by Rachel Smyth | Mar 25, 2025 | Blogs
At the Leadership Centre, we have been seeing for some time now that extreme financial pressures for the sector has created negative effects. These effects vary from council to council, but there are some common threads – the retreat into silos, the gaps between...
by Rachel Smyth | Mar 13, 2025 | Blogs
Local Government Reform for the purpose for devolution is upon us. Experience of working in and with mayoral combined and mayoral combined county authorities is providing much useful learning. Here are just some reflections for those now in the throes. An MSA is not...
by Rachel Smyth | Feb 25, 2025 | Blogs
I’m sitting on a train out of London, for the penultimate time, before I head to New Zealand to become the CEO of Wellington City Council, and the phone pings. It’s a trusted colleague…will you write an article about leadership under pressure before you go…pleassee??...
by Rachel Smyth | Feb 10, 2025 | Blogs
Achieving the right balance right between optimism, realism and pessimism can seem like one of the key responsibilities of leaders in challenging times. However, for me, it is the philosophy of agathism (ἀγαθός) – the doctrine that we can tend all things to the...
by Rachel Smyth | Feb 4, 2025 | Blogs
Leading under pressure is the daily experience for those at the helm of local government. Financial constraints, increasing demands for services, and a rapidly changing societal landscape are but some of the challenges facing leaders today. The ongoing Local...
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