In opposition, as shadow Treasurer, he was competent and enthusiastic.

The first of his transformations emerged the day he rose in Parliament as Treasurer shortly after the Coalition's 2011 election victory.

Baird surprised everyone with his confidence; he slipped into the Treasurer's role like he was born to it.

Fast forward three years to last year and Baird is elected Premier unopposed after Barry O'Farrell's demise.

Again, from his first media conference, the new Premier barely missed a beat.

This week we saw the latest Doctor Who-like regeneration of Baird when he addressed an infrastructure conference in Sydney.

It was the most startling transition yet: from neophyte Premier to Australia's most successful political leader.

Baird has been the country's most popular leader for some time, according to the opinion polls.

But the significance of one of his first major speeches since winning the March election lay in his acknowledgement of what he had achieved by taking electricity privatisation to a general election and surviving.

So much so that Baird felt confident enough to hand out free advice to the rest of Australia's governments about how to bring the people with you.

Reflecting on the anti-privatisation campaign mounted by the union movement during the election campaign, Baird explained his approach.

"Politicians and governments need to be prepared that, if you are going to undertake some of these decisions, expect a backlash," he told the audience.

"This is the message to every government – at the core, if you are actually fighting for what you believe in [and what] you know is right for the state, then you are fighting in the interests of the people you are there to serve."

"My sense is, you do the right thing in the long term, the politics will take care of itself."

In the audience was the federal assistant infrastructure minister Jamie Briggs, whose own government is struggling to bring the people with it on a range of budget measures.

Baird acknowledged that voters "don't really like the concept of privatisation".

So when the decision was made to take it to the election it was announced early.

"That gives us as much opportunity to actually combat the scare campaigns that come," he explained.

"And I think that the community and the public is actually up for these honest discussions."

"I think that is what they want from their political leaders: an honest discussion," he continued.

"Tell us what the challenges are. Tell us how you're going to fix it. And then do it."

Yes, it seems simple. But as the experience of the Abbott government has so clearly demonstrated, in the wrong hands effective communication like this is a very difficult task.

Baird's speech also showed he is fully aware that the government has some significant challenges coming up – and that it will be relying on the same approach.

In many ways, this will be the ultimate test of his approach of bringing the public into the tent.

The government's decision to push ahead with light rail down George St in the Sydney CBD is causing cries of dismay from some retailers along the route, who will be disrupted.

The resumption of private housing for the WestConnex is causing deep and understandable angst in the community, as is the revelation of where tunnel ventilation stacks are likely to emerge.

Then there's the redevelopment of blighted Parramatta Road and once the NSW government's partial electricity privatisation is through and spending begins on its $20 billion infrastructure program, there's sure to be more to come.

Convincing people of the merits of electricity privatisation at the ballot box is one thing; convincing them that many years of frustrating construction disruption in their daily lives is worth the end result is entirely another.

But if Baird is right and his "talk it out" approach works, he and the government will be in an extraordinarily powerful position come the 2019 election.

And what of his next incarnation? At the moment that's anyone's guess.

One thing is for certain, though: as we saw with Bob Carr, the more successful Baird is in NSW, the more calls there will be for him to transfer his talents to the federal arena.