Ep 82 Craig Swift McNair: The Transformational Impact of a Unifying Purpose at Woollahra Council (Part 2)

Episode Summary

In Part 2 of this two-part feature on Woollahra Council’s transformation, Carolyn speaks with Craig Swift-McNair, the Council’s General Manager. Craig offers a refreshingly candid account of what it takes to embed purpose and values across a whole organisation. He reflects on the early culture challenges, the creation of a new leadership structure, and how trust, honesty and consistency enabled real change to take root. From navigating tough decisions—like a significant restructure—to seeing the payoff in a post-redundancy engagement survey, Craig shares how a unifying purpose helped guide the organisation through both challenge and change.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

- How leadership enables culture and values to move beyond strategy documents.

- Why organisational transformation requires investment in people.

- The challenges of shifting legacy mindsets and breaking down silos.

- How a clear purpose and set of values can guide even the most difficult decisions.

- The importance of embedding purpose into leadership behaviours, not just branding.

- What it looks like to lead with honesty, integrity, and accountability.

Key Themes Discussed

• Aligning a leadership team around shared purpose
• Leading through transformation and restructure
• Reimagining culture in a historically siloed organisation
• Building a respectful, values-led workplace culture
• The role of storytelling, transparency, and consistency in leadership
• Why council staff engagement improved after one of the toughest periods

Guest Bio

Craig Swift-McNair is the General Manager at Woollahra Council in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, a role he commenced in July 2020. Prior to this, he was the General Manager of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council on the mid north coast of NSW, from 2014 to 2020.

Craig has spent over 20 years in local government in NSW in a range of roles across three Councils and prior to his time in the public sector, he had a twenty-five-year career in the private sector. Craig is dedicated to giving back to the local government sector and as part of that, he has been on the Board of Local Government Professionals Australia, NSW since 2018 and is currently the Vice President.

Craig is focused on building a strengths-based and values-based organisation that delivers on its purpose; provides its people with opportunities to grow in their roles and as individuals, which in turn delivers an improved customer experience and services for our community.

Links and Resources

Woollahra Council Vision, Mission & Values: Woollahra Council Website

Episode 81 (Part 1): Patricia Occelli on Culture, Community & Customer Experience

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