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Community Leadership Program a great success

Thirty nine members of the Nillumbik community have successfully completed a Community Leadership Program. The program is designed to lead to individual empowerment and self confidence, develop negotiation skills and improve understanding of human nature and decision making processes.

In presenting participants with their certificates, Chairman of Commissioners, Don Cordell, praised their initiative and willingness to improve their leadership skills and translate these into community involvement.

The Shire of Nillumbik is located on Melbourne's leafy fringe and has no shortage of people committed to the betterment of their community. "I have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback received from participants," Don Cordell said. They were particularly impressed by the relevance of the course and the practical skills they acquired."

The eight session inaugural program 'Creating Community Leadership for the 21st Century' was run by facilitator Maggie Loughrey, from specialist consultancy firm, Ecolore. She said individuals representing more than 100 organisations completed the course.

"They tell me it has given them the skills and additional resources to more effectively do work within their own organisations," Maggie said. "Part of the experience has been coming together as a very diverse group, from different perspectives, and being able to form relationships in a networking sense that they had not previously thought possible." She said that with elections scheduled for 15 March this year, seven of the participants are currently contesting positions on Council.

The program's success has been largely due to participation of people from a broad cross section of the community. According to one participant it developed an understanding of the major differences among people and being sensitive to those differences.

"The program has instilled fundamentals about leadership and leading," Don Cordell added. These skills should prove invaluable because we live in a Shire which includes a diverse range of people with often conflicting interests and very different views of the world and how it operates."

Don Cordell urged other Councils to introduce leadership programs and in so doing assist in the development of their communities.

For further information on the Community Leadership Program contact Maggie Loughrey at Ecolore on (03) 9386 0312.

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