April 24, 2014
Excellent decision making under pressure last week saw a Toowoomba Regional Council team judged the second best group in the State on a series of leadership tests at a Local Government Managers’ Australia (LGMA) Queensland Challenge.
TRC Customer Service portfolio leader Cr Anne Glasheen said the result was a fantastic achievement by the team at the March test day in Brisbane, which was held on the Toowoomba Show public holiday.
Seventeen teams from local governments across Queensland assembled for the extensive exercises.
Cr Glasheen said TRC’s Synergy Effect team, comprising mentor Michael Pendlebury, Gabe Woldt, Josh Leddy, Minnie Moody, Jess Gallagher, Erin Ford and Andrew Spradbrow, received their award at a presentation function in Brisbane.
Cr Glasheen said both TRC teams received high praise and near perfect scores for videos addressing the Challenge theme, “productive communities”.
“Council actively promotes staff development by encouraging officers to compete at the annual leadership test,” Cr Glasheen said.
“Our top results this year show the benefits of a leadership mentor program where past Challenge participants guide new teams based on their experiences.
“The Challenge is a leadership test where teams are given a series of problems to solve within strict timeframes. A pre-Challenge task is submitted before the day with the rest of the test revealed on the main competition date.
“Tasks simulate what Council managers face on a daily basis and expose Council staff to more rigorous decision making.
“The Challenge offers good training for all staff involved and ensures we maintain a focus on serving all our customers to the best of our ability.”
One hundred and ten teams from councils across Australia and New Zealand entered the 2014 Challenge.
