29 May 2025

Dr. Kirstin Ferguson is a globally recognized leadership expert, ranked by Thinkers50 as one of the top 50 management thinkers in the world. With a career that began as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, Kirstin has gone on to become a CEO, board director, and acting chair and deputy chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Kirstin brings decades of leadership experience across a variety of sectors—public, private, military, and media—combined with deep academic expertise, including a PhD in leadership and culture. Kirstin is the author of three acclaimed books, including Blindspotting (2025), Head & Heart (2023), and Women Kind (2018), which have influenced leaders around the world.

During this episode of “Experts Unleashed,” Atlassian’s Dom Price chats with Kirstin about the idea of Blindspotting – the topic of Kirstin’s latest book – and how being honest, curious, and flexible can change the way we lead, work, and live. Kirstin shares how taking a “seeker” vs a “knower” perspective can enable you to find new answers to old problems, as well as create more teachable moments for the people around you. Kirstin’s straightforward approach to upgrading the way we show up as leaders is so simple, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been doing it all along!

They also discuss the “My User Manual” Play from Atlassian’s Team Playbook. It’s an exercise designed to help leaders share with their teams and teammates HOW they work. Think of it like this: when you buy a TV, it comes with a User Manual. But when you hire a human, there’s no such helpful guidance. Kirstin takes us through her User Manual and shares three unfiltered truths…you’ll never guess what they are!