Leadership that endures is steady, not performative. It provides direction and reassurance, particularly when the work is complex and the stakes are high. For Jenny Glass, this steadiness sits at the heart of her Leadership Light Framework.
Drawn from years leading in demanding health and mental health environments, the framework distils leadership into six practical anchors: Capability, Commitment, Consistency, Collaboration, Communication and Confidence. It has been shaped in real conditions: tight resources, continual change, human consequence, and refined through coaching, both as a leader and as a committed coachee. Today, as Director of Operations Mental Health at South Western Sydney Local Health District, and through her work with ECI Partners, Jenny continues to model leadership that is calm, clear and deeply grounded in practice.
Capability comes first for a reason. “You don’t have to know everything,” Jenny says, “but you must be demonstrably capable in what matters most for the context in which you’re leading.” In practice, that means being clear on your domain, making sound calls and knowing when to bring in expertise.
Commitment is how people feel your intent. It’s showing up, on the good days and the tough ones, with authenticity rather than theatre. “Commitment looks like turning up prepared, present and human,” she notes.
Consistency builds trust. In volatile environments, leaders who oscillate leave people anxious and second-guessing. Jenny’s rule: be predictably kind, clear and fair, especially under pressure. If people know how you’ll behave when the heat rises, they’ll follow you when it counts.
Collaboration is the antidote to authoritarian approaches that drain energy and talent. Jenny has seen brilliant people walk away from leaders who hoard control. Her approach: name the shared purpose, involve people in shaping the path and keep the team aligned on a few pivotal priorities.
Communication begins with deep listening. Before setting direction, Jenny listens for what’s really being said, then reflects it back and communicates expectations with precision. It’s how she leads change without creating static: listen, clarify, align.
Confidence, finally, is conviction anchored in purpose. “Leading with hope and positivity,” as she puts it, so your words matter even when spoken softly. “You don’t have to the be loudest person in the room.”
If the six C’s are the framework, habits make them visible. Coaching has been central here. Monthly sessions give Jenny a trusted space to look up from the work, test assumptions and prepare for what’s ahead. “Coaching quarantines reflection,” she says. “It helps me arrive more ready for the moments that matter.” Between sessions, she documents thoughts, drafts mind maps and keeps visual cues: single words, short phrases, to refocus in the swirl of incoming demands. A clean, clear workspace serves the same end: cut the noise, keep the signal.
Well-being isn’t a side note in this system; it’s the power source. Years balancing executive roles with raising a family taught Jenny to separate and recharge; walks, exercise, time in nature, even the simple ritual of not thinking about work until a chosen point in the commute. These boundaries, she says, are the disciplines that sustain resilience. Without them, even strong leaders burn out their own light.
Reflection is the hinge between experience and improvement. Jenny makes time for two kinds: in-the-moment reflection (jot a few words after a meeting or presentation while it’s fresh) and periodic review (step back each quarter to ask what worked, what didn’t and what to change). She pairs reflection with a companion practice she calls the reset, or the right to begin again with better intent. Projects create natural reset points; career shifts do too. “Leaders who reset deliberately keep learning forward,” she says.
Leadership Light is about visibility, not self-promotion: the quiet discipline of lifting your gaze, standing in the open, and leading with enough confidence and hope to light the way for others.
Jenny Glass is the Director of Operations Mental Health at SWSLHD, and is coached by ECI Partners.
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