As was made clear in the recently published $7.2 million, 2,000 page inquiry report into the City of Perth, there were major issues with the previous council and leadership.
The report painted a damning picture, with no less than 342 recommendations on how to improve the governance, leadership and decision-making processes.
We all expect much better of our elected officials. Ratepayers deserve better. The City deserves better. The best.
I believe that the central issue that explained what went wrong was a bad culture. As the respected management author Peter Drucker once said, ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’
What this means is that no matter what budgets, policies and procedures an organisation may have developed, the most important factor is what actually happens. The accepted norms.
Culture explains how people behave, especially when they think no one is looking.
You can walk into an organisation, and can gauge the culture within a few minutes. How are you greeted? What does the foyer look like? How is the phone answered? These, and many other cues, tell you ‘how things are done around here’.
Bad culture breeds bad behaviours. Great culture can galvanise the whole organisation to attain great things together.
Every organisational success stems from a strong, positive culture at its core. To achieve this, you need to look to the leaders who set the tone. In the City of Perth, the elected officials, together with the executive team are ultimately responsible for culture.
So, when I ask for your vote for Lord Mayor, I do so with the knowledge that I have actually built a successful organisational culture from the ground up, and top down, over the past decade, in Perth.
I have founded an organisation and set its culture. I have led teams, and worked around the executive and board tables. My own organisation, built in – and in many ways for – the City of Perth, not only has employees, but also supports hundreds of organisations, each with their own organisational culture, but also part of the Spacecubed community. I know what it takes to set, build and maintain a culture. It doesn’t happen overnight, but I’ve already started with how I’m running my campaign.
I know what ‘great’ looks like, and it all starts with culture.
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