The most profound, transformative experiences are the journeys that take you inward, to connect with your most authentic self, and in doing so your most innate wisdom.
We sat down with Councillor Laura Binks to discuss how her journey through the Small Giants Academy’s Mastery of Business & Empathy helped her connect with wisdom and step into her personal power, and in doing so fully embrace the responsibility of a different kind of power as a town Mayor.
Can you tell us a bit about your background, what brought you to the MBE?
I always knew that I wanted to come back to the country and to the family farm. It's a special pocket of the world in the Strathbogie Ranges – I have a deep connection with it. When I relocated up here, I was still working in the architecture and building world and most of the jobs were in Melbourne.
I became involved with the Save Our Strathbogie forest community group, which is a group that came together to end logging in the Strathbogie forest. We campaigned hard for about seven years to end the logging because it's a small forest and has a strong population of the threatened greater glider.
We had support from across the community from so many different industries and backgrounds and a diverse collection of people who understood the value of the forest. We ran a series of programs to take people out into the forest, to have more people appreciate and understand it.
A protection area was declared in November, 2019. That meant that all logging ceased, which was a significant achievement. A few people from the community suggested that I should stand as a candidate for the Strathbogie council. Up until that point, I hadn’t thought about being a local government candidate representative. I hadn't considered that it was a space in which I belonged.
My mum picked up a copy of Dumbo Feather because of the conversation with Peter McFadyen. It was talking about local government and so she thought that it might be interesting to me. I joined a two-hour conversation with Peter McFadyen, a master class series that Danny hosted.
It wasn't long after that, the invitation came out for applications for the inaugural MBE. So I put my application in and was so thrilled to be accepted.
I am interested in how systems can work differently, or how I can work in the system in a way that is sustainable for me as a participant in the structure of local government. The enthusiasm of the team at Small Giants Academy, what they are trying to achieve and having had those sessions with Peter McFadyen got me thinking about how democracy can be done differently. How democracy is a work in progress that is growing and evolving as we grow and evolve.
I was challenged by how I could step into my power in a way that was true to who I am, and being able to benefit the greater good of the community and society at large in a way that isn't destructive, because I think our existing power structures can be quite destructive. When we graduated from the MBE I had just been elected to mayor.
Congratulations! How did the MBE experience contribute to your decision to run for Mayor?
I was reflecting on my growth that year and I don’t think I would have had the courage to have given the mayoral role a go without having done the MBE, because of the skills that I learned in that space. While they weren’t at all specific to local government, I could relate the learnings of the MBE coursework into my role as councillor and then as a mayor. Even though there are strict guidelines around local government, I’m interested in how it can be done with our open hearts and our ready hands, our inquisitive and dreaming minds.
There was a session when we talked about power. It was so helpful for me because we talked about all the different ways that you could inhabit power, and that was really beneficial. So that’s how I ended up where I am as mayor.
What did you know about the MBE before you signed up?
Not a lot! I went on my intuition to be honest. There was a real sense that there was an opportunity to learn some important business and leadership skills, but to do so in a way that talked about community and wasn’t all a cold hard capitalist take on it.
I love learning, I love getting new information and expanding my mind. It was a significant financial commitment, but I decided to give it a go and see what happens. It felt like a good opportunity to understand more about leadership. I had all of a sudden become a leader in the community at a more public level and with higher responsibility. I knew enough to give it a go.
Tell me more about the experience: your cohort – who were you working with?
I remember half an hour before we logged on, I would get this surge of energy in anticipation of what was going to happen. It’s hard to explain. There was a strong sense of belonging and a deep sense of trust. It was incredible to experience the space that was able to be created online. Despite everyone Zooming in from all over, there was this real sense of sharing space and being in a room together.
Sometimes there were facilitators or we would present to each other. Guests would come in and give us such great insights. It felt quite intimate in a way. We were this group growing together and the sharing between the cohort was what made it remarkable. A collective community and a deep sense of trust. A whole bunch of people who would love to see business and leadership and the world that we live and work in, to be done differently. And there are different ways of doing this. A social-hearted way of doing this. There is a way that we can live, work, govern, and play that has strong collective and community benefits.
How has the MBE changed you?
It’s certainly made me more confident in who I am and my convictions and grown my skills to lead confidently. In my role as a mayor, there is a way that I can be a mayor and hold my power, that it not be a masculine, dominating sense of power. It doesn’t have to be loud or aggressive, there’s a different way that we can do it.
Then there’s the ongoing connection that we have as a cohort. It’s really special, the opportunity to check in with people who have been through this deep learning year together. We can reach out and thrash out ideas or share projects or challenges – whatever it is – together. It’s been so helpful and is something I’ve worked hard to maintain, that connection. I do live in rural Victoria and I’m somewhat isolated. The role of the mayor is a surprisingly lonely one. Despite working with lots of people, there are complexities and things are tricky to share. So having a cohort of people I can share with is incredibly beneficial.
The MBE restored my hope in the future. For humanity and the planet.
