Prime Minister of Australia (ex)

 Background:
  • Prime minister of Australia and Leader of the labor party from 2010 to 2013
  • Born in the Welsh port town of Barry in 1961, Ms Gillard migrated to Australia with her parents when she was four.
  • An outstanding student in her home town, Adelaide, she became president of the Australian Union of Students at Melbourne University in 1983.
  • Gillard worked in the industrial department of the law firm Slater & Gordon from 1988 through to 1995, after which she resigned and pursued her political career.
  • First female in Australia to hold either position
  • Graduated from University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws
Contributions:
  • After the 2010 Election, Gillard formed a minority government with the Greens and Independents and formed a climate change panel consisting of Labor, Greens and Independent members of Parliament. The panel ultimately announced backing for a temporary carbon tax, leading up to an Emissions Trading Scheme.
  • Gillard placed education her economic agenda, relating to how development of skills can lead to high productivity and other rewards. In January 2011, the government extended tax cuts to help parents pay for textbooks, stationary, or equipments under the Education Tax Refund Scheme.
  • In February 2011, Gillard announced extensive revision of the original health funding reforms proposed by the Rudd Government, towards providing 50% of new health funding (and not 60 per cent as originally agreed) and removed the requirement of the states to cede a proportion of their GST revenue to the Federal Government in order to fund the new arrangement
Leadership Style:
  • Democractic
Gillard’s style of leadership encompasses discussion, debate and sharing of ideas and encourage people to feel involved about the decisions. The boundaries of democratic participation tend to be limited to the citizens’ concerns and abilities to direct them to the government The democratic style encompasses the notion that everyone, by virtue of their human status, should play a part in the group's decisions.

 Leadership Traits:

1. Motivated

Ms. Gillard comes from a labor household where her hardworking parents has shaped her beliefs in working hard. Her father was denied proper education as a child and that drove her to regard education very highly. As a child, she had the vision to correct these problems in her country. That drive has motivated her to achieve her visions in her later years.

This is a very important leadership trait especially in the hospitality industry. To have a vision means having a path or destination to work towards. Having a clear and compelling vision drives employee to work towards the goal. This very vision will later be used as a guideline towards the planning of trainings and sets a strong culture for the company.

2. Relationships Builder

Ms. Gillard as built a strong sense of trust towards her followers. She proved to everyone how a women can be as capable in a job. To be a prime minister, building up the trust is as good as building up the number of votes from the citizens. During her climb to becoming a prime minister, she had made a good number of friends who had held on to her belief and supported her.

The hospitality industry requires many things combined into one. Take example a hotel, there is the purchasing of bed sheets, the supplies of food to the restaurant etc. It requires the management to build good relationships with these suppliers so they can supply the goods that would be needed to provide service for the guests. It important to build rapport from your employee so they can share the same visions and support the leader by putting in efforts for the company.

3. Focused

The prime minister had the vision to help people achieve education and get good support from the government in the workforce. This has led her to become the leader of the labor party, which then gave her support for her to rise as a prime minister. There are many issues in politics but Ms. Gillard has remained focus in doing what she has set out for.

There are failures in life, but each failure is only but a step forward to achieving success. Focus is a leadership skill needed in the hospitality industry, the ability to pick oneself up after a failure is crucial. If the company has made targets to achieve better service quality, it should always be focus on achieving the task first before moving on to the next. Distractions or personal agendas from time to time should never interfere with the targeted goal.