Six managers from East Sussex County Council fought it out with their Australian and New Zealand counterparts over a gruelling two days at the final of the International Management Team Challenge.
The trip was sponsored by the Australian counterpart of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers (SOLACE) and the IT and software companies, ITNet, GEAC and SAP.
The competition started off with a fun element before getting down to more serious business. East Sussex team members were given an initial five minutes to outline their strategy for winning. They dressed up to represent the cultural heritage of East Sussex and the sporting triumphs of England.
One manager was a seaside visitor to Sussex and represented adaptability essential for team success. "You can start off in shorts but end up in long trousers because it always rains," said Leatham Green, East Sussex’s Head of Business and Workforce Planning.
"We finished with a rugby player representing Johnny Wilkinson to play on the fact that we beat them at rugby and were in Australia to win the local government challenge. The rugby theme also showed the importance of team support and motivation."
After the initial introduction, the work became more serious and the team had to undertake a series of tasks including producing a strategy paper to merge four councils into one council and creating an international network of councils.
The East Sussex County Council team already reigned supreme in the UK after winning the national Local Government Management Challenge competition. Leatham Green said the reason for taking part in Australia was to build up the management skills of the staff involved and to strengthen international skills and contacts. Issues facing local government were universal, particularly in economic development and engaging the community.
He described how the County Council team was over the moon at its latest success. Speaking from Australia he said: "To actually come over here and beat off such strong competition was fantastic. We were very honoured to win. The response and support from the local teams has been tremendous."
Commenting on the team’s success, Cheryl Miller, East Sussex County Council’s Chief Executive said: "This was an amazing achievement, but I’m not surprised. We have many excellent managers in the County Council and we have sought to invest wisely in their development. It looks like we’ve succeeded."
Taking part with Leatham were Nick Deyes, Assistant Director of Corporate Resources; Hayley Wilson, Lead Professional Trading Standards; Jane Carter, Client Catering Manager for Education Department; Joanna Hill, Strategic Partnership Co-ordinator, and Bernadette Light, Contract Compliance and Control Manager.
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