Leadership comes in all different forms, whether you’re in the board room or out on the field, just ask former Australian cricket captain Belinda Clark.
Featuring on Broad Radio’s Play Big segment hosted by Change Our Game ambassador Rana Hussain and Making the Call’s Emma Race, the trio discussed Clark’s leadership journey and the importance of having good role models.
“Leadership’s a verb.
“It's about doing, it's about trying to get success. To me it's very active and you're constantly asking yourself questions before you intervene,” Clark explained.
A pioneer of women’s cricket in Australia, Clark quickly established herself as a force to be reckoned with. In 2014 she became the first woman to be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and to this day continues to run programs for women and girls.
“My leadership will have changed over time as I learn more about myself or understand how I respond to pressure. I'm a different leader now to what, I was in my twenties when I was leading a cricket team, and I wish I knew what I knew now, and I would've done a much better job.”
Recognised for her achievements as an advocate for women’s sport and contribution to cricket, Clark outlined a few important traits that have helped shape her as a leader.
“Trust is really at the heart of how you encourage people to bring their best selves and give you their best effort. Because without that you just stay at the mediocre level,”
Clark continued to highlight that leadership is also being able to back up what you preach to gain the full trust of your team. ‘It's really important that if people want to lead, they have to role model the behaviors and the things that they want to see.’
“It's knowing what this group needs from me right now and being able to stop and ask yourself that question before you do anything, is really important?’
Since retiring from cricket, Clark has gone on to hold many senior roles at Cricket Australia and develop her own agency focused on leadership and empowerment for women athletes, involved with Carlton AFLW and Rugby Australia just to name a few.
To hear more about Clark’s leadership evolution, listen to episode 2 below.
Page last updated: 30 May 2025
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