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IMPACT!
The Aligned, Purpose-Driven Local Government Leader

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IMPACT!

Support your leaders to create connection, meaning and strategic alignment with the Community Vision and Council Plan

Create more cohesive, high performing and engaged leaders and team in the next 12 months

 

WHY ALIGNED, PURPOSE-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP MATTERS

Enshrined in legislation, Community Visions now drive strategic direction and priorities for all Victorian councils. A Community Vision is more than an aspirational statement for the future.  A Community Vision represents the beliefs and values of the people; it is a vivid picture of the kind of life people want for themselves and their families; it is an expression of optimism and hope for a brighter future; it can provide the community with an anchor when times get tough.

While Community Visions will inform the Council Plan, Long Term Financial Plan, Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plan and Asset Plan, the challenge AND opportunity now is for councils to take their Community Vision beyond a simple compliance exercise; to empower their leaders to embrace the Community Vision so that corporate messages, community engagement processes and everyday business activities align to the North Star of their community.

 

IMPACTS OF LEADERSHIP WITHOUT PURPOSE

 

A lack of purpose-driven leadership can result in councils experiencing any one or more of the following  challenges in relation to achieving their Community Vision and Council Plan.

 

Performance Impacts

  • Council leaders (and, therefore, their teams) not engaged or aligned with the Council Vision are more likely to be function/task-focused rather than being big picture and community-outcome focused.
  • Council leaders not engaged or aligned with the Community Vision lack the ability to articulate how their team’s work will close the gap from where the community is now to where it wants to be (Community Vision). This can lead to insufficient and inappropriate resourcing of Council Plan priorities and initiatives.
  • Council leaders not engaged or aligned with the Community Vision are likely to have staff who do not know or appreciate how their individual/team’s work fits into the bigger picture.

 

Relationship Impacts

  • Lack of purpose-driven leadership can mean that Council’s actions to bring the Community Vision to fruition are unlikely to match the community’s expectations. As a result, external stakeholders may lack confidence and trust in their council delivering on the Community Vision promise.

 

Reputation Impacts

  • Corporate messaging is not aligned with the Community Vision (the ‘why’) and focuses on the ‘what’ and the ‘how’.
  • Council leaders (and their direct reports), as brand ambassadors, do not speak with a united voice. This mixed messaging causes confusion and division, both internally and in the community.
  • The absence of purpose-driven leadership and strategic alignment can drive a lack/fear of transparency and accountability about how the Community Vision is being/will be delivered.

 

HOW PURPOSE-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP DRIVES RESULTS, RELATIONSHIPS AND REPUTATION 

 

Improved results

  • Leaders engaged with the Community Vision can foster more engaged employees, with a strong sense of shared purpose and clear understanding of how their role fits into the bigger picture
  • Team cohesiveness will increase as staff connect their work with the Community Vision, and goals and priorities of the Council Plan.
  • Leaders (and their teams) will understand how they close the gap from where the community is now to where the community wants to be.
  • A more cohesive organisation, as the planning and messaging of all services, programs, events and activities will align with the Community Vision.

 

Strengthen relationships

  • Corporate communications and community engagement processes connected to the Community Vision will increase awareness and understanding of the Community Vision throughout the community.
  • strengthened stakeholder and community relationships by building on the goodwill already established through the Community Vision engagement process.
  • Trust with community stakeholders will be fostered by Council delivering on the promise of the Community Vision.
  • Greater accountability to the community on how Council is bringing the Community Vision to fruition

 

Enhance reputation

  • Corporate messages will be aligned across people, channels and touchpoints
  • Leaders and other staff, as brand ambassadors, will speak with a united voice to your community about their work and the Community Vision.

 

THE JOURNEY TO DEVELOPING PURPOSE-DRIVEN LEADERS 

 

When it comes to developing purpose-driven leaders strategically aligned with their Community Vision, a council will usually sit somewhere on a spectrum between completely “disconnected” and fully “integrated”. The below figure shows the indicative journey, from being in a state of disconnection to reaching a state of integration.

 

 

 

 

 

1          Disconnected: Characterised by leaders with silo mentality; task/function focused staff; inconsistent, mixed and fragmented messages across people, channels and touchpoints; staff do not connect their work with the Community Vision.

2          Awareness: Characterised by attempts to bring awareness and understanding to the meaning and importance of the Community Vision and how the individual’s/team’s work fits into the bigger picture.

3          Conversations: Characterised by proactive conversations between leaders about how their team’s work can align with the Community Vision and opportunities to create structure for a more strategic and collaborative approach towards the collective achievement of the Community Vision.

4          Collaboration: Characterised by cross-departmental teams, led by more purpose-driven leaders, working together on joint projects and initiatives that address goals and priorities of the Community Vision; sharing of information and resources, high levels of staff engagement, performance and accountability, more effective use of resources.

5          Aligned: Characterised by purpose-driven leaders who strategically plan, develop and deliver their team’s communications, engagement processes and everyday work in full alignment with the Community Vision; cohesive teams and highly engaged staff; unified and consistent corporate messages; highest levels of transparency and accountability about how the Council Plan and Community Vision are being delivered.

 

ROADMAP TO DEVELOPING PURPOSE-DRIVEN LEADERS 

 

The opportunity exists for local councils to enhance their results, relationships and reputation by developing their leaders to be more purpose-driven and strategically aligning organisational culture, communications and customer experience to the Community Vision.

 

Culture reflects what an entity thinks expressed through its beliefs, values, sense of purpose and traditions. Community Vision fits here!

Communications reflect what an entity says expressed through the brand image and marketing messages it conveys to the outside world.

Customer experience reflects what an entity does expressed through direct delivery of its products and services, and interactions at customer touchpoints.

 

When culture, communications and customer experience are aligned – that is, when organisational beliefs, values and a strong sense of purpose are embedded within messages and interactions across all marketing channels and customer touchpoints, and then faithfully delivered upon through the product/service – the consistency of intentions, words and actions builds credibility, fosters trust and drives a positive reputation. 

 

This alignment also creates more cohesive and engaged teams (and whole organisations) because the thinking, language and actions of employees are based on a shared understanding of vision and values, and desired strategic outcomes.

 

Conversely, when culture, communications and customer experience are not aligned, organisational credibility diminishes, trust is compromised and reputation suffers due to mixed messages, inconsistent interactions across customer touchpoints, disengaged staff and unfulfilled customer expectations in product/service delivery.

 

SNAPSHOT OF ‘THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEADER’ PROGRAM 

 

This program aims to develop purpose-driven leaders equipped to develop a team strategy that aligns their team’s communications, engagement activities and everyday work with the Community Vision.

 

The program content includes the following:

 

 

Focus area 1:   PURPOSE – Learning how to define their team’s ‘why’, set a team vision and articulate an inspiring team mission that describes what the team will do exceptionally well every day in taking steps towards the achievement of the Community Vision.

 

Focus area 2:   PRINCIPLES – Learning how to develop team values and turn these into actionable, trademark behaviours that will guide the decisions, language and behaviour of the team moving forward.

 

Focus area 3:   PROPOSITION – Learning how to articulate a purpose-driven value proposition that clearly identifies how the team will close the gap between where the community is now and where it wants to be in the future (Community Vision).

 

Focus area 4:   POSITIONING – Learning how to develop a brand image, narrative and key messages to position the team’s work in the minds of customers, and to build awareness and understanding of how the team’s work contributes to the achievement of the Community Vision.

 

Focus area 5:   PROMOTION – Learning how to select the right combination of promotional tools and tactics to deliver the team’s message to internal and external stakeholders and the broader community.

 

Focus area 6:   PARTICIPATION – Learning how to devise stakeholder engagement plans that identify who and how the team will consult to help the team make more informed decisions and deliver on the goals and priorities of the Community Vision.

 

TESTIMONIALS

“It was once again an absolute pleasure to take part in a training with Ros. Her energy and passion for communications and engagement is infectious and she really helped us as a team articulate our purpose. The groundwork that we have done here is going to be enormously beneficial in creating a Communications Team Strategy moving forward.” Sam Shalders, City of Ballarat

“I found the overall experience really valuable. In a deadline driven, reactive team its easy to just churn and burn. To sit and think about why we do what we do and the value we bring to the organisation really adds meaning to the job. After doing the workshop I feel really proud of the work I do, but also really motivated for what’s to come.” Emily White, City of Ballarat

 

ABOUT THE TRAINER

 

 

Ros Weadman FPRIA is an award-winning brand communication and reputation expert with more than 35 years’ experience in public relations, branding and marketing.

A communications manager in Victorian local government for 16 years, Ros’s work in has been recognised with national and state awards from the Public Relations Institute of Australia for community communication and issues management.

Ros draws on her specialist knowledge and expertise to design and deliver local government-focused consulting services, training and mentoring programs, presenting relatable scenarios and real solutions.

 

There are four programs from which to choose – a three, six and 12-month program.

Enquire now via the Contact page.

Testimonial

'It was once again an absolute pleasure to take part in a training with Ros. Her energy and passion for communications and engagement is infectious and she really helped us as a team articulate our purpose. The groundwork that we have done here is going to be enormously beneficial in creating a Communications Team Strategy moving forward.'

Sam Shalders
Communications & Design Team, City of Ballarat
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