In a new book, cricketer Pat Cummins interviews former Australian PM Julia Gillard and others

I was a bit nervous about meeting Julia Gillard. I’d still been in high school when she was prime minister of Australia, and I wasn’t exactly reading the papers every day. What I did know about her was that she’s a little bit private.

In the years since, I’ve met half a dozen Australian prime ministers – as the Australian cricket team gets invited to Kirribilli House every year on New Year’s Day – and some others overseas leaders as well, and the first thing I always think about is how much power rests on one person’s shoulders. The second thing I wonder is how they function with so much responsibility in so many areas. How do they manage that from a performance optimisation perspective? Where do they find the space to think, or just be themselves?

It’s always blown me away how many different roles there are that a prime minister takes on. There’s the executive side, making decisions and policy. There’s the public-facing side, making speeches and consulting with the community.

There’s international relations. And, sometimes, there is a symbolic aspect to leadership too.

As captain, a lot of the decision-making of my role is done within and around the team, in selection,…

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