The Honourable Julie Bishop Describes What It Takes to Be a Leader

In episode six of Dinner For Two, host Alyce Tran sits down with one of Australia’s most prominent female leaders — The Honourable Julie Bishop. Bishop is the Chancellor of the Australian National University, 38th Australian Foreign Minister and former Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party.

As a former politician, Bishop has almost three decades of experience in leadership roles and she always knew she’d be a leader.

“I have two older sisters and a younger brother and maybe because parents practised on the first two, I was mostly left to my own devices — I always did what I wanted to do,” Bishop tells Tran.

“I’ve always pretty headstrong about things and I often took leadership roles; if they weren’t given to me, I took them. Whether it was head of the Brownies or the netball team, I always organising people and coming up with ideas. I was head girl at my school and I remember the headmaster telling my mother in reference of me: ‘If you can’t beat her, you’ll have to join her.’

“It comes with a self confidence about your judgment and intuition, thinking “yeah I can do this, I got this” and I’ve always had that faith in myself.”

Although Bishop describes feeling naturally drawn to leadership from a young age, and recalls an innate self confidence throughout childhood, confidence in ourselves is something we can build over time. It’s all about believing you can do it. Whether you practise positive self talk, find power in knowledge or even use meditation to connect with your inner power, these are all amazing ways to find the leader within you.

And when it comes to being a leader in your career, Bishop says it’s all about being passionate.

“I know I’m in the right career when I wake up in the morning full of enthusiasm and can’t wait to get to work,” she says.

“It wasn’t always a straightforward path. When I was in law, I would leave a firm or go into a different area of law… I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and I have to be passionate about what I’m doing, so if it wasn’t hapening for me, I would move into a different area and make it happen. That’s what it’s all about.”

If you’re not sure what direction you’re going with your career, take this as a sign that you don’t have to have it all figured out. Even the most polished leaders of us all are constantly on a journey.

“There’s no silver bullet on how to succeed. It’s hard word, it’s focus, it’s dedication, it’s attention to detail… but you have to be passionate about what you’re doing. It might not be the same for everyone, but that’s how it is for me.”

Bishop also says that it’s important to have mentors and people in your life that you can count on to have your back, and don’t have an agenda that is against your interest.

“Most people need a support network, and I certainly have a group of friends, family and mentors who I can confide in. I seek out views from people I respect, colleagues, family members — I admire leaders of long-term visions, people who can see beyond the every day and mundane. Those are the people you need by you.”

But although Bishop has sacrificed time with friends and family for her career in the past, she says that having friends you can just have fun with is super important, too.

You can listen to the full podcast episode below: