Welcome to Alumni Insights, our series of conversations with leaders who have completed a Cranlana program.
Our aim is to understand the unique aspects of the experience that stick with each leader as well as seek answers to the big questions like, how can leaders navigate the challenges of ethical decision-making and keep driving their organisations forward?
Our Alumni and Community Manager Steph Fernihough recently sat down for a conversation with Vincent Fairfax Fellow, Archbishop Jeremy Greaves.
Jeremy is the Archbishop of the Anglican Church Southern Queensland (ACSQ) and became a Fellow of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship in its 5th cohort, 1999.
Image: Archbishop Jeremy Greaves c/o The Australian
When reflecting on the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship, Archbishop Jeremy Greaves describes it simply as a ‘gift’. A gift that reshaped his understanding of leadership, sharpened his ethical awareness, and set him on a path very different to many of his peers.
Q: How did the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship (VFF) shape your leadership journey?
Jeremy: After finishing the Fellowship, I moved from Adelaide to Ceduna on the far west coast of South Australia. That was my first opportunity to work alongside First Nations people. From there, I spent ten years in the Northern Territory. I don’t think either of those things would have happened without that significant experience at Jabiru – in Kakadu National Park – during the Fellowship.
It really changed the course of where I might have been heading. Many of the people I trained with stayed in comfortable middle-class parishes in Adelaide. I, on the other hand, found myself drawn to amazing places and opportunities: and that taste came directly from my time in the Fellowship.
Q: Do you feel the VFF influenced how you practice leadership today?
Absolutely. At 30, I had quite a black-and-white view of the world, a strong sense of right and wrong. The gift of the Fellowship was realising that the more you dig into things, the less clear-cut they become. There are more shades of grey. And it’s in that space, those shades, where you can begin to discern what is right and true for that moment.
That shift challenged my assumptions; gave me tools and frameworks, and has shaped how I’ve led ever since.
Q: Can you share an example of how that perspective guides you now?
As Archbishop, I lead an incredibly large and complex organisation where people hold very deep, often fixed positions: especially around matters of faith. Leading in that environment can be challenging. I’ve found it’s vital to be clear about who I am and where I stand, while also engaging with others with genuine curiosity. Until you understand where someone is coming from, you can’t have a proper conversation or relationship.
The Fellowship taught me to hold very different perspectives side by side – like one speaker arguing for the death penalty and another speaking on forgiveness – and to explore the values sitting behind each. That capacity to sit with difference continues to shape my leadership today.
The gift of the Fellowship was realising that the more you dig into things, the less clear-cut they become. There are more shades of grey. And it’s in that space, those shades, where you can begin to discern what is right and true for that moment.
Image: Newspaper clipping from The Courier Mail
Q: What do you see as one of the greatest ethical challenges for leaders today?
I think it’s how we deal with difference. Society and the Church is increasingly polarised. People sit at the extremes and throw things at each other across the gap. The challenge is how we acknowledge difference and even thrive because of it, not despite it. Whether it’s debates about climate, marriage, or justice, the task of leadership is to spend more time in that messy middle ground of common humanity, rather than at the poles.
Q: Finally, what would you say to someone considering undertaking the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship?
I’d say: take the opportunity.
Too often, we’re consumed by the ordinariness of life, caught up in our small part of the world and the job we’re paid to do. The Fellowship is a chance to step outside of that, to experience new people, new places, and new perspectives.
We don’t often get those opportunities, and when they come, we should grab them with both hands and see where they take us.
Interview edited for clarity and length. Main image c/o ACSQ.
As we prepare to celebrate 30 years of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship this November, this reflection reminds us of the lasting impact of Sir Vincent’s vision: leaders equipped not with easy answers, but with the courage, curiosity, and conviction to lead in complexity.
If you’d like to participate in a program that includes inspiring change-makers like Jeremy amongst its alumni, applications are currently open. Find out more here:
