To help us better understand what leadership traits are necessary to guide us during these disruptive times of uncertainty, Ray Wang, CEO and founder of a Silicon Valley-based advisory firm Constellation Research, and I invited the former Prime Minister of Australia and former Mayor of Sydney to join our weekly show DisrupTV. The Honorable Malcolm Turnbull was the 29th Prime Minister of Australia. Prior to entering politics, he enjoyed successful careers as a lawyer, investment banker, and journalist. Malcolm Turnbull established an investment banking firm in 1987, specializing in the media and technology sectors. Malcolm Turnbull co-founded the first big Australian Internet company, which was listed on the NASDAQ in 1996 and later sold to Worldcom. Malcolm Turnbull entered the Australian Parliament in 2004, and during that time, served as Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Minister for Communications, and as Prime Minister from 2015 to 2018. During his time as Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull delivered an economic growth agenda that lead to record job creation on the back of cutting personal and company taxes. Malcolm Turnbull’s government legalized same-sex marriage and reformed the school funding model to ensure a consistent, needs-based approach across all school sectors. Malcolm Turnbull’s government embarked on the largest peace-time expansion and modernization of Australian defense forces and defense industry, including commissioning 54 new Naval vessels. Malcolm Turnbull also successfully negotiated a deal with President Trump to maintain a refugee resettlement deal he had agreed to with President Obama. Malcolm Turnbull also radically reformed the way the Australian federal Government deals with states and cities, establishing a series of City Deals – an example is the construction of a new airport for Sydney. At a time of growing nationalist sentiment across the world, Malcolm Turnbull opposed racism and division at every turn, ensuring that Australia remains the most successful multicultural society in the world. Malcolm Turnbull’s new bestselling book, A Bigger Picture, is the remarkable story of his life. Lucy Turnbull AO is the former Lord Mayor of Sydney. Lucy Turnbull is an urbanist, businesswoman, and philanthropist with a longstanding interest in cities and technological and social innovation. From 2015 to 2020, Lucy Turnbull was the inaugural chief commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission, tasked by the NSW state government to assist in delivering strong and effective strategic planning for the whole of metropolitan Sydney. Lucy Turnbull was the first female Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney from 2003 to 2004. In 2011, Lucy Turnbull became an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the community, local government, and business. Lucy Turnbull has served as a board member of multiple not for profit cultural and not-for-profit institutions. In 2012, Lucy Turnbull was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Business by the University of New South Wales (NSW), and in 2016, was appointed Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Built Environment, University of NSW. In 2017, Lucy Turnbull was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Western Sydney University which she received for her substantial and sustained service and contribution to the University and the Greater Western Sydney region. Lucy Turnbull is a trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW and a Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center, focused on how new technologies and data impact geopolitics, and how we can ensure tech benefits and uplifts people, prosperity, and peace globally. Lucy Turnbull delivered a brilliant TEDTalk on Designing Cities for Women. Lucy Turnbull talked about a women’s safety charter that was recently introduced to improve the citizen experience in Sydney. When safety is improved, business participation will improve, and economies will grow and improve. It is about making the community more inclusive and safe. Wang and I also invited Dr. David Bray to join us as our special co-host. Dr. Bray is the inaugural director of the GeoTech Center and the executive director of the GeoTech Commission on the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data at the Atlantic Council. Here are the key leadership lessons from our conversation with Malcolm Turnbull and Lucy Turnbull: I strongly encourage you to watch the entire video with Malcolm Turnbull and Lucy Turnbull AO. Our brilliant conversation included shared wisdom from two extraordinary individuals with incredible advice that will benefit entrepreneurs, civil servants, elected officials, and business leaders.
