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Two years ago, Alistair took on ‘the toughest job in
local government’ after spending 21 years in the private
sector.
He’s worked in 28 countries, turned around multi-million
pound international businesses and recovered from malaria,
but for Alistair, taking on the role of chief executive at
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council was his greatest challenge.
He said: “I relished the opportunity of leading the
council forward into a new future. I knew it would be a challenge
to turn around its fortunes, but I was looking forward to
it.”
Prior to his move into the public sector, Alistair ran the
divisional BP operations in Asia-Pacific and later turned
around a failing US multi-national business with annual losses
of $35 million.
But after starting a family and becoming increasingly aware
of such local council issues as schooling and transport, Alistair
decided it was time he got involved.
“I was interested to see if the management and leadership
skills I’d developed in the private sector could be
transferred into the public sector and make a difference to
an organisation like Merthyr Council.”
The change at the Council since Alistair’s arrival has
been described as ‘a major achievement’ and ‘an
extraordinary transformation’ by local media.
He introduced new structures and systems, including leadership
and development courses for staff and introduced the organisation
to the philosophy of ‘Team Merthyr’ to improve
staff morale and motivation.
Alistair also created The Merthyr Tydfil Leadership Group,
a collection of team leaders from all levels of the organisation
who were trained and developed as dedicated leaders of change.
“My first port-of-call was to get the direction of the
organisation right, and in order to do that, we needed strong
leaders and a strong team ethic,” Alistair added.
“Since I joined the Council, I’ve discovered a
new breed of leader. There are so many people in the public
sector who are unsung leaders, further down the organisation’s
structure, who are dealing with huge challenges very effectively
each day. I wanted to embrace their skills and build on them.
I think some people are born leaders, in that others will
naturally follow them, so we’re trying to develop those
with leadership qualities by giving them the training and
experience that’ll allow them to blossom. For others,
we are seeing them turning into leaders.
“Having a large, strong leadership team around you is
very important. And you must develop, support, challenge,
praise and reward them, too.
“Creating a culture of team commitment and confidence
will make the team one that people want to be part of. It’s
also a very good idea to get to know everyone on the team
individually and on an informal basis, too, if possible.”
Mark McIntyre is head of human resources and development at
Merthyr Council. He said: “Alistair has the clarity
of vision to be able to translate strategic direction into
tangible actions that people can relate to and be motivated
by. He inspires everyone to raise their game.”
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