What Being a Dingo Taught Me About Leadership

I still find the word leader a little uncomfortable.

I know I run a business. I manage projects and teams. I make decisions every day and somehow people occasionally ask me for advice.

But in my head, I’m still just Jess.

Recently at MURRA, we did an Indigenous leadership assessment looking at leadership through a cultural lens.

My result?

A Dingo.

And honestly... it made a lot of sense.

Apparently Dingoes Like People

My leadership style came back as Collaborative Steadiness.

Basically, I naturally bring people together.

I like everyone knowing what’s happening. I want people to feel comfortable speaking up, asking questions and contributing.

And probably the biggest one...

I genuinely want the people around me to do well.

That’s something I’ve realised more as Hale Tass has grown.

Leadership, for me, isn’t about being the loudest person in the room or having all the answers.

It’s about creating an environment where people feel valued, have a crack and get better.

But Here’s the Catch

Every strength has another side to it.

If you care about people and collaboration, you can spend too much time trying to keep everyone happy.

You can avoid the uncomfortable conversation.

Give someone another chance.

Then another one.

Or keep asking everyone what they think when sometimes the team doesn’t need another discussion.

They need you to make the call.

That was probably my biggest takeaway.

Collaboration is a strength, but leadership still requires decisions.

Sometimes people won’t agree with them. Sometimes you need to address something that isn’t working.

That’s leadership too.

And that’s something I’m still working on.

You Don’t Need Another You

Another point from the session really stuck with me.

When we build teams, it’s easy to gravitate towards people who think and work like us.

But if everyone around me is another Jess, we’ve probably got a problem 😂

A good team needs people who notice what you miss.

People who challenge your thinking.

People who are better than you at certain things.

As Hale Tass grows, I’m thinking about this more.

I’m not looking for people who simply do things my way. I’m looking at where I’m strong, where I’m not, and who I need around me to make the whole business stronger.

What’s Your North Star?

The biggest question from the session wasn’t actually about being a Dingo.

It was:

• Why are you leading in the first place?

• Not your revenue target. Not how many staff you want.

• What’s guiding the decisions underneath all of that?

For me, leadership is about helping people see what they’re capable of and creating opportunities for them to actually do something with it.

That’s clients, the people I work with, other business owners and particularly other First Nations people coming through business.

Sometimes leadership is standing beside someone.

Sometimes it’s opening a door.

Sometimes it’s giving someone the confidence to walk through it.

And sometimes it’s telling them the thing they probably don’t want to hear.

I’m still learning what leadership looks like for me.

I don’t suddenly feel like some great “business leader”.

I’m still just Jess.

But maybe that’s the point.

Leadership isn’t about becoming someone different. It’s understanding what you bring, being honest about what you need to work on, and surrounding yourself with people who make you better.

Apparently, for me, that makes me a Dingo.

And I’m pretty happy with that.