Julie Bishop: Lessons from a frustrated leader - Women's Agenda

Julie Bishop: Lessons from a frustrated leader

Julie Bishop is suffering a fate familiar to many senior women before her; playing deputy to a less than perfect leader. As a noble and committed deputy she does it with aplomb but she’s getting over it. Tired of cleaning up the rubbish that comes with being second-in-charge she is making her feelings public. Combine an eye-roll with an honest interview and people start to talk.

Bishop has been one of the great political lieutenants in recent Australian history. Elevated following the 2007 election she has been the physical embodiment of consistency the Liberal Party wishes to portray.

Countless senior women have endured a similar experience but gets boring. It’s tiring defending your institution or your colleagues when you are not making the mistakes.

Bishop is not infallible, she has made mistakes too, but she is a proven and popular performer with a strong record. She is a leading figure among a pool of underperforming men and she seems to be over it. Can you blame her?

Last month I met a woman who was the deputy to four CEOs. After the third she vowed to put her name forward because she was bored of seeing the same issues in the organisation.

“It was one f%*&  up too many” she said. “I knew I could do a better job, or at least a different job.”

Increasingly I am meeting senior women with similar frustrations. They want to progress an organisation and make it as great as it can be, not spend their time cleaning up after an under-performing male executive.

Usually there is more at play than simply exposing the flaws – whether it’s the individual’s or the organisation’s. Going public and saying that you are dealing with fools is not an option for many in politics or business.

In Bishop’s case she has the media. Journalists are enamoured with Bishop and her friendly demeanour.

Personally I believe Bishop when she says she doesn’t want to be prime minister. If she really did want to lead the Liberal Party surely she would have struck by now as obvious opportunities have passed?

Being neither a fortune teller nor a mind reader I don’t know exactly what Bishop wants. Perhaps she wants credits for her strong performance as foreign minister or maybe she wants a change in leader.

Her ministerial colleagues are envious of her support from the backbenches, or if they sympathise with her they have been destabilised in their own way.  In a corporate setting it is likely that Bishop would be poached by a competitor, or she might go off and start her own company. Those options are not available to her.

What will she do?

I’m anticipating more eye-rolling and frustration. Perhaps she will cultivate her numbers to support a successor to Tony Abbott. Using influence for more than personal gain will win over more of the public and her colleagues.

Can you relate to her frustration?

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