Leading with Questions

"If you are not genuine with people, you won't get anything. You won't get productivity, won't get ideas, you won't get innovation, and you won't get a safe building site." - Joe Barr

When Joe Barr became CEO of John Holland, he made a decision that would define his leadership journey: to embrace what he didn't know. With little experience in rail and infrastructure, Joe found himself leading one of Australia's largest construction companies.

Rather than feigning expertise, he chose authenticity.

This, in itself, is an easy choice. Most CEOs would state this intention when taking up their position. Few, however, understand what it truly asks of them, remembering that people do not experience our intentions; they experience our behaviours.

Authenticity is an outcome and emerges only through vulnerability, which itself requires genuine bravery.

In this case, the vulnerability of waking up to many consequences of leading multi-billion-dollar projects and thousands of employees.

The discomfort of ‘not knowing’ marks the place where leadership is most needed.

What struck me most in our CEO-to-CEO conversations was how Joe embodies what I've come to recognise as essential leadership qualities: the capacity to remain calm in uncertainty, the bravery to face difficult truths, the humility to never make it about him, and the compassion to respond with generosity rather than blame.

The courage to be curious

"I found myself giving myself the licence to ask lots of questions," Joe explained. "That opened up a whole world of people sharing with me."

By positioning himself as the learner rather than the knower, Joe created connections at all levels of the organisation. Whether standing beside railway workers or meeting with government officials, his curiosity opened doors to understanding that might otherwise have remained closed.

This takes genuine bravery—the willingness to appear vulnerable when others expect certainty. Joe's approach reminds us that effective leadership often begins with the humility to acknowledge what we don't know.

Finding purpose beyond building

Great leadership connects technical tasks to meaningful purpose. For Joe, leading John Holland wasn't just about constructing buildings and tunnels; it was about discovering a purpose that would inspire people at every level.

Through engagement with employees and stakeholders, the company uncovered their true purpose: "transforming lives." This crystallised in a rebranding with a human figure at the centre of the John Holland logo – symbolising the company's focus on people and meaningful impact.

"The strongest steel is forged in the hottest furnace."

When COVID-19 forced many European construction companies to shut down, Joe faced the challenge of keeping massive infrastructure projects running while ensuring worker safety. Understanding the industry's importance – employing one in ten Australian workers – Joe engaged with government and focused on what could be controlled.

"I have this paradigm about what you can control, you can sweat about, but what you can't control, don't worry about it," he explained. By collaborating with unions and implementing innovative safety protocols, John Holland kept projects moving when shutting down would have devastated not just the company but the broader economy.

This embodied a principle I've witnessed repeatedly in high-performance environments: true strength emerges from adversity. The organisations and leaders who grow through challenge rather than merely survive it are those who can differentiate between complex issues (requiring leadership judgement - dynamics) and complicated issues (requiring systematic solutions - mechanics). Joe's approach turned what could have been paralysing uncertainty into a catalyst for innovation and collaboration—demonstrating the calm necessary to maintain clarity when everyone else is losing theirs.

The simple power of being big

Throughout our conversation, Joe returned to a leadership philosophy he calls simply "being big" – responding to challenges with generosity rather than blame.

"If you do blame, that will be remembered. But if you were generous in spirit to go beyond that and be big... it makes a lot of difference," Joe explained. "Being big doesn't cost you much."

This connects deeply with my experience that blame is a place we easily go to and quickly finds friends, but offers nothing by way of solution. Joe's approach of "being big" embodies the compassion that distinguishes exceptional leaders—rising above our instinctive reactions, especially in construction, where billion-dollar projects involve countless opportunities for things to go wrong. It's about asking thoughtful questions, maintaining perspective, and recognising the human dimension behind technical challenges.

Just be you. It’s easier.

Joe offered an insight that could transform how leaders approach their roles: "Stress is the difference between your natural state and the state you are purporting to be."

Early in his career, Joe felt pressure to project more knowledge than he possessed. With experience came the wisdom to embrace his true self in leadership.

"I made the decision to say, I am who I am. I'm going to present as who I am," Joe reflected. "Therefore, yes, there's a lot of stress in managing a big business. Absolutely. But in myself, I don't need to be purporting to be anybody else."

By closing the gap between who he is and how he presents himself, Joe navigates the inevitable challenges of major infrastructure projects from a foundation of self-knowledge and purpose.

Leaders at all levels can learn from Joe's approach. Ask questions. Connect work to purpose. Focus on what you can control. Choose generosity over blame. And perhaps most importantly, have the courage to be vulnerable enough to bring your true self to leadership—to lead with the calm, bravery, humility and compassion that creates both better outcomes and more meaningful journeys for everyone involved.

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