This issue, WME celebrates those who have challenged, inspired and dared to create change for the common good.

Social scientists talk about structuration, how our choices are strongly defined by pre-ordained social frameworks including values, practices, infrastructure and institutions. “People make history,” said Karl Marx, “but not in conditions of their own choosing”.

These inherited structures constrain our ability to make step change, but they themselves also shift over time – the VISY/WME Leaders List recognises those who have done most to shift them. As I wrote in launching the call for nominations two months ago, it is a celebration of individuals who challenged the status quo, went the extra yard, inspired those around them and had the audacity to hope for something beyond business as usual.

One of the great joys of compiling the List every two years is learning a little something about what made our leaders, to understand their journey and drivers and stumbles along the way.

Another is the sense of optimism they engender in a world full of noise but all too often lacking inspiration, direction and leadership.

Yet another is the discussions it sparks about what makes a leader, how change happens, where the performance bar is now and where it should be, and perhaps even how we ourselves can step up to that mark.

The leadership equation will vary between people, but a few characteristics seem mandatory. One is personal commitment. Malcolm Gladwell looked inside the success phenomenon with his 2008 bestseller Outliers and challenged the conventional notion it is solely about the gifts we are blessed with. For example, he cites the 10,000 hour rule, the idea that mastery comes by spending 10,000 hours on a task. At 20 hours a week, that’s nine and a half years of commitment.

Another key to success is breadth of exposure, experience and perspective. Andre Taylor did his PhD on what makes champions in Australia’s public water agencies and found among the characteristics are openness to experience, an ability to see systemically, ‘scanning behaviours’ searching for new ideas and avenues, and good social networking (WME, 03/10).

The final one I would highlight – and feel free to contest or add to this list – is the courage to lead. One of Australia’s great thinkers on corporate culture and change, University of Technology Sydney professor Dexter Dunphy, used to encourage students to look inside themselves to come to grips with what they really valued. That doesn’t have to mean living out on a limb, but being prepared to look beyond the conventional wisdom and challenge yourself to take risks.

Gladwell says the biggest misconception about success is we do it solely on our own smarts, ambition and hard work. Outliers shows how contextual factors shape individual success – we’re showing how individual success shapes the world around us, for the better.

Congratulations to our 12 leaders, and thanks for your efforts and your example.
– Richard Collins, editor

The process
More than 100 nominations were received from readers and our panels of expert judges. Each panel then had the unenviable task of selecting the shortlist for their category, 10 names that went back online for you to vote on the Readers’ Choice. We recorded almost 1,300 votes. The judges too picked one standout as their Judges’ Choice, providing a mix of breath and depth in voting.

The judges
Pat Armstrong – Pat Armstrong Consulting
Martin Brennan – ICLEI Oceania
Chris Davis – National Water Commission
Doug Dean – Veolia Environnement
Charlie Foxall – Carlton & United Breweries
Nick Harford – Equilibrium OMG
Chris Hertl – GHD
Murray Hogarth – The 3rd degree
Helen Lewis – Helen Lewis Research
Alan Pears – Sustainable Solutions
Andrew Petersen – PricewaterhouseCoopers
Mark Searle – Key Energy & Resources
Andrew Stock – Origin Energy
John Thwaites – ex-Vic Environment Minister
Graz van Egmond – Banksia Foundation
Fiona Wain – Environment Business Australia
Rod Welford – Australian Council of Recyclers
Dave West – Boomerang Alliance