WA Mining Club President Jordan Pedley and Speaker Engagement Lead Rob Humphryson recently attended The West Australian’s Leadership Matters breakfast with the Hon Ben Wyatt AO at Crown Perth.
Leadership Matters brings together Western Australia’s business community to hear from leaders with experience across industry, government and the broader community. This year’s breakfast with Ben Wyatt offered a particularly relevant perspective for WA’s resources sector, drawing on his experience across public service, corporate governance and some of Australia’s largest mining and energy organisations.
For Jordan and Rob, one message stood out strongly, the importance of explaining why our industry matters.
Ben spoke about the responsibility leaders have to communicate beyond production figures, investment numbers and jobs created. Mining may understand its own contribution, but leadership means connecting those numbers to the people, families, businesses and communities that benefit from a strong resources sector.
As Ben put it during the breakfast, facts alone do not tell their own story.
It is a message that strongly aligns with the role of the WA Mining Club.
Our industry creates careers, supports regional and metropolitan communities, develops technology, builds businesses and provides opportunities across generations. But maintaining understanding and trust requires us to keep telling those stories, clearly and consistently.
Ben also reflected positively on the evolution of the resources sector, including the significant employment, contracting and business opportunities it now creates for Aboriginal people and businesses. He highlighted the importance of genuine partnerships, self-determination and creating opportunities that extend well beyond the life of an individual project.
Another important theme was leadership itself.
Whether leading a mining company, industry organisation or major Western Australian business, strong leadership requires an understanding of the people and communities surrounding an organisation. Commercial performance remains critical, but so too does earning trust, communicating purpose and understanding the broader impact of the decisions being made.
For the WA Mining Club, Jordan and Rob welcomed the opportunity to attend and hear Ben’s perspective firsthand, while connecting with leaders from across Western Australia.
It was a valuable morning and a timely reminder that mining has an extraordinary story to tell.
Our job as an industry is to keep telling it.
Jordan Pedley
WA Mining Club President
