Title

In our series of articles on the participants in the recent Local Government Challenge finalist David Brown describes his reasons for entering and the lessons he learned on the way I saw the Local Government Challenge promoted in an IDeA newsletter last year. It was the end of the day and the office was cold as the heating hadn't quite adjusted to the new autumnal weather. I was sat at my desk telling myself to wear a warmer shirt the next day when I heard the familiar ‘ping' which tells me I have a new email. I'm rarely able to resist a new message and so I opened it with no particular expectation. I didn't know that the email I was about to read was going to completely reshape my plans for 2010. It started: ‘Do you have the drive and determination to reach the top?'. ‘Yes!' I said to myself. Could this be the answer? ‘The LGA Group, in partnership with the Local Government Channel, is running an exciting competition to find the next generation of top local government executives. Find out more and apply today'. I was sold. I found out more, applied, and, in November, was told I would be taking part in the first ever Local Government Challenge. I was full of anticipation for what I had let myself in for. I couldn't wait for January to come round and for the journey to begin. This would be the chance for me to find out whether I had the individual and team-working skills a chief executive requires. Our strengths and weaknesses would be revealed through the impartial gaze of the camera. Our performance scored by people we had never met before. The challenge was going to be a lot of things but I was sure that ‘easy' wasn't one of them. The five challenges took place over five months in Coventry, Surrey-Waverley, Northampton, Kent and Essex. The challenges included finding ways of increasing voter turnout; producing a promotional video for a leisure facility; revitalising a town's night time economy; making a park self-financing within three years and transforming an empty building into a base for a charity. I think the challenges that worked best were the ones that required us to have practical outcomes. For example, Surrey and Waverley were able to use the promotional DVD we produced to stimulate interest in The Edge leisure centre as a potential venue for Paralympic athletes. Thanks to our work in Essex, the charity Braintree Mencap now has a firm of solicitors, accountants, design company and even a mini-bus driver helping them out on a no fee basis. It was nice to leave both challenges with something that would make a tangible difference. The success of the Local Government Challenge was always going to depend on the contestants. Would they take it seriously? Will they get on with each other or be ten ego-maniacs wanting things their way? I think the organisers were relieved that we did take it seriously and had a good combination of us getting on but with the occasional drama (it's good for the cameras). Competitiveness was inevitable but what was unexpected, and I think interesting, was that it felt more like we were in competition with ourselves. By this, I mean people were passionate about improving themselves rather than trying to be better than anyone else. After five challenges I was put through to the semi final which took place at the LGA conference in Bournemouth and from there I progressed to the final. The winner was announced on the final night of the conference. My name was not pulled out of the winning envelope. Colleagues often ask me if I am disappointed not to have won. I'm not. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was a privilege to take part in this exciting initiative which I hope will be around for years to come. This competition has been an incredible opportunity for us all to learn new skills and improve existing ones. So what does the future hold for me? The prize of the challenge was a £10,000 Bruce Lockhart scholarship to fund our own ideas to help shape the future of local government. As runner-up I don't see a penny of that so I'm pleased that Mansfield DC is supporting me to deliver a revised version of the proposal. I'm working with my managing director to deliver a piece of work that will be useful to us but that I can also share with other local authorities. One of the best things about taking part in the challenge was that we could be the people we wanted to be without the constraints of an organisational structure. I've learnt that we are the only obstacle standing between what we are doing and what we would like to do. But a little bit of help is also welcome. Needless to say I still pay close attention to any emails! David Brown is arts & creative industries business development manager at Mansfield DC

Title

WHITEHALL

Why I took on the challenge

SUBSCRIBE TO CONTINUE READING