Co-leading the McKinnon Institute’s Advanced Political Leadership Program (2021)
Devising and delivering a flagship national program designed to foster capable, confident and effective leadership for future Australian ministers.
Background: The McKinnon Institute for Political Leadership is the only organisation in Australia that offers tailored training and capacity-building for Australia’s federal, state and territory political leaders. In 2021, Dr Tiernan and her colleague, Professor Rod Glover, co-led the institute’s first Advanced Political Leadership (APL) course, a selective, cohort-based program for members of parliament who are potential ministers in the short to medium term.
Dr Tiernan and Professor Glover led a politically, gender and jurisdictionally diverse inaugural cohort of participants with parliamentary experience ranging from one to 15 years.
The McKinnon Institute’s invitation to involve Dr Tiernan in its flagship program reflects her distinctive expertise in policy and governance, her strengths as a leading educator, and her capacity to move seamlessly between theory and practice.
What we did: Dr Tiernan and Professor Glover developed a comprehensive program designed to connect future ministers with the people, ideas and frameworks that would enable them to serve Australian society with confidence and commitment.
While the original program consisted of four in-person workshops and an intensive five-day retreat, the COVID-19 pandemic meant that Dr Tiernan and Professor Glover had to significantly reshape the APL format. Without compromising on quality, they successfully pivoted to delivering 15 mostly online sessions featuring around 30 speakers from policy, politics and research. Participants explored the challenges and complexities of contemporary leadership, contextualised our political landscape and reflected on how to achieve policy outcomes.
Beyond the practicalities of preparing potential ministers for the competing demands of their future roles, Dr Tiernan and Professor Glover also laid the groundwork for the ongoing success and relevance of the APL, the first course of its kind in Australia.
Key outcomes: Drawing on their combined governance networks and expertise, Dr Tiernan and Professor Glover crafted a unique program that can improve outcomes for all Australians by enhancing the capabilities of our country’s leaders.
Looking forward, they intend to build on the success of the inaugural APL with strategies that include:
curating resources shared by members of each APL cohort that can be shared with future participants, all Australian politicians and the public
engaging the McKinnon faculty by bringing past APL cohorts back together once a year
establishing a formal advisory vehicle to inform the program’s evolution.
Client testamonials
“I’ve worked with Anne Tiernan for the past two years as Co-Directors of the Advanced Political Leadership program at the McKinnon Institute. When we created this role, there was simply no other candidate with the knowledge, experience and insights of Anne.
Achieving transformative change for political leaders involves engaging a range of working styles, learning dispositions and personalities. This demands a willingness to meet learners where they are, to do so with both confidence and dexterity, and to take them on a journey. Anne has a rare combination of such skills.
As one of Australia’s leading political scientists with deep experience working with governments, she brings not only conceptual clarity but an understanding of how decision-making really works.”
Professor Rod Glover, Inaugural APL co-leader, Professor of Policy and Impact, Monash University; Academic Director, McKinnon Institute for Political Leadership