Since 2019 Cabonne Shire Council (CSC) has been developing their leaders via the skills of Job Relations (JR). Each ‘Leader’ (anyone who is in charge of people or who directs the work of others) is provided with initial training, then follow up mentoring and coaching in the skills of leading. (No, not just the knowledge of leading, but skills in leading). Brad made this conscious decision as he knows that many have been thrown in the deep end (in leading others) with no prior leadership skills. He has realised that the skill in leading helps leaders to improve their ability in working with people and to have workers cooperate with them.
So, since 2019 CSC has been conscientiously developing its leaders! Brad is at the helm in that he delivers the introductory section for the first session of JR to set the tone and show support.
From the beginning of this year, Brad has taken this a step further and is delivering a JR Awareness Overview to each department. Remember, Brad is the GM and, as I have mentioned above, is busy. His goal is to see every employee in every department.
When I asked Brad why he was doing it (delivering these sessions) he responded …
“For two reasons. Firstly, to support our Leaders. They have a hard job. They must deliver and must get their results through people. They are held accountable for things like production, quality, and safety, yet they get their results through their people. Secondly, the people in the departments are critical; without them we simply cannot deliver. I want to support the Leaders and emphasise to our people how critical they are in the success of our Council.”
I (Ben) have sat through three sessions delivered by Brad – each lasting for approximately 30 minutes; each utilising a whiteboard with small groups, open questions, and focusing on how we are supporting our Leaders to get results through their people.