David Stewart, RYP International

Pressure sharpens performance and signals purpose, but when left unmanaged it quietly becomes stress—an illness that erodes people, teams, and leadership from the inside out.

I feel 2025 has been one of the most instructive leadership years I can remember. We have seen plenty of leadership lessons and styles on the world stage, much of it on what not to do! Many regional and rural businesses have faced uncertainty, skill shortages, rising expectations from staff, rapid shifts in technology, and the everyday pressures of running operations that never stop. Yet it has also been a year where I’ve watched extraordinary leadership rise from ordinary circumstances.

Gratitude may seem small, but in the hands of an authentic leader it becomes a powerful force that strengthens trust, lifts performance, and keeps regional teams connected, committed, and thriving.

Kids’ sport should be a classroom for life — but when parents and coaches cross the line from supportive to suffocating, the game stops being fun and starts causing real harm ... Junior country sport relies on the army of volunteer parents who coach, manage, supervise, and oversee children’s sport. Coaches are a powerful influence on a child’s confidence...

"Without continual growth and progress, words such as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning" said Benjamin Franklin. Of all the things that can boost team morale, the number one is progress (and the feeling it generates). A sense of progress requires deliberate intent by a leader, not platitudes.

Failure. It’s a word most of us try to avoid. Yet the truth is, no meaningful progress ever happens without it. The most effective leaders, whether they’re running a farm, small business, or community organisation, are those who’ve learned to fail forward. They turn mistakes into momentum, setbacks into stepping stones, and doubts into determination.

As AI becomes a daily business partner, leaders face a new challenge — ensuring technology enhances, rather than replaces, human judgment, intuition, and critical thinking.

Great leadership isn’t fuelled by grand gestures — it’s sustained by the one small thing you do consistently to restore your energy, focus and spark.

Regional businesses can win the race for talent by pairing lifestyle advantages with authentic storytelling and people-first workplace cultures that make the move irresistible.

Loyalty isn’t demanded — it’s earned through trust, care, and consistency, and in small business it only thrives when it flows both ways.