The CEO and managing director of insurer AIA in Australia and New Zealand, Damien Mu, sat down with Conexus Financial CEO Colin Tate for a candid and deeply personal discussion about Mu’s path to leadership in the first instalment of the Redefining Leadership for the Future series today.

Mu and Tate riffed on their long-standing friendship and the power of vulnerability, as well as the benefit of being a “field marshall” leader rather than an “ivory tower” boss.

Mu opened up about his grandmother, who taught him the first tenet of leadership he acquired; the value of purpose. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, he says, recounting tales of encountering racism as a child and burnout as an adult, but the CEO says he never lost sight of the fact that leadership is a privilege and a responsibility, not an authority.

Watch the full interview below and register now for the next live-streamed on interview on August 25 featuring financial services and national education leader, David Gonski.