Leading Beyond the Hierarchy: How to Drive True Impact with Dominique Lamb

Dominique Lamb is a premier Australian governance, policy, and advocacy leader currently serving as the Director of Community Affairs to the President of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Dominique explains how the 2032 Games are shifting away from traditional, isolated sporting events toward a distributed, 14-host-city model designed to act as a catalyst for "public value", ensuring long-term infrastructure, economic development, and generational change impact regional communities that have historically been left behind. She describes how she defines influence as a collaborative, place-based journey rooted in storytelling rather than rigid corporate hierarchies, allowing her to advocate effectively across government bodies, industry associations, and regional stakeholders. Drawing from her diverse career as a lawyer, CEO, and the Queensland Small Business Commissioner, Dominique shares profound insights into leadership as an act of psychological safety, navigating isolation at the executive level, and why leaders must consciously define their own value compass to stay grounded when making hard decisions. Takeaways: Shifting from Profit to Public Value: Dominique highlights how leading in community and government spaces requires a mindset shift from standard corporate profitability to maximizing positive, lasting impact for the greatest number of people. Leadership is Psychological Safety: She defines the core of organizational leadership as creating a secure bond where employees can show up as authentic human beings, voice their struggles on hard days, and build mutual loyalty. Owning Your Value Compass: Reflecting on her time in a high-performance bodybuilding team, Dominique emphasizes that personal and professional values must be a conscious, daily choice that dictates your behavior, serving as a critical anchor during times of executive pressure. Quotes: "Influence is about taking people on a journey. Storytelling predominantly. Because I don't think that you can influence in a hierarchical sense. I don't think you can do it through aggression. I don't think that you can create true or long-term influence unless you bring people on a journey." — Dominique Lamb "When you work with the government, the government's focus is around where can I achieve the public value... impacting the most people in the most positive way." — Dominique Lamb "People spend their whole lives trying to get to the top and they think that you get to the top and then you're good... But in actual fact it gets harder... The single thing that gets anyone through are the people around them. You're the sum of the five people around you." — Dominique Lamb Conclusion: This episode demonstrates that true leadership isn't about imposing decisions on a community, but navigating the journey with them. Dominique’s insights are a powerful reminder for any leader to deliberately choose their values, protect their team's safety, and focus on leaving a legacy of public worth.