Hugh Mackay
Hugh Mackay
couple average talking
On average, Australians watch more than three hours of television a day, compared with 12 minutes a day spent by the average couple talking to each other.
leadership strong australia
It is the misfortune of contemporary leaders, across the whole spectrum of Australian life, that the community's demand for strong leadership is growing in direct proportion to our lack of confidence in ourselves. The end of this century is an unusually difficult time to be a leader in Australia.
choices feelings trying
One reason we resist making deliberate choices is that choice equals change and most of us, feeling the world is unpredictable enough, try to minimise the trauma of change in our personal lives.
children educational opportunity
Obviously, every child should be given the best possible opportunity to acquire literacy skills.
needs
The thing we need most is each other.
leadership inspiration essence
Polls are no substitute for leadership because, at its very essence, leadership is about giving people what they don't already have - a sense of vision, inspiration, or even an adequate grasp of a particular subject.
easter cousin spring
A strangely reflective, even melancholy day. Is that because, unlike our cousins in the northern hemisphere, Easter is not associated with the energy and vitality of spring but with the more subdued spirit of autumn.
leadership strong vision
The yearning for strong leadership is more about strength of purpose - clarity of vision - than about merely 'getting tough'.
weekend community anxiety
If I were asked about what to do about the level of insecurity and anxiety in contemporary Australian society, I wouldn't start with politics and I wouldn't say too much about terrorism. I'd suggest as a first step, that you invite the neighbours over for a drink this weekend. Today a drink, tomorrow a barbeque, pretty soon, a community.
children worrying-too-much trying
Some researchers sensibly suggest that rather than worrying too much about which programs our children are watching, we should concentrate on trying to reduce the total amount of time they spend in front of the screen.
perfection imagine persons
Actually, I can't imagine anything more tedious than a perfect person, especially if it was someone who also demanded perfection from me.
leadership responsibility understanding
One of the most important responsibilities of leaders in any setting - including business organisations - is to tell us our own story; to explain us to ourselves; to help us weave some meaning and purpose into the fabric of our lives; to illuminate our understanding of where we have come from; to paint word pictures of our future onto which we can project our aspirations.
relationship people perfect
Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.
american-athlete contrast default dodge essence happiness obvious perhaps point rather sadness tedium
How have we managed to dodge the rather obvious point that happiness only makes sense by contrast with sadness - or perhaps with tedium - and that uncertainty, the very essence of imperfection, is our default position?