Goho From Home: Leadership
Goho From Home: Leadership with Jo Miller and Susie Kemp
This week’s Goho From Home webinar was centered around leadership! We were joined by the brilliant Jo Miller, Chief Executive at Hutt City Council (New Zealand) and the wonderful Susie Kemp, Chief Executive at Swindon Borough Council.
Strong and compassionate leaders are needed now more than ever and it’s crucial that employees around the world feel supported in all working environments. Managers are in a tough position during this crisis, as lockdown certainly isn’t easy.
With this in mind, Jo and Susie provided attendees with advice and discussed the various ways that they are doing the utmost for their colleagues and employees during this time.
It was 8pm in New Zealand and 9am in Swindon, so with Jo’s glass of Pinot noir and Susie’s cranberry juice, we began.
What advice would you give to ensure excellent collaboration and sound decision-making with a remote team?
Jo: Well when we started working remotely, we had zoom calls twice a day but now they’re down to every two days. It’s about knowing what problems are going to come up and addressing them quickly when they do!
Susie: Yes, virtual collaborations and decision making works well when you set the tone and pace of work at the very start.
When we return to BAU, how do you plan on keeping up the speed?
Jo: There has been about 18 months worth of change in the last eight weeks so I just try and remember not to let perfect be the enemy of the good.
Susie: We’ll be encouraging flexible working when things resume to more normality and I’m just aware at the moment that people are social! We want to be together, in board-rooms and communicating face-to-face. So we’re putting things in place to ensure that problems don’t creep up again further down the line.
How do you plan on managing the next steps of Covid-19?
Susie: Well we have a robust recovery plan that includes economic recovery, health and well-being and considering vulnerable folk. We need to make sure that we have the right things to do at the right time, as people still want to register births, get married etc. Economic recovery is very important but it will have to be flexible.
Jo: As a country, we were aware of all of the Covid-19 steps and levels. Now our offices have contact tracing and the facilities look and feel different. You need to treat this crisis as a change event. And YES we’ve finally gone cashless! And we’re never going back!
Do you think after everything that has happened your leadership style has changed?
Jo: Well I’ve recently reassessed myself using a free ‘Resilience Report’, to understand my own skills but they’re more exacerbated in a crisis. The quiz is only 10 minutes of your life and it really helped me reassess my leadership style.
Susie: My style hasn’t really changed, I’m pretty good at checking in with staff and after I had a dark day a few weeks ago, I sent a 5 minute video around to all the staff that was really well received. It’s all about connectivity when you’re virtually leading, it’s so important to just pick up the phone.
Jo: Yes, checking in is more important than ever!
Do you have any other advice to give others for the next few months?
Susie: Don’t let go of a check in, people are going to find it hard in three or four months down the line so watch out for your managers.
Jo: We’re modelling our behaviour for everyone else. It’s not about the Government saving us and we’ve been very citizen centric in New Zealand. We’re very much all in this together and it’s brought us together as we’re making a communal change! We’ve also introduced well being quizzes for staff, they’re only quick and I’d really recommend it.
What do you like the most about your job?
Susie: Making a real difference! I love being able to give my energy to my colleagues.
Jo: There’s something I always tell myself; if you don’t ask, you never know. The power to effect positive change is better than any drug or a pinot noir!
Susie: Or my cranberry juice!
Cheers to that.
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