Criteria - TransUnion Rising Star Awards

Marks will also be allocated for management potential

Developing future leaders: criteria and selection overview:

The Rising Star Awards recognise emerging leaders who embody the qualities needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving world. Grounded in the five key leadership criteria originally developed by USB

Executive Development (USB-ED) and then updated by the Rising Star Advisory Committee in 2022, these awards focus on individuals who demonstrate courage, adaptability and strong ethical foundations. The selection process is built on extensive research into disruptive forces, the future world of work, and the emerging leadership skills necessary to navigate these changes. By measuring candidates against these criteria, the Rising Star Awards highlight those poised to shape the future of their industries with integrity and vision.

Vision Ability to Innovate

Envisions a better future.
Creates and imagines new products, solutions or ways of working.
Welcomes and actively encourages the ideas of others.
Solves complex problems through innovation and design.
Challenges existing perspectives and continuously improves processes.
Takes initiative, demonstrating proactivity and resourcefulness.
Leverages technology to enhance performance and efficiency.
Fosters an intrapreneurial mindset, cultivating a culture of experimentation and innovation.

Passion & Impact

Inspires and motivates others through passionate, optimistic commitment.
Encourages constructive involvement even without formal authority or title.
Establishes and achieves clear, strategic goals that align with both personal and team objectives.
Leads in all directions, challenging and enabling others to perform their best.
Manages personal confidence, messaging, and impact with intention.
Focuses, prioritises and organises to maximise outcomes and results.
Contributes visibly and significantly to the execution of strategic objectives.
Consistently delivers on expectations and promises even under pressure or obstacles.

Responsible Engagement

Builds trust and credibility through integrity, transparency, humility and ethical responsibility.
Values, respects and carefully considers the interests and confidentiality of others.
Collaborates actively with others to solve problems and create stakeholder value.
Operates within standards and norms to drive meaningful, positive change.
Creates a culture of psychological safety that empowers involvement, growth and autonomy.
Leads external initiatives that promote positive impact, social prosperity and sustainability.
Contributes generously to team efforts, supporting the success of others.
Demonstrates empathy, fosters well-being and facilitates problem-solving.
Develops strong networks to enhance customer-focused effectiveness and outcomes.

Agility in Uncertainty, Encompassing Digital Transformation

Perseveres through tough circumstances and bounces back from failure.
Continuously learns and promotes growth within the team and organization.
Navigates disagreement and conflict, fostering understanding and encouraging learning.
Balances risk and opportunity to enable clear and decisive action.
Seeks diverse perspectives and involves others to navigate complexity, ambiguity and risk.
Actively explores, embraces and applies emerging technologies.
Develops agile practices and adapts to change and uncertainty, grounded in core values and goals.
Proactively defines, shapes or leads responses to digital transformation initiatives.

Systems Thinking and Sense-Making

Augments skills and knowledge with spiritual, cultural, social and emotional intelligence.
Steps back from daily activities to interpret complex and evolving circumstances.
Thinks systemically, understanding the broader context and recognising cause and effect.
Shares and integrates information to enhance decision-making and drive improvement.
Considers the global context, anticipating future opportunities and potential threats.
Understands the business system, optimising process efficiency and information flow.
Embraces experiences that shift perspectives and deepen personal insight.
Listens perceptively, going beyond the obvious to develop enhanced awareness and intuition.

Vision and Ability to Innovate	Passion and Impact	Responsible Engagement	Agility in Uncertainty, Encompassing Digital Transformation	Systems Thinking and Sense-making

Envisages a better future	Inspires and motivates others through passionate and optimistic commitment	Builds trust and credibility through integrity, transparency, humility and ethical responsibility	Perseveres when circumstances are tough and bounces back from failure	Augments skills and knowledge with spiritual, cultural, social and emotional intelligence
Imagines and creates new products, solutions or ways of working	Catalyses and enrols constructive involvement without formal authority or title	Deeply values, respects and considers the interests and confidentiality of all other people	Learns constantly and fosters team and organisational growth	Steps back from activity to make sense of complex and changing circumstances
Invites, encourages and embraces the ideas of others	Sets and achieves clear and strategic professional and team goals	Collaborates, engaging WITH others to solve problems and generate stakeholder value	Steers others through disagreement and conflict, fostering understanding and encouraging learning	Thinks systemically, understands the big picture and is aware of cause and effect
Solves significant problems through innovation and design	Leads in all directions, challenges others and enables their performance	Works within the constraints of standards and norms to effect positive change	Considers both risk and opportunity to enable clear and decisive action	Shares and integrates information to support decision-making and improvement
Challenges perspectives and constantly improves ways of working	Consciously manages personal confidence, messaging and impact	Fosters psychological safety to empower involvement, growth and autonomy	Seeks perspective and involves others to navigate complexity, ambiguity and risk	Considers global context and anticipates future opportunities and threats
Takes initiative and is proactive and resourceful	Focuses, prioritises and organises to optimise outcomes and results	Crafts and leads external initiatives to promote positive impact, social prosperity and sustainability	Actively explores, embraces and applies emerging technologies	Understands the business system and improves process and information flow
Engages technology to augment and enhance performance	Contributes visibly and substantially to the execution of strategic objectives	Contributes generously and meaningfully to team efforts, supporting the success of others	Develops agile practices and adapts to change and uncertainty, stabilised by values and goals	Embraces experiences which change perspective and deepen insight
Is intrapreneurial and creates an experimental and innovative environment	Delivers on expectations and promises, despite pressure and obstacles	Shows empathy, supports wellbeing and facilitates problem-solving	Proactively defines, crafts or leads responses to digital transformation	Listens perceptively, thinking beyond the obvious and developing awareness and intuition
		Develops strong networks to inform and support customer-focused effectiveness