‘You learn from it’: Christine Nixon on what makes a good leader

The top cop who came under fire for how she dealt with Black Saturday has been appointed as chair of not-for-profit Leadership Victoria.

Former Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon, who was criticised after going out for dinner during the 2019 bushfires which killed 173 people, says she’s learnt a lot from her time in leadership roles.

Through her new volunteer position, she hopes to share those lessons with others.

“I think all of us look back on instances like that [Black Saturday] … where you reflect on what happened and go ‘What was I thinking?’, but I think the point sometimes we have to do with leadership … is you reflect on it, you learn from it and you have to just move on,” Ms Nixon told Neil Mitchell.

“I can’t go back and change what happened then but I can actually try and use my skills to continue to develop myself and also other leaders as well.”

NEIL MITCHELL: “So what have you learnt from that? What have you heard about leadership from those days?”

CHRISTINE NIXON: “I was in Victoria Police for eight and a half years and there was a lot of challenges. You look back at some of the decisions you made and you reflect  — well maybe I wouldn’t have quite done it that way … on that particular instance … I should have been there. That was the really important piece.”

When asked what she thinks makes a good leader, Ms Nixon said they “mobilise the members of their organisation together to focus on a particular issue, or challenge, or change”.

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview

Image: Michael Dodge/Getty Images