Tim Costello: leadership is reaching in

When Tim Costello was young he didn’t think he was a natural leader. He often thought others with great amounts of talent and skill would be the ones to really make a difference in the future...40 years on Tim is the CEO of World Vision, Australia’s largest international development agency where he now spends his time leading a mission to alleviate global poverty. He says making decisions and taking action in line with your values is one of the main reasons he is doing what he is doing today.

At The National Young Leaders Day students in attendance were lucky enough to hear Tim Costello speak. At one point during his thought provoking presentation, he told a personal story about a friend and colleague called Dave. At the time, Dave was a 23-year-old consultant living abroad. As Tim shares, it was one trip to Africa that taught him more about leadership than anything he had ever come across before...watch this clip.

Real-life experiences like this can fly by at the time without a second glance or thought. These moments, though seemingly simple and somewhat understated at the time, can often entail invaluable wisdom and learning.

Have you had a personal experience that has shaped how you think about leadership? Did the ‘leader’ in the situation surprise you in any way?