Southern Grampians Shire Council
Transforming Leadership at Southern Grampians Shire Council
When the Southern Grampians Shire Council (SGSC) set out to evolve their culture, they sought to move beyond ingrained, traditional ways of working and embrace a progressive, human-centred approach. Partnering with Neu21, the council embarked on a multi-year journey starting in 2023 to redefine their vision, purpose, and values while equipping leaders with the tools to drive meaningful change for their teams and community.
LEADERSHIP • TRANSFORMATION
THE CHALLENGE
SGSC faced the dual challenge of modernising their leadership practices and creating a unifying cultural foundation. They wanted to:
Shift away from traditional, hierarchical leadership approaches to foster innovation, empowerment, and collaboration.
Co-create a compelling vision, purpose, and values to unify and inspire their organisation.
Equip leaders at all levels with practical skills and tools to embrace progressive, human-centric leadership.
Co-Creation Workshops for Vision, Purpose, and Values
Neu21 facilitated a series of highly interactive workshops with people from across the organisation to develop a shared vision, purpose, and values. These sessions encouraged the team to challenge old norms, think boldly, and create principles that reflected the council’s aspirations for a modern, community-focused organisation.
Senior Leadership Program
The first phase focused on the SLT, providing them with a tailored leadership program designed to:
Redefine Leadership: Moving from “the way things have always been done” to a bold, forward-thinking approach.
Strategic Alignment and Innovation: Translating SGSC’s new vision and purpose into a way of ‘showing up’ that’s meaningful and impactful.
Enable Courageous Leadership: Practical skills for brave conversations, feedback, and creating psychological safety.
Drive Organisational Change: Tools to model behaviours and embed cultural shifts across the council.
Delivered through dynamic workshops, coaching, and group accountability sessions, the program empowered the SLT to lead by example and champion a new, progressive leadership culture.
People Leaders Program
Building on the momentum of the SLT program, Neu21 developed a bespoke leadership program for SGSC’s People Leaders, ensuring alignment across all levels of the organisation. Key deliverables included:
Practical Decision-Making: Helping leaders prioritise effectively and manage competing demands.
Team Building: Strategies for creating trust, accountability, and high-performing teams.
Leadership Behaviours: Embedding the human-centric mindsets needed to support the council’s transformation.
Collaborative Culture: Training to break down silos and foster cross-functional collaboration.
The results —
Cultural Transformation
SGSC has begun shifting from a traditional, hierarchical culture to one defined by trust, collaboration, and human-centred leadership.
Unified Leadership
A shared vision, purpose, and values have provided clarity and alignment across teams, ensuring everyone is working towards common goals.
Practical Progress
Leaders are applying decision-making frameworks, fostering better team collaboration, and leading with greater authenticity and purpose.
Org Empowerment
The cascading leadership programs have created a ripple effect, embedding new mindsets and behaviours throughout the council.
“Working with Neu21 has been an exceptional experience that promises to transform our council’s identity. Their expertise in guiding us through the development of a compelling vision, purpose, and values was invaluable. The seamless transition into a tailored leadership program further solidified Neu21's commitment to our success, fostering a culture of bold leadership and empowerment. Their collaborative approach and insightful strategies have left an indelible mark on our organisation's growth journey.
A highlight of working with Neu21 is their facilitation skills. They have a depth of talent on their team who are able to pivot, adapt and embrace comments and feedback from our diverse workforce, whilst keeping the momentum in the room towards the session goals.
Neu21 has the most complete understanding of the drivers of organisational culture and leadership I have seen in my career, but their defining skill set is being able to present this in an engaging, energetic and informative program that is transforming our organisation.
I’m fascinated to watch the People Leaders develop as they begin to understand the value of the concepts you have delivered to them, and they start to implement the learnings within their team and the wider organisation.”
Tony Doyle
CEO
