Thriving in Uncertainty with Tim Beresford
When you've had a thirty-five-year-long career that spans industries and sectors as our next Trailblazer has, you have the benefit of seeing how organisational learning has changed and if it's changed for the better or worse. Tim Beresford, Chief Executive at the Australian Financial Security Authority, or AFSA, joins us to talk about this and much more in our latest episode on becoming a learning organisation.
Listen to episode twenty-three:
Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify:
About this episode:
This compelling episode offers great advice to other leaders on shifting from knowledge organisations to learning organisations and on how important it is to be open, adaptable, and resilient to foster a continuous learning mindset in your workforce.
Tim dives into the key differences in how organisational learning has changed throughout his career, from focusing more on skillsets at the beginning in terms of what knowledge you could bring to an organisation to now being more focussed on mindsets and what you're willing to learn.
He explains how this fundamental shift from knowledge organisations to learning organisations is for the better, as this has created much more of a two-way dialogue in how organisations communicate, which promotes sharing, teamwork, and curiosity in the workforce.
Tim elaborates on why mindset is so critical in today's workforces, which are facing more external shocks in an increasingly uncertain and ambiguous world. This uncertainty requires all of us to develop resiliency and agility to be more adept at dealing with these external changes and shocks.
From an industry-agnostic perspective, Tim shares three aspects for creating a learning organisation: systems thinking, a genuine openness to self-awareness and reflection, and a diverse team approach to solving problems. He provides advice to leaders on how to drive self-awareness, empathy, and engagement in the workplace, enabling individuals to want to foster and enable themselves to grow, lean into, and become more self-aware.
References from this episode:
Don't Fence Me In by Wendy McCarthy
ISBN: 9780855616953, Published 4 February 2000.
Find out more about this Trailblazer:
Tim Beresford
Chief Executive and Inspector-General in Bankruptcy
Australian Financial Security Authority
(AFSA)
Tim Beresford is the Chief Executive at the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA), having joined the agency in mid-2022.
AFSA’s role is to support a strong credit system for Australia and is a visible, modern and contemporary regulator. The agency administers and regulates the personal insolvency and personal property securities systems and manages criminal assets.
Tim is a Board member of the St George Community Housing (SGCH) and the immediate past Chair of the Benevolent Society (TBS), Australia’s oldest non-Indigenous not for profit. Previously, Tim has held the roles of Acting Chief Executive of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University and First Assistant Secretary of the Social Policy Division in Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
He has significant leadership experience in the higher education, government, not-for-profit, financial services and professional services sectors. His areas of expertise include strategy, governance, public policy, change management and organisational design. He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours), Bachelor of Laws, a Masters of Philosophy (International Relations) and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Tune in next week as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.