Leading at Your Edge: In Conversation with Ed O'Malley

What does it actually take to lead when the challenges you're facing don't have clear solutions?

That's the central question of Your Leadership Edge, the book by Ed O'Malley and Amanda Cebula that has shaped leadership thinking and practice at Leadership Victoria. Their framework starts with a reframing of leadership: it isn't a title, it's an activity. It's the work of mobilising people to make progress on complex challenges, and anyone can do it at any time.

As the founder of the Kansas Leadership Center, Ed has spent close to two decades putting that framework into practice, leading an organisation that has trained over 15,000 leaders worldwide. He currently serves as president and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation.

On 24 March, Leadership Victoria will be hosting him for one evening only, presenting a rare chance to hear from one of the world's leading voices on adaptive leadership.

The conversation will be moderated by 2023 Williamson Fellow Tom Connell, Chief Medical Officer at the Royal Children's Hospital. Tom leads at one of Australia's most complex and high-profile health institutions, and brings to this conversation not just his experience as a senior health executive but his own deep familiarity with Ed's work. It's a special opportunity: a globally recognised leadership thinker in genuine dialogue with someone doing that work at the highest levels of Victorian health leadership, in a room where you can be part of the conversation too.

Ed will share his thinking on what leadership demands in complex, high-stakes environments, followed by a Q&A session.

Getting there

When entering from main reception at street level, head past the main welcome desk and continue past the yellow lifts up the staircase to Level 1, or take the yellow lifts to Level 1. Follow the signs to the Vernon Collins Theatre.