I am very fortunate to have worked under the leadership of a unique Chief Executive Officer for a period of six years. Throughout this time I grew professionally and personally and learnt from his amazing example and true stewardship. What were the qualities that made him such an inspirational and effective CEO? Here is a list:
- Visionary – He focused on the big picture and the key goals to be achieved, he never micromanaged
- Great communicator – He put in place a process of engagement with staff to ensure his vision was not just communicated across the organisation but also embraced and owned by everyone
- Consultative and inclusive –In order to restructure the organisation he set up a group of 40 employees from a cross-section of the organisation to engage with him on devising a new structure
- Curious and ambitious – He was always eager to gain new insights and was quite comfortable in declaring what he needed to learn and understand better
- Great mentor – He recognised people’s strengths and areas of improvement and provided advice, encouragement and informal coaching in many different ways including leading by example
- Visible – He was never confined to his office but roamed around various departments and multiple sites talking to staff and listening to their issues and feedback
- Acknowledged good performance – He actively acknowledged the efforts of the staff doing the work and who were often in the background
- Community oriented – He never lost sight of the community we ultimately worked for and served and forged strong relationships with groups, especially those who were the least powerful in our community
- Sense of humour – He was endowed with a refreshing sense of humour which he used quite effectively, often to put people at ease and facilitate communication.
- Multi-talented – He enjoyed many aspects of life, played music and sport and engaged staff in weekly quizzes
- Pushed the boundaries – He championed marginalised causes such as equity and diversity and positioned them as central to what we do, confident in doing what is right rather than what is popular
- Empathetic – He had to make many difficult decisions, some involving redundancies, but showed deep respect and empathy for the people involved
- Took full responsibility – The buck stopped with him and he never shied away from being held accountable for actions under his watch.
The CEO’s name is Philip Shanahan and the Council is Darebin City Council. The period was from 1998 until 2005 when Philip retired after serving thirty years as CEO. I see him as unique in the local government sector; very few others have the experience he has managed to build during his lifetime (as CEO and acting CEO of several Councils), nor the insights he has been able to gain. That is why today, Philip Shanahan has earned the nickname of CEO of Everywhere.
There is so much more I can say about his qualities and attributes suffice to say that the years I worked under his leadership were known as the Golden Era of Multiculturalism at Darebin City Council. Fourteen different awards for various initiatives were won during his term related to diversity and inclusion projects and achievements. He left an unshakable legacy of positioning Darebin City Council as a leader in the local government sector in the cultural diversity sphere.
