Suffolk port health authority takes gold in leadership competition

Business Manager Bradley Borley and Compliance Manager Pete Coley of Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority (SCPHA) won a scenario-based leadership competition with members of East Suffolk Council (ESC) against 14 teams from across the public sector, private sector and other local authorities.

The Tri-Sector Challenge management training event by Richard Wills Training Associates thrust participants into a fictitious setting where they had to take charge of an imagined unitary authority facing a quick-fire series of unplanned and complex scenarios.

Bradley and Pete worked alongside Senior Building Control Surveyor, Emily Bowman; Regeneration Project Officer, Kate Ellis; Housing Register and Allocations Team Leader, Lisa Irvine, and Project Support Officer, Mark Chambers, to solve everything from financial difficulties and staff management to communication breakdowns and PR crises.

The ESC team returned from the Manor of Groves Hotel, in Sawbridgeworth, as the overall East of England Tri-Sector Challenge winners, as well as claiming top prize in the ‘behaviours’ category, rewarding a number of different skills including compassionate leadership, political sensitivity and emotional intelligence.

Bradley said:

“The Tri-Sector Challenge was a privilege to be a part of. Working as a team, we learned a lot about ourselves and our individual strengths that played well into us winning the challenge.”

Pete added:

“I signed up for the Tri-Sector Challenge to test my strategic leadership against some of the region’s most talented leaders. The event was an excellent opportunity for me and the rest of the team to understand our strengths and establish where we could develop in an extreme scenario.

“We worked excellently as a team, all taking on different tasks across the day. Winning the event with the strength of the other teams is something I am extremely proud of.”