Episode 28: How failure can lead to your biggest success with Tania Rishniw
Tania Rishniw, Deputy Secretary of Employment and Workforce at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) joins us in our latest episode to talk about how failure can lead to your biggest success. This episode showcases an engaging and authentic leader whose experience in crises and uncertainty offers excellent advice on overcoming challenges, managing risk, innovating, and building resilience.
Do your employees operate with a license to innovate? It's an interesting concept. When you have a real problem to fix where usual solutions haven't worked, understanding the benefits and risks of innovating and articulating that to others around you gives you a licence to try a new and different way forward. But you have to be prepared for failure to be a part of that. Tania Rishniw, Deputy Secretary of Employment and Workforce at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) joins us in our latest episode to talk about this and much more about how failure can lead to your biggest success.
Listen to episode twenty-eight:
Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
About this episode:
This episode showcases an engaging and authentic leader whose experience in crises and uncertainty offers excellent advice on overcoming challenges, managing risk, innovating, and building resilience.
Tania talks about how it's necessary sometimes to know not what to do before you can figure out what to do, and you need to think through contingencies and plan for those when you're innovating.
In a point often made by senior leaders in past episodes on overcoming setbacks and building resilience, Tania also acknowledges that you can't get to becoming an SES leader or manager without having made mistakes or experienced times when things haven't gone according to plan.
Tania looks back on those times in her career. She shares a specific example from when an environmental impact assessment's advice that she was involved with to a minister didn't go according to plan. That experience helped her learn an important lesson: Sometimes, the answers to ministers and government are that there is no actual basis for them to make a specific decision. You have to fight your natural inclination to try and give them different options unless it is robust and well-seasoned advice.
Tania also describes her time working on the crisis response to the Montara Oil Spill in 2009, an unprecedented time in Australian history. There was no playbook to follow, so they had to try different things to manage it and think about a different way of operating.
As she looks back on leading in these times of uncertainty, Tania offers terrific advice that's helpful to anyone overcoming challenges in their workplace and working in uncertainty. This includes having clarity of objectives and a common purpose, building trusted relationships with others, having a team around you that gives you strength, and focusing on an outcome without blaming others when something goes wrong.
Another important element is storytelling because occasionally, you need relativity, perspective, and the knowledge that others have dealt with issues just as hard to help you keep going.
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Tania Rishniw
Deputy Secretary
Employment and Workforce
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
Tania is the Deputy Secretary of Employment and Workforce, in the Department Employment and Workplace Relations in the Australian federal government. She leads a range of programs that enable services to support and help people overcome barriers and develop skills to gain employment.
Prior to commencing with DEWR, Tania worked in the Department of Health from 2015-23 delivering primary and community care policy and programs. She has worked for over 20 years in public administration, across areas of social, environmental, and economic policy.
Before being appointed as Deputy Secretary in May 2020, she held senior positions in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Department of Finance, Department of Education and Employment, and Department of Environment.
Tania has delivered policy reform at the federal level in environmental and financial regulation, First Nations' employment and education, primary care and mental health, and service delivery. She led the response to the Montara oil spill, has represented the Australian Government at the United Nations, and successfully negotiated with states and territories in areas of hospital funding, mental health and suicide prevention, primary care COVID arrangements and wider health reform.
Tania has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, as well as holding an Executive Master's Degree in Public Administration.
Tune in next week as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Thriving in Uncertainty – Episode Twelve with David Coltman
We often speak about the importance of everyone continuing to learn. After all, learning, in its essence, is about being alive. While some may approach learning with curiosity and be open to the possibilities it may provide for us, others may find it overwhelming to be able to decide in the direction to go. David Coltman, Chief Executive of TAFE SA, joins us to discuss this and much more in our latest podcast episode on change resilience.
We often speak about the importance of everyone continuing to learn. After all, learning, in its essence, is about being alive. While some may approach learning with curiosity and be open to the possibilities it may provide for us, others may find it overwhelming to be able to decide in the direction to go. David Coltman, Chief Executive of TAFE SA, joins us to discuss this and much more in our latest podcast episode on change resilience.
David shares his perspectives on the role of leaders going forward in helping people find pathways through what can feel like a dense forest at times. With an extensive career in education, David has witnessed the shift in education delivery, becoming more demand-driven, just-in-time, or just-enough training in focus, and how that is shaping education now and in the future.
He’s also no stranger to leading in challenging times, having come into TAFE SA at a time when the organisation needed to transform and be led in a new direction. David reflects on that time, having moved from Victoria to Adelaide for the role, and how he used that journey in becoming South Australian to humanise himself with his new workforce rather than it just being about becoming the new Chief Executive of TAFE SA.
He also talks about the importance of alleviating fear in the workforce through authentic communication that cuts through the jargon, giving people the opportunity to be heard, and how being physically present, where people can see him, provides an anchor for his workforce. David also shares how important it is to lead with kindness, but that, like good parenting, being human doesn’t mean just being Mr Nice Guy all the time; it’s also providing boundaries for people to work with and being consistent with them.
This episode isn’t just a masterclass in leading change, it’s also a great example of how to lead authentically and with kindness.
Listen to episode twelve:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
David Coltman
Chief Executive
TAFE SA
David Coltman is the Chief Executive of TAFE SA. Prior to joining TAFE SA in April 2019, David was Deputy Vice Chancellor at Swinburne University of Technology and Chair of the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA).
David is a New Zealander who made Australia his home in 2014.
David holds postgraduate qualifications in Adult Education and Public Administration. His early career work focused on the delivery of programs that sought to increase participation in higher education of underrepresented communities.
More recently David’s work has focused on the use of digital technologies to improve access and participation in post-compulsory education.
Tune in next week as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Thriving in Uncertainty - Episode ten with Judith Formston
Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services at the Department of Health and Wellbeing SA, joins us in this episode to discuss authentic leadership. Judith shares her experience leading others by showing her human side, which helps her team realise she is just like everyone else. She also provides strategies for how her organisation fosters connections to create a safe space where everyone is invited and feels that they can express themselves freely through a range of initiatives, that help workers to disconnect from the workplace, but connect with each other, including coffee breaks, Friday night wines, groups, and communities of practice.
Often, asking simple questions such as “Is everything OK?”, “What’s happening with you?” or “What are you working on at the moment?” can help us learn more about the people around us and form connections with one another. Many post-pandemic workplaces have a range of flexible working arrangements, and it can be challenging for those workers to feel connected to others, leaving many lonely, burnt out, or disengaged.
Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services at the Department of Health and Wellbeing SA, joins us in this episode to discuss authentic leadership. Judith shares her experience leading others by showing her human side, which helps her team realise she is just like everyone else. She also provides strategies for how her organisation fosters connections to create a safe space where everyone is invited and feels that they can express themselves freely through a range of initiatives, that help workers to disconnect from the workplace, but connect with each other, including coffee breaks, Friday night wines, groups, and communities of practice.
Listen in as Judith talks about key takeaways from the Jarwun Program she participated in. She enjoyed the yarning circle, where she connected to others during lunchtimes by basket weaving and talking. She also discusses the current journey her department is on to give their employees a better experience and improve mental health through organising meditation sessions.
Judith is a great example of a humble, authentic, and ‘human’ leader. We hope that you get as many takeaways from this episode as we did.
Listen to episode ten:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Judith Formston
Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Services
Department of Health and Wellbeing
South Australia
Judith is a Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate and Infrastructure, at the Department of Health & Wellbeing, where she has Executive responsibility for Workforce, Finance, Procurement and Contracting and Infrastructure Projects. Judith has worked in Government over 20 years and has held Executive and Senior Management positions across a number of Government agencies in South Australia.
Judith is leading the project delivery team, in delivering the new Women’s and Childrens Hospital to the South Australia, being the State’s largest health infrastructure project.
Judith has a passion for reform and project delivery, leading a number of reform projects across Corporate Services, driving change and innovation across systems and processes. Judith has a key focus on the Employee Value proposition and embedding diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.
Tune in next week as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Thriving in Uncertainty – Episode Nine with Gina Dolan
What draws people leaders to managing, well, people? Is it curiosity about the world and the people in it? Is it the ability to problem-solve and be innovative? Is it grit? No one answer fits all, but certainly, these attributes play a significant part. This week, we dive into growth mindsets, failures, and flex workforces with people leader Gina Dolan.
Gina is the General Manager of People and Culture at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and she joins us in this episode to share her experiences of grit and the ability to persist and lead others through uncertainty. Together, we break down the stigma attached to making mistakes and how courageous leaders can pause and reflect when the emotions are running high and admit to their workforce that they don’t always have all the answers.
Gina also shares her perspectives on managing a hybrid and geographically dispersed workforce, including how working together has changed the importance of how contact with people remotely has to be more deliberate than in the office and how creating rituals and ways of working can encompass individual needs and embrace the needs of a diverse workforce.
Gina’s motto of “no surprises,” creating a safe space where there is nothing you can’t talk to her about as there is no judgement, is refreshing. Her crucial advice on investing in yourself, being a decent human being, and paying it forward to others around you embraces what authentic and adaptive leadership is about all.
We hope you enjoy this excellent episode with a great people leader.
Listen to episode nine:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Gina Dolan
General Manager
People and Culture
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Gina is the General Manager of People and Culture at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or ACCC. Gina is an accomplished HR professional with extensive global transformation experience in the private and public sectors. With a keen understanding of workplace culture and leadership, she excels in leading teams to achieve operational excellence and streamline processes, with the ability to simplify complex HR challenges and provide practical solutions.
Tune in next week as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Thriving in Uncertainty – Episode Three
In today’s episode, we are steering off course - literally! Mandy Young, Chief Executive at the NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority or SIRA, joins us to discuss ‘Taking the path less travelled.’
Mandy has diverse leadership and public sector experience, with a background in social work at the Department of Communities and Justice. She has also worked as the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for the NSW Department of Customer Service during COVID-19.
Thank you for joining us for our new podcast series on Thriving in Uncertainty, where we spotlight leaders who have gotten comfortable in ambiguity and hear their professional stories of overcoming challenges to navigate change successfully.
For the past two weeks, we have spoken with two prestigious leaders, discussing growth and adaptability themes and creating future-ready workforces.
In today’s episode, we are steering off course - literally! Mandy Young, Chief Executive at the NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority or SIRA, joins us to discuss ‘Taking the path less travelled.’
Mandy has diverse leadership and public sector experience, with a background in social work at the Department of Communities and Justice. She has also worked as the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for the NSW Department of Customer Service during COVID-19.
Over this 30-minute conversation, you will hear Mandy provide specific examples from her time during these roles and the significant involvement and subsequent impact of the initiatives that Mandy has driven and been responsible for.
This inspiring chat showcases a leader who exemplifies authenticity and resilience. Mandy has been involved in some amazing transformation and reform projects, and we hope that you will find this episode as engaging and refreshing as we did!
Listen to episode three:
Also available through Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Mandy Young
Chief Executive
State Insurance Regulatory Authority
Mandy is a proud Aboriginal woman whose mob is Gamilaroi (Quirindi in north west NSW).
Mandy Young was appointed the Chief Executive of the State Insurance Regulatory Authority in June, 2024. Prior to this, Mandy was the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for the Department of Customer Service responsible for enabling 14,000 staff in multiple portfolio agencies with responsibility for a $4b budget. She drove significant reforms across corporate functions to better enable portfolio agencies to deliver to the citizens of NSW.
With a NSW Public Sector career spanning over 20 years, Mandy has dedicated her career to driving better outcomes for people and communities, improving service delivery, and implementing large-scale socioeconomic and justice changes for the citizens of NSW.
Mandy has diverse leadership and public sector experience, having held Executive Director and Deputy Secretary roles within the NSW Departments of Customer Service and Communities and Justice and its predecessor agencies.
Mandy holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of New South Wales.
Tune in next week as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.
Embracing organisational change – episode three
Welcome back to another episode in our series on embracing organisational change.
Today in our third episode, we cover the critical change that all workplaces must progress and move forward on, and that change is realising diversity, equity, and inclusion aspirations.
Listen to episode three:
Also available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts:
What does it take for organisations to create an inclusive workplace where staff feels valued, safe to contribute, and to be their authentic selves? Has progress been made in the public sector, and how can all leaders acknowledge and act accordingly to close the gaps with their employees, especially those from diversity groups? Please tune in to hear Julie Etchells, Chief Human Resources Officer at the Department of Child Safety, Seniors, and Disability Services for the Queensland Government, provide her valuable perspectives based on her experiences working for the Queensland public sector over the past twenty-four years.
Download the full transcript of episode three:
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Ms Julie Etchells (pronouns are she/her/hers) is a long-term public servant, out lesbian, person with a disability, and mother to two beautiful human beings who are now adults, starting their own families.
Julie has dedicated 24 years to serving the Queensland Public as a public servant. Julie’s career has developed through her time predominately in service delivery and through time in state-wide services. Julie wears many hats and since 1999 has undertaken multiple service delivery, practitioner, leadership, and Senior Executive roles. Julie is currently utilising her leadership skills in the Chief Human Resources Officer role which highlights her diversity as a leader and commitment to supporting staff to ensure they have what they need to deliver services to children and families.
Julie’s extensive knowledge of service delivery, her passion for leadership and care for people combined with an interest in strategy, partnering, and diversity enables her to positively influence desired outcomes. Julie’s leadership, commitment and dedication to Queensland communities was officially acknowledged when she was awarded the 2020 Public Service Medal for her leadership and outstanding public service to children and families in Queensland.
Julie’s ongoing career aspiration is to “Make it Count”. That is, whatever role she is in, she acknowledges her privilege and makes the most of the opportunity for those she is there to serve. This includes her role as an out public servant modelling the way and showing others “it is okay to be who you are; in fact, it is brilliant – we need you to be you” and we are richer for it.
Please tune in next week as we talk with Tina McAllister, Acting Director, People and Culture for the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for the Queensland Government, for our fourth episode on playing the new talent game – attracting, retaining, and reducing employee attrition.
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Trailblazing with CorbettPrice Podcast - Episode 6
Thank you for joining us for the sixth episode of our podcast series on organisational health and the seven dimensions of wellness. In this episode, we will cover the essential topic of organisational purpose and leadership.
Listen to episode six:
Also available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts:
The leadership style of an organisation can profoundly impact an organisation's health, affecting the workplace culture, employee experience, engagement, performance, and organisational agility and resilience.
The prolific global expert in open and digital government and former public servant Pia Andrews joins us as we discuss how public sector professionals must lead and navigate their teams now and in the future.
Hear Pia's thoughts on how we need to get back to servant leadership, how any leader's first strategy should be to slow things down, and how human-centered design approaches require you to come from a position of being your best human in the first place.
Listen to also hear Pia share three practices from her background in Gung Fu and Chan Buddhism martial arts that play an important role in her work and career every day.
Download the full transcript of episode six (with references):
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Pia Andrews is an open government, digital transformation and data geek who has been trying to make the world a better place for 20 years. She usually works within the (public sector) machine to transform public services, policies and culture through greater transparency, democratic engagement, citizen-centric design, open data, emerging technologies and real, pragmatic actual innovation in the public sector and beyond. She believes that tech culture has a huge role to play in achieving better policy planning, outcomes, public engagement and a better public service all round.
She is also trying to do her part in establishing greater public benefit from publicly funded data, software and research. Pia was recognised in 2018 and 2019 as one of the global top 20 most Influential in Digital Government and was awarded as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Australia for 2014. Pia has also studied martial arts since 1990, and brings the philosophies and practices of Gung Fu and Chan Buddhism into her work every day.
Pia is currently taking something of a public sector sabbatical, working as a Strategic Advisor to the Public Sector in AWS. She is in a newly formed team made up of experienced public servants who provide futures oriented policy and outcomes focused advice, support, exploration and experimentation, to agencies and departments across Australia, New Zealand and Oceania.
In 2023, Pia joined Apolitical’s Advisory Council on 21st Century Government, where some of the world’s most distinguished government leaders, innovators, and thinkers have come together to help accelerate Apolitical’s mission to help build 21st century governments that work for people and the planet.
Web: pipka.org
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/pia-andrews/
The Mandarin articles: www.themandarin.com.au/author/pia-waughgmail-com/