New research has highlighted some key themes for good local government leadership.

An ACELG study entitled ‘Council approaches to leadership: Research into good practice’ explores the elements of successful council-based leadership programs, highlighting central points for contemporary local government leaders to consider.

Councils around the country invest heavily in staff leadership development initiatives, and ACELG says its research can ensure such programs are effective, relevant, strong and sustainable.

The study highlights three specific aspects of a ‘good practice approach’.

The first is to have a leadership ethos that is ‘values-based’ guiding behaviours, staff wellbeing and organisational potential.

ACELG says such an ethos will properly influence the culture of an organisation if it is championed by senior management, is sustainable, and reflects local and sector contexts.

Secondly the study calls for good leadership program to focus on robust support structures, with tailored content and methods of learning that are relevant to the organisational context.

And finally, ACELG research shows that measuring the progress of a leadership program helps understand and assess its impact and return on investment.

This area of evaluation is identified as a particular challenge to develop and improve.

The report was formed from investigations involving eight councils; Fairfield City Council (NSW), Knox City Council (Vic), Logan City Council (QLD), Maroondah City Council (Vic), City of Marion (SA), City of Melville (WA), Randwick City Council (NSW) and City of Salisbury (SA).

The complete report is available in PDF form, here.