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 We recently caught up with Brittany Shelton, Governance Officer at District Council of Grant to find out how she's enjoying the Emerging Leaders Program.
What made you sign up for the Emerging Leaders Program?
After four years working as a lawyer in private practice, I was feeling burnt out and unfulfilled in my career. Around 12 months ago I made the terrifying decision to transition into local government and the world of governance. This change opened so many doors for me and reinvigorated my passion for my career and my appetite for new challenges.
I first heard about the Emerging Leaders Program from our Council’s 2021 incumbent and immediately, it piqued my interest. The program aims to provide participants with a greater understanding of local government, where it sits within the context of our current and rapidly evolving world (think political, economic, environmental, cultural, all the big-ticket items). It also fosters and builds adaptable leaders, providing them with the skills to lead our organisations and our people through what has been one of the most challenging decades on record for employees and employers alike. What’s not to like so far, right?
For me, the main reason I applied to participate in the program is that I have always been interested in leadership. However, when joining an organisation as complex as local government, particularly in the current climate, I wasn’t confident that I had the necessary skills or knowledge to be a genuinely impactful leader (in a positive way). Whilst we can all generally recognise the importance of great leaders, it is sometimes harder to get the ‘how’ right.
The most recent module focused on leading through change – what were some of your takeaways from this module?
This module was particularly relevant for me at present (although, I say that after every module). On 5 September, the Labor Government (SA) announced its intention to facilitate an amalgamation plebiscite for the residents of District Council of Grant and City of Mount Gambier, to vote whether they considered the two Councils should be merged or not. In practice, what this would mean for the staff of these two Councils would be a massive organisation change, where peoples roles, colleagues, systems and entire way of working could possibly be overhauled. Big change. Huge change.
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This module was delivered on 15 September, talk about coincidental timing! Luckily for me, I was able to work collaboratively with my fellow participants assisted by the amazing Dr Marguerite Kolar to reflect on how change affects our people, the difference between ‘managing’ and ‘leading’ change, and how to best support staff through times of uncertainty.
My top three take-aways from this module were (I can’t believe I cut this down to just three):
- Managing change relates to timelines, budgets etc and Leading change relates to assisting our people to transition (two different things);
- Change affects us all differently, and for change to be “successful” we must consider what our people are afraid of losing, and clearly identify our reason for change;
- Be clear on your plan for change and communicate this clearly and regularly to your people, including being honest.
What are you most looking forward to as the program progresses?
So far, I am most enjoying bringing all of my previous experience with leadership together into usable information and skills (my toolkit). When I was advised that I had been successful in my application to participate in the program, the first thing I did was hunt out my copy of Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead that had been sitting un-read on my bookshelf. Needless to say, the book was amazing, and I am kicking myself for not having read it sooner. However, I can honestly say that each module has been equally as insightful and valuable in any leader’s repertoire as Brene’s bestseller.
As the program evolves, I only become more eager to see what else is in store, and continue to build my skills and value as a leader.
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