"High above the hushed crowd, Rex tried to remain focused. Still, he couldn't shake one nagging thought: he was an old dog and this was a new trick." *** These words lay beneath a Gary Larson cartoon showing a dog riding a unicycle on a tightrope in a circus bigtop, while juggling balls with its front paws, swinging a hoop round its middle, balancing a jug on its head and holding a cat in its mouth. The card with the cartoon was sent to me by my long-time scientific colleague, Marjorie Dunlop, in 2003, to mark my transition from Dean of Medicine, Dentistry, and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne to Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University. *** From the Foreword: "I had just turned 60 and this was indeed a new trick. I started writing these reflections three days after I completed my term [as Vice Chancellor] at Monash University. I was entering the next phase of my life. It would be studded with a variety of interesting and challenging part-time activities. I thought it an appropriate time to reflect on the tricks I have learnt both as a young dog and an old dog and the experiences I have had in an adult life time spent in medicine, research, health policy and higher education." *** What is the essence of leadership? In this book, Richard Larkins, a major figure of Australian science, medicine, and university administration, provides a rare and candid account of a life lived in the public eye, and of the philosophy Larkins has drawn upon to negotiate the personal and professional challenges that life has tossed in his direction. (Series: Biography) [Subject: Biography, Higher Education, Medicine]