‘A good leader is a leader that is able to recreate their idea in the mind of others’

When Dr Morley Muse lived in Hawaii, she frequently witnessed surfers with their boards securely cradled under their arms, making their way toward the waves in the early morning hours.

The Nigerian-born chemical, environmental and renewable energy engineer would watch on as they engaged in the subconscious ritual of timing their entry into the cool waters.

This act of persistence is what Muse uses to illustrate her point when chatting with Helen McCabe, FW managing director and FW Leadership Series podcast host, about admirable leadership traits.

“If you go to Honolulu, from 6:30am you see a lot of the surfers that come out with their surfboards in this place called Waikiki, and then what they try to do is they try to look at the tide for the right time to jump in,” Muse tells McCabe. 

“So it’s really seeing people who are persistent, because if you’re persistent, especially when you have an idea that could change the world, you have to be ready to understand that sometimes, not everyone would embrace it as you see it. But you must never lose the vision of how you see it in your mind.”

Muse, who now calls Australia home and is one of the country’s leading environmental engineers, says maintaining that persistence for long enough, makes reaching your goal far more likely. 

“I admire people who are persistent, it shows that they truly believe in what they’re trying to solve, or in the solution that they’re trying to solve for. So persistence is one leadership skill that I really admire in leaders,” she says. 

“But the other one, I think, [is that] a good leader is a leader that is able to recreate their idea in the minds of other people, because you’ll find that there are some incredible leaders, they’ve done amazing things, but you know, when they die, it dies with them.”

“At the end of the day, women want to get into employment and they want to stay employed. But they have to get employed and retained within their places of employment to actually grow to become leaders.”

Muse, the co-founder of iSTEM Co, has no plans to be that kind of leader.

“I want to be able to, give back to the ideas in my mind in the minds of other people so we can collectively, you know, effect change,” she says. 

As for how to build that vision for other people, she says it goes beyond having solid communication skills.

“We all communicate every day, as a matter of fact, communication is like an iceberg,” she says. 

“What we say verbally, is maybe 10 per cent of what we intend to say. So it’s really about living your truth every day.

“You could meet someone at the mall, we’re all selling something. It depends on who is buying, or if you’re selling, right? So it’s really about bringing awareness, first of all to the problem. 

She used her own example of “the niche that I’m solving”:  the under-representation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (STEM). 

“Some challenges for me as a woman that I’ve experienced, as a mum, as a person of colour, all these different, you know, layers and then me thinking broadly that if I’m experiencing this, then maybe there could be other people out there that are also having this problem,” she says.

“But look, the people that I truly admire, people wouldn’t have to experience anything, but decide to solve a problem that doesn’t directly impact them. If I can create that awareness, but beyond awareness… because you know, there are lots of programs, there are lots of mentoring programs, events, workshops, for women, to mentor women and all of these work. 

“At the end of the day, women want to get into employment and they want to stay employed. But they have to get employed and retained within their places of employment to actually grow to become leaders.” 

Muse is focused on shifting the view that job shortages for female workers  are a “woman problem”, to a collective issue for Australia.

“It costs us $25 billion annually, not supporting women into work. That is a 2013 statistic from the Grattan Institute. So it has economic implications, not getting women into work and more so STEM is very, very critical for innovation, job creation. So if we have to advance as a nation, if we have to advance and compete globally, we need to have all hands on deck and that’s what I preach every day. That’s the truth I’m living. If I can make other people live that truth then I’m happy.”

In response to McCabe’s question about how she considers applicants when hiring for STEM roles, Muse says it’s all about balance.

“Life is about balance, that’s why I love physics. You know, physics teaches us about balance,” she says. 

“So we don’t create ourselves and we don’t determine what personalities we come to life with right? And I don’t see anything wrong with being an introvert or an extrovert or whatever. It’s just really knowing your personality, understanding and navigating the strengths and the weaknesses of your personality.”