We've featured 12 incredible women this season, from a wide variety of backgrounds.

In this special ep, Shirley Chowdhary shares some of the key lessons learned about leadership thanks to the advice from our guests from the past 10 episodes,

These lessons highlight how to succeed in a new industry or team, as well as when being required to step up into positions you have no previous experience in.

Our guests this season spoke about creativity, integrity, entrepreneurship, confidence and so much more. They shared their insights on everything from how they've recovered from trauma to coping through COVID, addressing diversity and inclusions and ideas that can make education, community, politics and the environment better.

The Leadership Lessons is made possible thanks to the excellent support of Salesforce, and has seen Women's Agenda interviewing more than 50 women on how to lead for the critical decade ahead, over the past five seasons. It's produced by Agenda Media, the publisher of Women's Agenda, and engineered by our Allison Ho.

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Twenty-five years ago, Mel Thomas walked into a martial arts class and it changed the course of her life.

Mel was born into family violence and throughout much of her youth. As such, she had a front-row seat to unhealthy and abusive relationships.

As the final guest for Season Five of The Leadership Lessons, Mel talks about the shameful epidemic of domestic and family violence that exists in Australia, and her personal experiences that have propelled her to create change for others.

Mel is now a specialist in Hapkido, a Korean form of martial arts, and has two Australian titles under her belt. She’s also the founder of the KYUP! Project, an organisation she started to empower young Australians, raise their standards and champion their safety and wellbeing.

The KYUP! Project runs workshops all over Australia, in schools, communities and workplaces, aiming to end the cycle of violence at a grassroots level.

The Leadership Lessons is hosted by Shirley Chowdhary and supported by Salesforce. It's produced by Allison Ho and Agenda Media, the publisher behind Women's Agenda.

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family and domestic violence, you can call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.

If you are in immediate danger, call 000.

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Satu Vänskä speaks four languages, has lived all over the world and is the Principal Violinist of the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

And as she explains, cancelling a concert had never been an option. Like most musicians, she’s always lived with an ethos of “the show must go on”.

She's the latest to join The Leadership Lessons, bringing a unique perspective to leadership in Australia, and one that follows a challenging period in live music given COVID restrictions and continued uncertainty for the arts.

Vänskä currently plays a Stradivarius violin at the Australian Chamber Orchestra. There are only two of these instruments in Australia. The violin she plays was built in 1726 by Antonio Stradivari, who made about 2000 instruments over his lifetime, out of which only about 600 have survived.

She speaks with host Shirley Chowdhary, sharing her unique global perspective and why not have a country she feels is "home" gives her a sense of freedom.

And she explains why every child should have the opportunity to play an instrument.

You can read more on Satu Vänskä here.

The Leadership Lessons is made possible thanks to the support of Salesforce. It's produced by Allison Ho from Agenda Media, the publisher of Women's Agenda. You can check out our other podcasts The Women's Agenda Podcast and Women's Health Project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.