Fiona Sanford Shepheard is a Facilitator, speaker and a recognised emerging leader who specialises in youth advocacy, especially for teenage girls. She recently came on board as Cranlana Faculty when she co-facilitated the St Catherine’s Ethical Leadership pilot.
As a recent graduate of Cranlana’s Emerging Leaders Colloquium, Fiona prepared this reflection based on her experience in the program.
The Emerging Leaders Colloquium became a mirror for me.
Sitting in that room, I was reminded of the quiet, timid teenage girl I once was in high school. The one who worried about getting things wrong, who was anxious about being judged, who questioned whether she was smart enough, who feared she didn’t belong.
Those feelings resurfaced, not because the program was lacking, but because it invited me into such depth. It reminded me of what teenage girls so often feel when we ask them to step into new spaces of learning and vulnerability: the hesitancy, the self-doubt, the sense that everyone else belongs more than they do.
Fiona at St Catherine’s Ethical Leadership Program
This self reflection was a powerful reminder for me as someone who has spent the past 15 years working alongside young women, and recently with St Catherine’s School as a Cranlana Faculty member.
It is vital that girls are introduced to challenging ethical content early, and in safe environments.
They need spaces where they can practice critical thinking; learning how to hold difficult debates, widen their eyes to different perspectives, and grapple with ideas that may at first feel uncomfortable.
Only when all sides and experiences are considered can the full picture emerge. And perhaps most importantly, these young women need to know it is not a weakness to change their mind, so long as that change comes from reflection and integrity, rather than pressure or persuasion.
The Colloquium came at a pivotal moment in my own leadership journey.
As someone who has lived as a perfectionist, in school, gymnastics, leadership, and life, the opportunity to be amongst other high achievers who relate to this feeling is powerful. Everything I’ve done has been in service of others, and yet I realised in the Colloquium how often I’ve crossed the line between service and self-preservation.
A conversation with a fellow participant brought this home, asking: when does leadership in service of others become unsustainable, even unethical, if it is done at the expense of yourself?
If impact comes at the cost of your health, voice, or wellbeing, is that still ethical leadership?
For me, the answer is no.
And yet, in truth, I have crossed that line many times. I don’t want young women to reach this same point.
If I am to be an ethical leader, I need to model balance.
To know where the line is, and to stand firm before it tips into burnout.
Not perfection, but wisdom.
The program also reinforced the importance of allyship.
Leadership is not done alone, and who you surround yourself with matters. Who are the people that will challenge you, hold you accountable, but also create safety in difficult conversations? These allies make or break ethical leadership. I want the girls I work with to know this early. That their leadership is strengthened not just by their own courage, but by who they invite to walk beside them.
Emerging Leaders Colloquium 2025
The readings were equally transformative as they were challenging.
Harriet Taylor Mill’s The Enfranchisement of Women struck me deeply. It raised the question of how unconscious bias still shapes women’s lives, and how leaders can respond, not with fiery rage that burns all that surrounds, but with a steady warmth that sustains change. Another reflection, on privilege, connected directly to my work with students at St Catherine’s.
For many of them, recognising the different “starting lines” in life was confronting. Yet privilege is not something to be ashamed of, it is something to be acknowledged and used in service of others. These conversations matter because they shape how the next generation sees their responsibility in the world.
What do I most hope for teenage girls?
That they have the courage to share their voices and not allow them to be shut down. That they see ethical leadership as a practice, one that requires both courage and compassion. That they are shown role models who lead ethically and authentically, and that they feel empowered to ask, even early on: How can I live, work and lead justly in an unjust world?
I want them to understand that ethical leadership is not about being perfect. It is about being aware, about practicing virtues, and about using whatever privilege they hold to benefit and serve others.
Fiona at the Emerging Leaders Colloquium
At the end of the day, my leadership has always been about service.
Service to young women, to my community, and to the idea that leadership done well can make the world fairer and kinder.
The Colloquium reminded me that this work is not something we do alone.
It is something we practice together; holding each other accountable, and holding space for the leaders who are coming after us.
And perhaps most importantly, it reminded me of the responsibility we carry to both the next generation and to those most vulnerable in our society. Leadership is not simply about our own growth, but about how we use our position, our privilege, and our choices to protect, uplift, and empower others.
That feels like the true test of ethical leadership and it is the work I want to continue dedicating my life to.
– Written by Fiona Sanford Shepheard. You can follow Fiona’s work here.
Head into next year motivated to make a change from wherever you sit within your organisation, with the same optimism and imagination Fiona and the Melbourne Emerging Leaders’ cohort of emerging leaders took from their week of learning.
Find out more about our programs and explore upcoming dates here:
