Local Legends is a guide to strategic governance and leadership in local government for Councillors and Council managers.
This book will support local government leaders who are:
• caught in a reactive cycle of responding to daily problems and enquiries
• overwhelmed by never-ending reports, tasks, meetings, and priorities
• feeling defensive and frustrated in staff and Councillor interactions
• discouraged by strategies, diagrams and vision statements on the walls and shelves that seem to drive no action or progress
• struggling to build a sense of shared purpose, engagement and ownership with stakeholders and colleagues.
In Local Legends, Alicia McKay explores the reasons for those challenges and presents three key strategic shifts Councils can make to move forward despite—and even because of—the uniquely tricky environment that is local government.
Local Legends equips elected members and Council managers with tools and strategies to make better community decisions that will stand the test of time. Packed with valuable insights and practical advice, Local Legends is an indispensable resource for local government policymakers, practitioners, and politicians in Australia and New Zealand.
Alicia McKay is a strategy and leadership expert, speaker, and author, specialising in local government. Alicia is the author of two best-selling books on strategy and leadership: ‘From Strategy to Action: A Guide to Getting Shit Done in the Public Sector’ and ‘You Don’t Need An MBA: Leadership Lessons that Cut Through the Crap’. Alicia has worked with thousands of leaders through in-house, online, and public training workshops. With her wit, wisdom, and no-nonsense approach, Alicia delivers more than theory. Equal parts pragmatic and inspiring, Alicia will equip you with the cut-through skills you need to level up your impact as a public leader. Learn more about Alicia at www.aliciamckay.co.nz.
* This book is a uniquely straight-talking, pragmatic approach to leadership in a category awash with jargon and buzzwords
* Alicia McKay is a popular author in Australia and New Zealand with strong bookstore sales, especially her last title: You Dont Need An MBA: Leadership Lessons that Cut Through The Crap"
* Local government is a woefully under-served market, with over 200,000 employees in Australia alone
* In a world awash with social division and global unrest, local action and engagement holds the key to social progress
* Council staff, Councillors, and aspiring local politicians will all want to get their hands on a copy of this book
* Alicia McKay is a category of one, as the only specialist in Australia and New Zealand in strategic local government leadership
* Alicia has a large and engaged online following on LinkedIn - In 2023, Alicia McKay was #3 LinkedIn personality in NZ and #11 in the New Zealand/ Australia grouping. She has been a LinkedIn Top Voice since 2022.
Publicity:
* Social media campaigns - 40,000 followers on LinkedIn.
* Media campaigns to newspapers, TV, podcasts, and radio - see track record www.aliciamckay.co.nz/media.
* Speaking engagements - including the LGProfessionals Victoria conference (headline speaker and MC), LG.
* Professionals NSW conference (headline speaker and MC), PLA Victoria/Tasmania conference (headline speaker and panelist), WMINZ conference (keynote speaker), LGWNSW Annual Summit (headline speaker and MC).
* Email marketing to an engaged list of 12,000+
