Do your people feel overwhelmed and close to burnout? Why well-intentioned busyness is costing councils time, trust, and impact

Across local government, capable teams are burning out under the weight of constant demands. The intent is good — to serve, respond, deliver — but the impact is exhaustion, reduced trust, and diminishing returns.

In this session, Zoe Dattner invites council executives to step back and ask: What is this culture of busyness really costing us? And what would it take to lead differently?

This is a powerful, research-backed conversation about shifting from reactive to intentional leadership — for the sake of your people, your community, and your impact.

This session is designed for:

CEOs, General Managers, and members of executive teams who are responsible for people and culture, and employee development in councils.

What will you learn?

The hidden cost of ‘always-on’ cultures — and why good intentions aren’t enough
How overwhelm and busyness are quietly eroding trust and performance
The leadership behaviours that unintentionally reinforce burnout
What research tells us about trust, political agency, and engagement in local government
Why psychological safety is a key lever for trust, innovation, and high performance
How to shift from reactive to regenerative leadership — without losing momentum

Don't miss this opportunity to hear from your peers and industry experts about what is working in their council whilst being provided practical strategies you can implement in your own context.

Location

Zoom, details provided 1 day before the session

Meet the Panellists:

Will Jeremy, CEO, Alpine Shire Council
Abby Hunt, Executive Director & Co-Founder, DataDrivesInsight
Craig Swift-McNair, General Manager, Woollahra Municipal Council

Meet your Host:

Zoe Dattner – CEO, Dattner Group

Zoe Dattner is the CEO at Dattner Group. Zoe works with many of Dattner Group’s clients, primarily in local government and collaborates with the DG team to remove obstacles, build capacity, and enable the company to grow. Zoe’s driving purpose reflects the culmination of the many years of learning, growing, and collecting people’s stories. She courageously meets challenging conversations head-on to develop better self-awareness in leaders, for the sake of our planet and the richness of a well-examined life.

About Dattner Group

Dattner Group is one of Australia’s most accomplished and trusted consultancies, helping to build sustainable, purposeful leadership for almost forty years. We work closely as a culture and leadership development partner for many councils, large and small, around Australia.

And we are ready to help you create big change, little by little.