When Sharon Burrow found herself toyi-toying with Nelson Mandela, she felt like she had two left feet. He, on the other hand, navigated the South African dance with extraordinary rhythm and joy. Children were approaching him, placing their hands on his knee, calling him Tata.
Of Mandela, she says “People felt included. They felt at peace. They felt incredible trust.” It was the best example of leadership she’s ever witnessed and one that she’s carried forward since.
Burrow began her working life as a teacher outside Dubbo in New South Wales before going on to serve as President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. She spent 12 years as General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, representing 190 million workers across the world. Currently she’s a board member of the European Climate Foundation, incoming Chair of Climate Works, and co-chair of Women Leading on Climate.
As she reflects in a recent episode of There Will Be Dancing, a podcast produced by Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA) in partnership with Women’s Agenda, the thread connecting this impressive portfolio is straightforward: people-centred solutions, built through community and sustained by hope.
Her thinking lands at a moment of real pressure. Democracy is under strain and protest laws are tightening. The rules-based international order is crumbling before our eyes. And yet Sharon is anything but pessimistic. Before Christmas, 80 countries signed a roadmap committing to move away from fossil fuels. “Out of chaos comes optimism,” she says.
That optimism is grounded in a lifetime of watching communities organise and eschew perfect clarity before acting. Her motto is: ready, aim, fire. “You learn through the journey of action…you have to shift or pivot your tactics, sometimes your outcomes.”
The most vivid illustration of people-centred solutions in action, she says, came not from a negotiating table but from watching a community respond to Cyclone Alfred in Queensland. Neighbours from all walks of life packed sandbags together. Residents cleared roads for emergency services. People with electric vehicles plugged into vulnerable households such as those with babies or with elderly residents, to keep refrigerators running. “That was a community saying we have to support each other,” she says. For Sharon, this is what democracy actually looks like.
She is equally pragmatic about trade-offs and warns against making perfect the enemy of the good; a lesson drawn from decades of collective bargaining. Citing Australia’s recent nature laws are her example: imperfect, yes, but establishing independent oversight and public transparency that’s a foundation to build on.
This episode also features a contribution from Chantelle Cortez Maglalang, a Western Sydney designer and storyteller whose reflection on extreme heat, urban planning and lived experience, moving between the Philippines and the scorching concrete of Western Sydney suburbia, are deeply moving and personal.
Key lessons from Sharon:
“Everybody has the power to make a difference.”
“Ready, aim, fire, because you learn through the journey of action.”
“Out of chaos comes optimism, if we’ve got the courage to stick through what the power of people can be.”
“Don’t make the perfect the enemy of the good.”
Listen to the full conversation with Sharon Burrow on There Will Be Dancing, available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all major platforms.