Peter Malinauskas: Why Leaders Must Spend Their Capital or Lose It

Recorded live at Adelaide Oval in front of a packed Aleda Connect audience during one of the most talked-about weekends in Australian sport, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas sits down with Luke Darcy for a rich and candid conversation. In this episode, he reflects on: What it actually means to lead at the highest level The difference between authentic leadership and the kind people see straight through Why compassion in political leadership is mistaken for weakness and why he thinks the opposite is true What it looks like to build a small circle of people brave enough to tell you you're completely wrong. The Premier also talks about the discipline required to stay focused on big-picture vision when crises are landing on your desk every single day… from child protection to hospital systems to policing. He shares a defining leadership miscalculation that taught him to trust his instincts. And he makes a brilliant case that in a world of uncertainty, the leader's job isn't to commentate the problem… it's to Make. The. Call. And... there's also the story behind his now-legendary "Trump-style" negotiation tactic deployed in front of the AFL commission. That one you'll have to hear for yourself. Gather Round. Adelaide Oval. The Premier of South Australia. 00:00 Welcome to Adelaide Oval 01:20 Taking office - the vision for South Australia 02:25 Defining great leadership 04:19 The crisis of global leadership 05:46 Who do you turn to when things get hard? 07:59 A defining leadership mistake 10:30 Long-term vision vs short-term fires 12:21 Legacy - what does he hope South Australia looks like? 13:48 One piece of advice for every leader in the room 16:31 Greatest leader in his life - Bob Hawke 20:08 Q&A - Federal ambitions? 22:59 The Gather Round negotiation with the AFL 26:51 Where does he switch off? 29:01 Q&A - Immigration, growth & South Australia's identity

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Peter Malinauskas: Why Leaders Must Spend Their Capital or Lose It is an episode from Empowering Leaders by Lauren Exton.

This episode is 37:32 long.

This episode was published on Apr 21, 2026.

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