Curtis Mcmillan - Gympie Regional Council

Curtis Mcmillan, Acting Co-Ordinator Development and Compliance, Gympie Regional Council

What did I get out of Propeller?

The opportunity to:

• look outside of the day-to-day functions of my current role and towards the broader – whole of picture operations within a council;

• work on my interpersonal and management skills and learn more about matters include the Scare values model, Tuckman’s’ stages of team development, reframing, Myers-Briggs etc.;

• travel around and explore new and remote destinations within Queensland;

• meet some genuinely great new people along the way of our journey;

• develop an understanding of some of the key opportunities and challenges faced by the council’s we visited and gain additional knowledge through specific case studies targeted towards local government operations through the workshops;

• learn about how other Council’s innovate and maximise the impact of their services and deliverables despite having often increasingly limited budgets.

What surprised me?

Although many Councils are faced with very similar issues (i.e. the provision of core services such as roads, rates and rubbish), the trip helped me to understand just how diverse some of the challenges are that regional councils are faced with which is something I did not fully appreciate or realise in the past.

What would I tell someone doing the programme next year?

Don’t underestimate the opportunity or the benefits that the course can provide. For me, it was one of those situations where only now and having completed the programme, that I truly appreciate and understand the opportunity I was given to attend.