To take a closer look at what leadership means and the importance it has, we’ve asked out teams to share their thoughts.

Gordon Smith, Head of Governance say’s leadership is about “inspiring and enabling others to achieve their goals whilst acting with integrity.”

Newly promoted Passenger Service Manager, Yianni Loizos, says leadership “means having the communication skills to talk to your employees when issues arise. It also means having the confidence and fairness to treat all employees the same. Respect others the way you want to be respected.”

A leader is someone that a team can not only look up to but know they can rely on. The leader should be approachable, confident, inspiring and most importantly hands on.

This is supported by Cabin Cleaning Officer, Shankar Basnet, who says a leader “has the ability to work with different people and can manage their team to meet work demands.”

When we asked team members what the most rewarding aspect of a leader is, we received multiple examples:

• Being able to motivate teams
• Leading by example
• Watching the team being recognised for their efforts by receiving Customer Compliments

In particular, Head of Ground Services, Isabelle Roach says “the most rewarding part of being a leader for me is the opportunity you get each and every day to help your employees on their journey to achieve their goals.”

The team further identified a list of qualities an excellent team leader should possess.

Andrew Georgiou, Airport Manager Canberra, says the key skills to leadership include “being able to listen, take on suggestions and to be able to see the bigger picture.”

Jyoti Kharal, Cabin Cleaning Officer, identifies the most important qualities as “honesty, inspiration, passion and a great communicator.”

This is further supported by 2ic Passenger Service Officer, Jacinta Carvalho’s view that a leader should be “honest, humble, understanding and efficient.”

Mira Thapa, Cabin Cleaning Officer also thinks it is important for a leader “to be able to make decisions.”

From our team’s perspective a leader is collaborative but driving, easy to approach and respected, encouraging and goal orientated.

At Star we are proud to state that our leaders are star quality.

Our leaders nationally support and guide their teams to reach goals whilst also encouraging and maintaining a welcoming work environment.

Thank you to all our wonderful leaders. We are grateful to have you as part of the Star family. Keep up the great work!