Inspiring Evening at Formal Hall with Steve Lawrence

Campion College hosted a memorable Formal Hall on Thursday, May 30, featuring an inspiring keynote address from Steve Lawrence, a former AFL player and a distinguished leadership speaker.

Steve Lawrence, who played football for twelve years at Hawthorn in the AFL, is celebrated not only for his athletic prowess—highlighted by his role in the 1991 Premiership team and being awarded Player of the Finals series—but also for his extensive experience working with young people, teachers, leaders in education and ministry, and families. His missionary adventures include serving as Director of the Emmanuel School of Mission in Rome (2000-2003) and Director of the World Youth Day in Sydney (2008). An entrepreneur and author, his books include "Make Your Mark: Five Hidden Keys to Great Leadership" and "The Tiny Book for Giant Men," with "The Tiny Book for Beautiful Women" soon to follow.

One of the evening's highlights was Steve's recounting of an incident on a team bus where he turned off an inappropriate film. He shared his inner turmoil of that moment, knowing that the film was inappropriate and that somebody should do something, but anticipating backlash from his teammates if he acted. Steve found himself walking the length of the bus to turn off the film and to his surprise, the backlash he anticipated from did not surface. In fact, the whole incident went by without a single comment.

It wasn’t until almost two decades later in a conversation with Andy Collins, a coach at Hawthorne, that Steve learned of the impact of that moment.

Paraphrasing Andy, Steve said, "I actually always tell that story. I reckon I've told about it to 10,000 people. I say it's the greatest act of leadership I've ever seen. You knew it was the right thing to do, you knew nobody agreed with you, but you still did it."

"It made me realise, we just never know our audience,” Steve reflected. “I thought, oh, that was something that happened in the bus, stopped in the bus, that's the end of it. And here I'm learning, 18 years later, 10,000 people at least, from one person, have heard it, in South Australia.”

Steve's passionate delivery and compelling message left a lasting impression, inspiring attendees to consider the broader impact of their actions and the importance of truth and integrity in leadership.

See below for photos from the night.