Leadership coaching to help build a stronger Aboriginal economy.

Dennis Kickett is a man who always has the end goal clearly in sight, no matter how far down the road that might be. As the Director of Aboriginal Engagement for the WA Transport Portfolio, his vision right now is sharply focused on how the Aboriginal economy will look in 15 years — his mandate is to drive change and build a strong Aboriginal economy through government spending on state-wide Transport projects.

“What we all want at Transport is long term Aboriginal business relationships and to make Aboriginal engagement so visible that it becomes business as usual,” he said.

When Dennis was promoted to this position, it was the start of an immense period of change and transition at Main Roads WA as it harnessed technology-based solutions to meet the demands of Perth’s growing transport networks. Although he already had extensive leadership experience as the organisation’s Senior Aboriginal Engagement Advisor, taking on a larger portfolio and leading a team of 25 that would grow significantly over the next few years required a more strategic leadership approach.

“One of the recommendations in taking on this role, was to have leadership coaching that would give me the support and strategies I needed as I adapted to the challenges of the role. So I asked my Assistant Director if she could find a leadership coach and Natalie at Incredible People was one who came highly recommended for her leadership training and coaching with government agencies.” Dennis explained.

“What I really liked about the coaching with Nat was I would have really specific situations that I would bring to each session and she would help me look at them from a very strategic position.”

“We can all have mentors, but having someone to guide you to look at things strategically from a higher level is really important so that you don’t get stuck in the weeds dealing with the smaller issues.”

“After every session Nat would email a summary of the strategies we discussed to deal with the challenges I presented, and I still have those emails so I can refer to them. When you’re leading at a certain level you can’t do it on your own and you have to have emotional intelligence otherwise you can drown. So having Nat back me up on the challenges of my role and how to approach certain situations was so good.”

As someone who is focussed on solutions outcomes, developing strategies to overcome challenges and build strong working relationships across organisational boundaries to deliver the shared vision was a key part of the leadership coaching for Dennis. After just six fortnightly coaching sessions he has seen it positively impact on his relationships with his leadership team.

“Our Assistant Director has also had leadership coaching and I’ve seen a real difference in how she provides guidance and feedback to the team.”

For Dennis, bringing his ideas and recommendations to the table while still maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders, board members and his team is important in his leadership approach.

“I can be quite direct with my recommendations but at the end of the day we all have the same goal, so having strategies about how to put those recommendations on the table and get around the hurdles that are blocking them in a way that is respectful to everyone is really important to me. As one leader once said to me, “You’ve got to be at the table Dennis, because if you’re not at the table, you’ll be on the menu!”

The positive impact that Dennis and his team at Main Roads is having on the Aboriginal economy was recently recognised at the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) WA 2023 awards for the Bunbury Outer Ring Road Project. Main Roads and the Department of Training and Workforce Development collaborated with the Yaka Dandjoo Program, which offers free training and work placements to disadvantaged job seekers in the construction industry, to deliver a pipeline of skilled workers for the ring road — an initiative that was the first of its kind in WA.