We caught up with one of this year’s Emerging Leaders Program cohort, Rupinder Singh, Project Leader at City of Port Adelaide Enfield to find out how he's finding the program so far.

What made you sign up for the Emerging Leaders Program?

I wanted to participate in the Emerging Leaders Program as I have progressed in my local government career from a graduate Civil Engineering role to a Civil Projects Leader which requires sound leadership and project management skills to plan, lead and manage resources involving office and field staff to deliver design and construction projects. I previously participated in my Council’s own Emerging Leaders program which was quite helpful and shed some light on the key areas of leadership and I wanted to explore that further with the Local Government Professionals Program.

The most recent module focused on Culture – what was your biggest take away from this session?

I enjoyed the module focused on Culture and got to know why an organisation’s culture is so important and the extent of influence it can have on the overall health of the organisation, their people and customers. It’s often not discussed but it decides the way employees interact and the way we do things. The biggest take away from this session was to realize that a positive workplace culture of respect and trust increases employee engagement and productivity, health and wellbeing and retains quality staff.

What are you most looking forward to as the program progresses?

I like to make the most out of this learning and development opportunity as I grow and evolve in my new position. It has been a good journey so far by networking with fellow participants from other SA Councils. Completing my first individual assignment on the TMP provided a good insight of my strengths and weaknesses at a leadership and managerial level. I hope to use the information and experience gained to develop a more transformational style of leadership as I feel this style resonates with me and is a more effective approach within the workplace. Subsequently, I am looking forward to working collaboratively with fellow participants on a group project and utilising our combined knowledge to explore and develop the role of Local Government within the community.