We recently spoke with Heather Barclay from Rural City of Murray Bridge about her role as Acting Chief Executive Officer and her career to date.

What is your proudest career moment?

There are many, but most recently, delivery of the Adelaide Road Linear Park in Murray Bridge. It is not only transformational from a town entrance perspective, but feels like it changes the face of Murray Bridge, for visitors and tourism to the region, and importantly it has created a community place and space for meeting and recreating that did not exist before – the community loves it and is proud their town is changing.

You are currently Acting CEO – congratulations! What does a typical day look like for you in this role?

It’s mostly back to back meetings and focuses on the business of Council and maintaining and building relationships for economy and community wellbeing, towards creating a thriving community. At the moment the work is diverse and has a strategic focus, Strategic Plan Review, Structure Planning as part of our Future Cities Program and of course the Annual Business Plan and Budget process which is more challenging than it has been for some time given the financial environment.

What do you enjoy most about working in local government?

I love working regional!!! At the base-line it is about people, relationships and community – recently the Murray River Floods have shown how important these community relationships are. Mostly, it’s so good to be part of the system that supports local communities directly.

Who or what has inspired you in your career? Good leadership inspires me, it is the key to our growth as individuals and as a community – without it organisations and communities can become stale. What piece of advice would you give to someone with aspirations to move into a leadership role? Treat people well, respect them, value their contribution and they will respond Take opportunities as they arise – it’s how you grow – you don’t need a tight plan Choose who leads you... Work towards TEAM Play always – the opportunities are amazing when you are aligned. What do you like to do outside of work? Spending quality time with my partner Camping / fishing / beach walking Walking, running and cycling for fitness  PS - I like red wine a lot too...