Leadership Excellence: David Morrison's Transformational Leadership

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of David Morrison's leadership excellence, highlighting his transformational leadership style and its impact on the Australian Army and broader society. It explores Morrison's military career, including his tenure as Chief of Army, and his post-military work as the chairman of the Diversity Council of Australia. The essay examines his leadership strategies, emphasizing his commitment to justice, equality, and diversity, and evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies in promoting societal change. It also discusses his role in addressing gender inequality and advocating for social justice, drawing on leadership theories to explain his approach. Morrison's leadership is presented as a model for future generations, emphasizing the power of will and motivation to achieve significant transformations.

Running head: LEADERS AND THEIR LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
Leaders and their leadership excellence
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1
LEADERS AND THEIR LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
In order for a nation to proceed towards a state of continuous growth and prosperity, having a
leader with a mission and a vision for success is a very important aspect. Without a motivational
and assertive leader a nation cannot attempt to attain societal growth (Coleman 2012). The need
for adequate leadership Strategies and execution will always be prevalent, however as the society
and all the external and internal factors associated with its growth is ever changing, the
leadership Strategies and visions will need to improvise itself every second as well (Zacher et al.
2014). It has to be understood that the autocratic dictation and leadership styles of the past
cannot there any fruit in the context of present day society (Jogulu 2010). However there have
been leaders in the past and in the future whose leadership styles have been Revolutionary and
have resulted in a growth that is only enviable. The purpose of this assignment is highlighting
one exceptional leader of the present an exploding their leadership Strategies and goes to
evaluate how effective this leadership strategies will be in the present day situation.
The leader of present chosen for this assignment is none other than the exceptional
Australian army general turned leader David Morrison. Lieutenant general David Lindsay
Morrison was born in 24th of May in the year of 1956. Mr. Morrison served the Australian Army
from late 1980s and retired as a senior chief of the Australian Army in the month of May 2015.
Elaborating more on the background of David Morrison, he was the son of major general Allen
Morrison and he was native to Canberra Australia. His educational background consists of a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Arts and law from the Australian National University after which he
proceeded to Earth is military career and joint Australian Army. He graduated from officer
upcatet school topsia and Royal Australian infantry Cops as well. Delving more on the military
career that David Morrison served, in the year of 1987 and 1988, Morrison had the designation
of Australian instructor at the royal Military Academy in the UK. His military career progressed

2
LEADERS AND THEIR LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
Morrison attendant Army command and Staff College in the Queenscliff and was readily
appointed as Brigade major for Queensland in the year of 1992. His military career progressed
father in 1997 when he was promoted to commanding officer of the second battalion of Royal
Australian regiment. In 1999 he made his way to being the member of an order of Australia and
he had been appointed as the director of preparedness and mobilization for Royal Australian
regiment (ABC News 2017).
He was promoted to the position of colonel India October of 1999 itself when he was
appointed as a Colony of operations for the international force of each timor or INTERFET.
Motion was promoted to Brigadier in 2002 and commanded the third Brigade from 2002 to 2004
for Australia after which he gain the promotion as director general preparedness and plants for
Australian army and health at possession under his promotion to major general in December
2005. In 2006 he was appointed as the commander of Australian Defense College and in 2008 he
made his way to Deputy Chief of Australian Army (The Mandarin 2017).
The ultimate stop in his military career has been as the little and general when he was
promoted to the designation on June 23rd 2011 as he assume the post of chief of Army the
following day, his service has been so exceptional that his term as chief of Army had even been
extended for 12 months to June 2015 by the authorities as well. However after a spectacular
military career his time in the Australian Army was cut short in 2015 as he retired from his
position with pride and grace. He was crowned as the Australian of the year in the 2016 on 25th
January in a ceremony carried out in Canberra in the attendance of prime minister himself. Apart
from installation service in the military as a brief and prideful Soldier, he had had a hand in a lot
of reforms in army world as well. Elaborating more Morrison had a significant role in the
investigation that has been carried out for the mishandling in the ADF in 2013. Reports suggest

3
LEADERS AND THEIR LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
that he even suspended a few Army officials as he found them suspicious and they have been
convicted in this paper presents after attaining valid proof. It has to be highlighted in that
Morrison’s leadership has been both assertive and transformational in the same time. As a leader
he put justice at the top of everything and proud artist equality and Justice above all. Along with
that an appreciable attribute that Morrison represented had been inclusive and diverse open
mindedness, which had been represented by his speech writer who had been a transgender. As a
leader it is very important to embrace the changes in the society unequivocally and represent and
ideology that the next generation can look up to. Morrison ensured that his actions motivated the
Australian up at all times to remain fair, honest and compassionate (The Mandarin 2017).
Shedding light on his career post the Australian Army will uncover various other
honorable trades in the man at sir post his retirement from Australian Army he was appointed as
the chairman of diversity Council of Australia which is a non for profit diversity committee
which acts as the diversity advisor to business in Australia. Gender neutrality and Society
equality has been one of the greatest missions in Morrison's life and he walked towards it all
throughout his career both in Australian army and in his current career in the diversity Council of
Australia. He has never been afraid to speak up against any wrong doings in the society and have
been the first to the campaigning against the gender Biased societal terms and generic words that
are fun unknown to cause offence in the society. Along with that he had also been an active
advocate against domestic violence and even participated in a walk a mile in their shoes event
that demonstrated the after effects of domestic violence. He played and continues to play a
pivotal role in the betterment for the women in the society and facility general neutrality and
equality in the society, his endeavors demand appreciable recognition (ABC News 2017).

4
LEADERS AND THEIR LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
In order to describe the leadership approach taken by Morrison it has to be mentioned
that he had a vision of incorporating change in the society and work towards making that
changed by his actions and by his authority (Nahavandi 2016). Such a leadership style, that not
only motivates but also brings about transformation in the society or at least attempts to can only
be called a transformational leadership. According to the trait Theory of leadership the leadership
style of a particular leader is determined by the traits that he exhibits. David Morrison had that
rate of a true leader, on one hand he had assertiveness, confidence, authority, vision and
foresight, which helped him attend the success that he did in his military career, while on the
other hand he had treats like compassion equality justice honesty, motivation and inspiration that
ships same as a transformational leader (Cummings et al. 2010). According to two the Theory of
transformational leadership a transformational leader is never limited by the perception of his or
her followers, rather a transformational leader understands the challenges in a sparse and
attempts to overcome those challenges while being a motivational role model for his followers at
the same time (Derue et al. 2011). Transformational leader is able to redirect the perception
office followers towards his visions and aspirations. For instance practical example from the
career of David Morrison can be given when he let the investigations against mishandling on his
own and has been successful, when he spoke up against the conventional Di meaning stand of
the woman in the Australian Army. He even has been successful in sir spending a few of the
army officials for their unjustified actions towards women, and had been successful in bringing
about a transformation that the army culture of Australia had never seen (Du et al. 2013). The
second example of his exceptional transformational leadership was evident in his post military
career as the chairman of diversity Council of Australia. The generic societal gender defining
terms had always been a sore point for gender minority groups. He had been successful in being

5
LEADERS AND THEIR LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
the advocate for gender diversity in Australia, and campaigning against the generic terms like
guys. His actions had been the first step towards gender equality in Australia and glorify him as a
leader who could stand up for bringing forth a necessary transformation (Müller and Turner
2010).
Diversity had been the agenda of his life, and I bringing this transformation Morrison had
to overcome a few challenges. The resistance in the society in establishing absolute gender
equality and diversity in the society has been key challenge. The ingrained societal ideas
regarding unfair racial and ethnic discrimination had been the key contributing factors to the
challenge. However a true leader does not shy away from a challenge and neither did Morrison.
He overcame these challenge by a few of his key traits, authority, assertiveness and inspirational
communication. He worked meticulously for the change he wanted to bring until it was no longer
his dream and had been materialized (Cummings et al. 2010). In his own words, he believed
time had come to revisit the questions that had been ignored until now so that each and every
individual of the society stands free and fully independent, and Morrison worked tirelessly until
he saw the change coming and he continues to transform the society.
On a concluding note, it has to be mentioned that Morrison had a leadership style that
facilitated changes in the society none other spoke for. However, he was never deterred by the
isolating or the discriminating challenges, rather it only propelled more towards his goal. This
unshakeable zeal for establishing justice had been one of the key traits that helped him gain the
support of the followers and transform the idea that the society retained towards gender equality
and social justice. His achievements teaches us the power of will and motivation, that can bring
forth changes that seemed impossible otherwise. And his transformational leadership style
continues to be a role model for the coming generation to look up to in the coming years.

6
LEADERS AND THEIR LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
References:
ABC News. (2017). Morrison sounds warning on discrimination against Muslims. [online]
Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-26/david-morrison-religious-discrimination-
australian-of-the-year/7114390 [Accessed 28 Sep. 2017].
Coleman, M., 2012. Leadership and diversity. Educational Management Administration &
Leadership, 40(5), pp.592-609.
Cummings, G.G., MacGregor, T., Davey, M., Lee, H., Wong, C.A., Lo, E., Muise, M. and
Stafford, E., 2010. Leadership styles and outcome patterns for the nursing workforce and work
environment: a systematic review. International journal of nursing studies, 47(3), pp.363-385.
De Vries, R.E., Bakker-Pieper, A. and Oostenveld, W., 2010. Leadership= communication? The
relations of leaders’ communication styles with leadership styles, knowledge sharing and
leadership outcomes. Journal of business and psychology, 25(3), pp.367-380.
Derue, D.S., Nahrgang, J.D., Wellman, N.E.D. and Humphrey, S.E., 2011. Trait and behavioral
theories of leadership: An integration and meta‐analytic test of their relative validity. Personnel
psychology, 64(1), pp.7-52.
Du, S., Swaen, V., Lindgreen, A. and Sen, S., 2013. The roles of leadership styles in corporate
social responsibility. Journal of business ethics, 114(1), pp.155-169.
Jogulu, U.D., 2010. Culturally-linked leadership styles. Leadership & Organization Development
Journal, 31(8), pp.705-719.

7
LEADERS AND THEIR LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
Müller, R. and Turner, R., 2010. Leadership competency profiles of successful project
managers. International Journal of Project Management, 28(5), pp.437-448.
Nahavandi, A., 2016. The Art and Science of Leadership -Global Edition. Pearson.
Odumeru, J.A. and Ogbonna, I.G., 2013. Transformational vs. transactional leadership theories:
Evidence in literature. International Review of Management and Business Research, 2(2), p.355.
The Mandarin. (2017). David Morrison on leadership, loyalty and making an impact | The
Mandarin. [online] Available at: https://www.themandarin.com.au/59436-david-morrison-on-
leadership-and-truth-in-public-storytelling/ [Accessed 28 Sep. 2017].
Zacher, H., Pearce, L.K., Rooney, D. and McKenna, B., 2014. Leaders’ personal wisdom and
leader–member exchange quality: The role of individualized consideration. Journal of Business
Ethics, 121(2), pp.171-187.