INTHEBLACK December 2025 / January 2026 - Magazine - Page 48
LEADERSHIP:
BEYOND FIXED STYLES
Accounting and finance professionals can draw on popular leadership
models to identify, refine and evolve their own leadership style and
meet the demands of a rapidly changing workplace.
WORDS NICOLA HEATH
N
WORK SMART
avigating the many, at times conflicting,
leadership models on offer is a common
challenge faced by leaders in all industries.
While it may be tempting to become
fluent in one style, it is not necessarily the best
way to develop an effective and well-rounded
leadership identity.
“Leaders should treat leadership not as a fixed
identity but as a living, adaptive practice that is
evolving,” says Dimitrios Salampasis, associate
professor in emerging technologies and fintech
at Swinburne University of Technology.
Rather than remaining static, he says, leadership
must evolve to keep pace with a changing world.
“Currently, we have many shifting dynamics from
an organisational standpoint, a technological
standpoint, a societal standpoint and a geopolitical
standpoint. We live in a time where there are lots
of moving pieces.”
In this changing environment, Salampasis, who is
a member of CPA Australia’s digital transformation
centre of excellence, says that leaders can draw
on the different models according to their role,
their organisation and its culture.
TAKE A FLEXIBLE APPROACH
Dr Will Felps, an associate professor in management
at UNSW Business School, advocates for a flexible
approach that matches leadership models to specific
contexts. Rather than relying on one leadership
model, he believes that leaders should mix and match
according to need.
48 INTHEBLACK Dec 2025/Jan 2026 SPECIAL EDITION
