The Vincent Fairfax Fellowship: graduation of Group Fourteen

This article was published in Living Ethics: issue 77 spring 2009

The Vincent Fairfax Fellowship is a program of St James Ethics Centre, made possible by the generous support of the Vincent Fairfax Ethics in Leadership Foundation. The following are highlights from the celebration to mark the graduation of Group Fourteen of the program held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Saturday 25 July 2009.

Peter Joseph OAM
Chairman, St James Ethics Centre:

My relished privilege and happy task is to warmly welcome you all to this remarkable graduation night and to the delivery of the second Vincent Fairfax Oration by Geoffrey Cousins. We are honoured on all counts.

As close observers, we have the Fifteenth Group of Fellows who are half-way through their course and who graduate in 2010. One of whom, Luke Gosling, brought José Ramos-Horta along as his very own mentor to give support to him and this magnificent program.

Such a magnificent compliment and, certainly for most of us, our first and only opportunity to shake hands with a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Thank you Luke and pass on our thanks again to the President.

... Many of you know that the Board of the Vincent Fairfax Ethics in Leadership Foundation (VFELF), which funds the St James Ethics Centre program, has elected after fifteen years to alter its relationship with the Centre and to invite other providers to make application for the bulk of the available funds. This is their right. Unfortunately, it means there will be no graduation in 2011 as a new group won’t be starting early next year as normal.

While the VFELF, as the name implies, was set up quite specifically to fund the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship program of St James Ethics Centre, we accept the decision of the VFELF Board and will fully participate in that process in the unabashed hope that the Centre’s VFF program will be selected to continue its good work. It is a vulnerable time for us. No fears! No pressure!

... I know I speak for everyone here tonight in affirming our admiration for the new Fellows’ adventurous and hard-won achievement in being prepared to walk the road less travelled – sometimes an open road, sometimes a road-blocked highway, sometimes a rocky and stony path, more often than not the road less travelled. ... Our national journey will be the more purposeful and invigorating for their choice, vision and inspiration.

And I’m sure that as the evening unfolds, you’ll acknowledge that with these guides and guardians, Australia is in the most reassuring, the most inspiring of hands as they walk the road less travelled. And in proclaiming that, I sense the enthusiastic accord of Sir Vincent and Lady Nancy Fairfax.

John B Fairfax AO
Patron of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship:

As Patron of the Fellows, I am delighted to be able to make a few remarks on what is always a special occasion … This evening we meet and graduate during a particularly difficult period for businesses, families and individuals. Some of the problems being faced are unprecedented. This is a time therefore when we need not only strong leadership but a sense of calm and logic to deal with the many issues that lie before us.

… I am aware that the format of the course is being examined by the Vincent Fairfax Ethics in Leadership Foundation, a body set up by the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation and members of our family each of whom made a significant financial contribution. The purpose of the Leadership Foundation was to fund this course with a close tie to the St James Ethics Centre.

… I acknowledge that we need to constantly review the way we do things, but I speak only for myself when I say that from what I see of the Fellows, generally we should be pleased with the outcomes. This is reflected in the Fellows themselves and the graduates here this evening. It is also reflected in the various contributions they make in their respective communities. My bias is to say the course has impacted on many positive actions and ethical thoughts.

… So in conclusion may I say how privileged I feel to be Patron of a wonderful group of people and I sincerely congratulate those of you graduating tonight.

Nathan Jessup
Graduating Fellow Group Fourteen:

I would like to begin by acknowledging the graduating Fellows. Not only for their friendship and inspiration over the past eighteen months, but also for the wisdom contained within the graduation booklet.

... While structurally the Fellowship is a collaborative process, the journey is also unavoidably personal. Each of us enters with different expectations and assumptions, shaped by our life experiences to that point. I don’t believe that there is a defined point of exit from the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship. The graduating Fellows arrive here tonight with different perspectives about what this opportunity has meant to them.

What I believe is universal though, is that we all, at least once, have been faced with a defining moment during the Fellowship:

> An experience which we didn’t plan or see coming.
> A situation where we felt out of our depth.
> A cognitive moment which triggered an emotional response. Or vice versa?

This is where the Fellowship is immeasurably valuable. It exposes each individual to an assortment of rich experiences, which often invites a considered response.

... As I have progressed through the Fellowship I have been conscious of how my own thinking has been subtly changing.

> I am now less inclined to see the world as entirely black or white.
> And if I catch myself falling back on a preconceived bias, I am more likely to interrogate the underlying assumptions.

While this is an individual achievement, it loses its effect if it occurs in isolation. In this way, my understanding about leadership has also shifted. Over time I have realised that leadership is more about building capacity in others and less about my own worldly achievements.

... The experiences that the graduating fellows have had throughout this journey are as diverse and unique as their individual personalities and gifts.

The challenge for each of us is to consider what our defining moments have been and in what ways we can carry forward the wisdom gained, to build the leadership capacity of those whom we most directly influence.

Learn more about The Vincent Fairfax Fellowship.