Why leadership matters in local government

It is a question many councils are actively grappling with. The operating environment has shifted, not incrementally, but fundamentally. Climate pressures, housing challenges, ageing infrastructure and digital transformation are converging in ways that are complex, fast-moving and deeply felt at the community level.

In this context, leadership is not simply one capability among many. It is the mechanism through which councils make sense of change, respond to competing demands and deliver meaningful outcomes.

The question is no longer whether leadership matters. It is how it is understood and how it is developed.

Leadership in a changing system

Local government sits closest to community. Decisions are visible, immediate and often contested. This proximity has always shaped the nature of leadership in the sector, but the conditions surrounding it are becoming more complex.

Traditional leadership models — structured, hierarchical and directive — were built for environments where challenges were more contained and predictable. That is no longer the reality most councils are operating within.

Today, leadership increasingly involves working across ambiguity, navigating competing priorities and enabling others to contribute to solutions. It requires a shift from directing work to creating the conditions in which good work can happen.

This is where capability becomes critical.

Councils that invest in leadership development tend to see stronger engagement, more effective decision-making and greater organisational resilience. Where this investment is limited, the impacts often emerge in less visible but equally significant ways — workforce strain, reduced morale and diminished capacity to respond to change.

Leadership, in this sense, is not an abstract concept. It is a practical lever that shapes how organisations function every day.

From authority to empowerment

A noticeable shift is underway in how leadership is being practised across the public sector.

Rather than relying on authority alone, there is growing emphasis on empowerment — on building trust, fostering psychological safety and enabling shared ownership of outcomes. Leadership becomes less about control and more about influence, alignment and collective capability.

For many leaders, however, this shift is not straightforward. It requires new skills — influencing without authority, leading through uncertainty and building high-trust environments — that are not always developed through traditional pathways.

The challenges facing local government are unlikely to stabilise in the near term. If anything, they will continue to evolve. Investing in leadership capability is therefore not a discretionary activity. It is a way of strengthening the system itself. And in local government, where the impact of decisions is felt directly by communities, that capability matters.

Take the next step

Explore Leading to Empower and Leading for Impact to see how leadership development can be applied in practice — strengthening individuals, teams and the communities they serve.

About Tish Creenaune 

Tish Creenaune is an Associate Director at the Institute for Public Policy and Governance. Tish is a highly regarded and experienced public sector executive with over 30 years working in the education and training, innovation, communities and social policy fields as a policy planner and strategic project manager leading change projects and reform. She has worked closely with senior officers in government agencies and Government Ministers in leading the implementation of policy and delivered on social, innovation, community and educational outcomes through influencing a diverse range of stakeholders.

Tish was the founding Director of the Catalyst Lab Innovation Program, the first NSW education innovation lab leading the exploration, design and scaling of innovative education ideas and incubator for innovation in education, providing a structured process to trial and prototype new ideas. She is a skilled facilitator in design thinking and innovation: developing and customising innovation processes and methodologies to solve for complex problems.