Local Legends Toolkit

Councillors face one of the toughest governance jobs around. Too often, Councillors get stuck in the weeds, battle personality clashes, or burn out. Ratepayers lose, communities stagnate and good people quit.

But it doesn’t need to be this way.

With the Local Legends Toolkit, Councillors learn critical strategic leadership skills - at their own pace, in their own time.

Bring world-class strategic leadership development to your Councillors - at a fraction of the cost

Mayors and Councillors face a steep learning curve.

Effective local leadership demands skills we don’t learn in other spheres: big-picture thinking, long-term planning, political diplomacy and strategic decision-making in a complex and uncertain environment.

But inductions tend to focus on operations and compliance, leaving a critical gap in strategic leadership.

You can fill that gap for your Councillors.

The Local Legends Toolkit is a ready-to-use, self-paced strategic leadership program for elected members.

Created and delivered by Alicia McKay, strategic leadership expert and author of Local Legends, this program builds the skills councillors need to govern strategically - and fast.

What’s covered?

The most critical (untaught) skills of strategic local leadership.

Introduction to local leadership

Key concepts in strategic leadership, legacy, and public value.

Local government operates on the front line of the world’s curliest issues, delivering more productive and efficient services than any other sphere of government. We need strategic leadership from our local leaders.

In this module, learn about:

How to overcome common strategic challenges in local government.
Intergenerational legacy and Eiffel Tower leadership.
Strategy 101 - and what it means for your role.
The difference between public and private sector operating models.
Public value - what it is and how to generate more of it as a local government leader.

Perspective

Bring a wider, more diverse perspective to leadership and decision-making.

Big picture perspective is critical for your work but is difficult in local government because of proximity and connectedness.

Learn about:

The traps that make perspective difficult in local government.
Three elements of perspective (horizon, significance, and context).
How to maximise decision payoff periods.
Perspective flexibility - when to attain distance, and when to attune with empathy.
Practical ways to operationalise perspective in meetings, decisions and engagement.

Relationships

Shift from adversaries to allies to make more progress on key issues.

Elections demand competition but good governance requires collaboration. It’s time to switch gears!

Learn how to:

Build high-trust relationships across the political spectrum.
Focus on values, not views for community progress.
Productively disagree with peers and colleagues to enhance decisions.
Create a high-performing governance team with principles and process.
Own the strategic impact levers available to you as a Councillor.
Ask quality questions that bring transparency, accountability and respect to the Council table.

Decisions

Make full, fair and focused decisions for the future of your community.

Council decisions are different to the ones you’re used to making - they’re more complex, subjective and uncertain.

In this module, learn about:

What makes a good strategic decision.
The three stages of a decision process: build understanding, shape choices, make decisions.
Using the Right Decision model for fuller decision-making.
Identifying and managing bias in decision processes.
Setting and using shared priorities for decision criteria.

Support your Councils from Day 1 with a proven, high-impact programme

Councils across Australia and New Zealand love the book and in-house development programme.

Now, every elected member can access world-class development at their fingertips, regardless of Council size or location.

What’s included?

A comprehensive learning experience. Self-paced. No delivery burden. No content to build. World-class, high-value development your Councillors will love.

Video curriculum. Short, engaging video modules (2–12 mins) across four leadership areas: Introduction, Perspective, Relationships, Decisions.
Workbooks and exercises. Beautifully designed workbooks and group exercises to apply and deepen learning.
eBook. Digital copies of Local Legends: How to make a difference in local government for all participants.
Tools and templates. Tip sheets, guidelines and templates to use in meetings and with constituents.

Video curriculum

Fresh, fun, frank, and in Plain English.

Local Legends Toolkit is a structured online video course, with key modules on strategic leadership: Perspective, Relationships, and Decisions.

Four structured learning blocks are filmed in engaging real-world settings and delivered in Alicia’s trademark fun, frank style.

Modules are self-paced, with no facilitation required.

Workbooks and exercises

The video curriculum is supported by a printable PDF workbook to answer prompt questions and capture notes.

A full suite of plug and play resources include playable cards, a self-assessment audit, communication templates, tip sheets for meetings, and a guidebook of group learning exercises.

eBook

Your Toolkit includes a digital copy of Local Legends: How to make a difference in local government by Alicia McKay.

For Councils

Enquire about accessing the Local Legends Toolkit for your elected members today. The cost of access is $4,999 per year. Discounts may be available through your local member association.

New Zealand Councils can access the Local Legends Toolkit through LGNZ's Akōna.

Enquire now