grown up in a world of terrorist attacks, AIDS, and the Internet. As children, they experienced everyone getting awards and gold stars were handed out freely. As a result, Millennials want frequent feedback. Millennials grew up with Baby Boomer parents, many who are self-professed workaholics, and therefore (surprise, surprise!) desire more work/life balance than their parents had.

The good news is that Millenials are resourceful and able to multi-task. They can Google, email and write a report at the same time; they can comfortably find information through the Internet. They work well in team environments and are comfortable speaking up. They also want to make an immediate impact in their jobs and move up quickly.  Millennial are not afraid of discovering new things; they want to learn and (shock! horror!) are eager to try something new!

So what do they want?

According to the study by Terri Klass, Judy Lindenberger and Jean-Baptiste Marchais, Millennials consider the world as something positive with a lot of opportunities.

Their attraction is to fast-paced environments so straight away you can see the difficulty with a community group that is bogged down with boring repetition and cups of tea.  It is important to find a balance regarding workload. Too much could turn them off, but not enough could reduce their enthusiasm. Flexibility is another benefit that Millennials value.

Values are very important and they would like to support organisations that help the world and uses green technologies.  Most of all, they want honest feedback and they want it right away.

If we truly do want to involve this emerging generation in community leadership at all levels, now seems like a good time to start.

Millennials are actively asking for more training, coaching and mentoring opportunities. Bringing together older volunteer’s experience and Millennials’ creativity can lead to a much needed breath of fresh air within our organisations.

The authors of the study make these recommendations:

• Create an open mentoring culture where people learn from each other in a wide variety of formal and informal relationships.
• Use technology to help people sign up and get connected.

Rather than following tradition we need to recognise that Millennials think and communicate differently.  They tend to focus more on short term goals with quick results and they definitely prefer email to face to face meetings.  Variety and fresh challenges are essential to keep them engaged and interested.

But at the same time, we need to share our wisdom and let them know what they could do better and why.  If both parties can take the time to listen then it has to be of benefit.

We might be pleasantly surprised by the results.  And, at the end of the day, what do a few mistakes matter as long as we all learn from them.  

What do you think?

KERRY ANDERSON
CLLM Projects Manager