Five years of Fleurieu Future Leaders

Story by Kate Le Gallez. Photography by Heidi Lewis.

Succession is fundamental to survival. It’s seen the gradual and sometimes notso-gradual evolution of the many species that have inhabited our planet over time. But succession also funnels down into our micro experiences of life.

Like the ongoing success of a company, or the continuation of a local community. Founded by Charles and Janice Manning, the Fleurieu Future Leaders (FFL) program has succession at its heart, both for the individuals who undertake the program and for the community it’s embedded within. This year they recognise five years of Fleurieu future leaders.

Charles and Janice met at 17, married at 23 and in perhaps the ultimate test of marital compatibility, went on to start their boutique consulting firm Face the World in 1997. The business supports leaders, typically in a corporate environment, facilitating thinking around business and strategy and developing high-performance teams. Charles is the front man, while Janice brings the practical business nous and supreme organisational skills, and both have a masters in behavioural science. ‘We’re best friends. We do annoy each other at times,’ says Charles. ‘But most of the time we have lots of fun together and just feel really lucky.’ That said, they’re grateful they have space to maintain separate home offices.

The origins of the FFL were perhaps seeded when Janice and Charles helped to develop and facilitate a program called the Barossa Future Leaders program, aimed at developing a new generation of Barossa-based leaders ready to continue the work of the so-called barons of the Barossa. Many years later, after they had moved from Adelaide to the Fleurieu, the idea took hold in the meat section at the old McLaren Vale Coles. Charles bumped into a former client, Tom Harvey of the Chalk Hill Collective. ‘I got chatting and said, “How come there isn’t a regional leadership program down here?” And he said, “It’s because you haven’t set it up yet”.’

Page left: Future leaders build trust and learn confidence by theory and practise – helping them to navigate working in a team to become more effective in a holistic way. Above: Games are a great way to build teams, work on strategy and execute learnings from the program. Mindset, strategy and community engagement help the participants form a bigger and clearer picture of themselves in relationship to their own work and life.

The line from that moment to the first day of the first program wasn’t completely straightforward, but the idea was in motion. Janice and Charles were committed and willing to donate their time, but it wasn’t until the Bendigo Community Bank came onboard as sponsor that it became a viable enterprise. Their sponsorship, championed by Ron Logan, the chairman of Fleurieu Community Enterprises Ltd which operate a number of Fleurieu-based community banks, has largely covered the costs of running the program, including the venues used across the Fleurieu through the life of the program.

Five years later, Ron is one of the people onsite welcoming the 2021 FFL cohort at the McLaren Vale Motel & Apartments. It’s a cool, clear July morning notable for its stillness, but Ron is buzzing, his energy mixing with the nerves, excitement and anticipation of the twenty participants as well as the facilitators and guests. ‘This is the start of a whole new chapter,’ he enthuses. ‘There’s a cumulative effect building now. It’s hard to go somewhere where there aren’t former participants involved or people who know previous participants.’ This is the first of five times the group will come together as they cover a range of personal and professional modules, from resilience to strategy and finance. The organising philosophy is that mastery of the art of leadership comes from the mastery of self. Because of this, the program touches on all aspects of the participants’ lives. ‘It’s all the dimensions of life, internal and external,’ says Janice. ‘Internally we’re looking at your intellectual self, your physical self, your mental health or emotional self. And then we’ve got the external view, your work or career, the social you, the community you.’ ‘If all you worry about is one of those dimensions,’ adds Charles, ‘then the others suffer. So it’s about trying to get that blend right, looking after each of them.’

There’s no doubt the program asks a lot from participants, requiring not only their time (around thirteen contact days over six months) but also their mental and emotional commitment. From the very first days, the cohort are asked to put their learning into practice as they work on a community project in small groups. ‘The main reason for the project is for them to have a vehicle to practise what they’re >

Above left and right: The 2021 cohort at the foundations residential program – learning that the mastery of the art of leadership comes from the mastery of self. Bottom left and right: Janice and Charles Manning at home. Photographs by Jason Porter.

learning around forming a team, and how do you collaborate with others and deal with conflict and create a vision and get enthusiastic and actually succeed,’ says Charles. ‘True learning is the application of knowledge, it’s not the acquisition.’

These elements come together to create a true sense of community, not only among the cohort but also reaching out to the broader alumni. For former participants Josh Lee (2020) and Claire Neylon (2018), community was what they most sought and most valued from the program. Josh, a product developer, and Claire, an exercise physiologist, both grew up elsewhere and chose the Fleurieu to make their respective homes. ‘It opened up a whole new world to me, seeing amazing people doing amazing things just down the road,’ says Josh. ‘Seeing that and thinking maybe I could do it for myself as well.’ He left the program feeling more grounded in the community, with a greater sense of himself. ‘It helped me to see a picture of my life in a more holistic way. Not, ‘here’s Josh the leader, or the software developer or the social person.’ It’s a chance to look at all those parts together and why they’re important and some aspects, like community, why they’re more important than you realise.’

The experience can be uncomfortable at times. ‘You’ve got to look at yourself and look inwards at what makes you tick, which can be really hard,’ says Claire. ‘But those insights can be the most valuable, personally and work wise. But it’s definitely quite a challenging thing to acknowledge some of those aspects of yourself.’

It’s special too for Janice and Charles to see how the FFL alumni continue to move and shape the community, something they often don’t see in their corporate work. Claire explains it this way, ‘I have this support network around me that I can call on when I need help. But it also has just meant that I feel more part of the community,’ she says. ‘It’s given me people that make this place feel like home. It’s been really valuable for making me feel like I belong here from a personal perspective and a business perspective.’ This is perhaps the power of a regional program. To adopt Ron’s words, the connections to people and place have a potent cumulative effect in safeguarding the Fleurieu’s future.

Story by Kate Le Gallez.

Above: Final touches at de Rose Kitchen in Willunga. Photo by Lewi Potter.

Not long after the most recent lockdown was announced, I made my way into de Rose Kitchen in Willunga. I wanted a coffee, but I also wanted to find out how owner Mandy and her team were taking the news. I wasn’t the only one checking in.

During my brief visit, another woman wandered in, leaning against the doorframe and chatting to Mandy as she busily packed down her kitchen for a week-long hiatus. A third lingered near the cash register to exchange best wishes for the week ahead. A few minutes later, I left with a coffee, as well as a dozen eggs and two litres of Fleurieu milk, my cup filled in more ways than one on an otherwise desultory day.

The daily coffee run has become something of a routine in my house, perhaps veering dangerously towards ritual. The coffee is only part of the custom. Most days, we make an early morning run, hot on the heels of the tradies and alongside the early morning walkers, many of whom are regulars just like us. It’s a moment of quiet community accented by the bright smile of the barista and the hiss of steam hitting milk.

Similar scenes play out around the Fleurieu at the many cafes in our region every day. People are drawn into cafes not only for caffeine, but for connection. Baristas who know your name – and your order. Who don’t blink an eye when your kids ride right up to the

Top left: Local love. Grab a cake while you’re there by the one and only Soul Food Co. at De Groot Coffee. Top right: Lunch rush at One Little Sister. Photo by Jakub Jurdic. Bottom left: Delicious lunches at Pipi, Middleton. Right: Getting the right blend at Kicco Coffee Roasters. Photo by Tommy Lane.

counter on their scooters. Who leave a bowl of water out for a thirsty pup. They’re democratic meeting places welcoming bleary-eyed parents and retired septuagenarians alongside professionals tapping laptops and tourists exploring the local scene. At Valley of Yore in Myponga, Nigel and Holly sought to reflect this simpatico between proprietor and patron in the space they created. ‘Our aesthetics were considered,’ explains Nigel, ‘with intentional blemishes allowing people to come as they are and feel at home; to gather and connect over quality food, coffee and sound.’

Our favourite cafes present as fully formed expressions of their owners’ individual philosophies. And while the bean and the barista are paramount, it’s the entirety of the experience that brings us back. At Yankalilla’s Arranging Matters, you can enjoy your coffee in the tranquil environment created by Autumn and Sonara before choosing a floral arrangement to take home with you. New owners of Mawson House Cafe, Jacob and Matilda, are conscientiously bringing a new look and life to their Meadows address (and good-naturedly battling it out for the title of best barista). Pipi at Middleton is a gathering place for family and friends who settle in at one of two tables tucked away in the front garden or give dog Ronnie a pat on the way through to the courtyard. Goolwa’s Kuti Shack and Pearl at Aldinga Beach boast spectacular beach views, while Harry’s Deli at Wirra Wirra offers the dual delight of wine and coffee side-by-side.

The Fleurieu’s coffee culture has also been enhanced by the roasteries that have opened their doors in recent years. And while coffee can be sniffed and swirled and tasted with the same reverence as wine, Fleurieu roasters have a distinctly accessible and laid-back vibe. Bernadette of De Groot Coffee Co. puts it a little more bluntly: ‘We >

Top left: Levi working his magic at Goodness Coffee in Aldinga. Photo by Cooper James Stankovich. Bottom left: Delicious granola bowl at Beaches in Port Elliot. Photograph by Declan Hartley. Above right: Iced latte at Manna in McLaren Vale.

don’t get involved in the “wank” of the coffee roasting scene.’ The pared-back, industrial aesthetic of their Factory 9 premises at Port Elliot speaks to their down-to-earth approach, while their commitment to sourcing quality beans from micro lots and small farmers (who they work with year after year) has won them a loyal following.

Dawn Patrol welcome people to their new cellar door in Chandler’s Hill to explore their range of espresso and filter coffee. They supply their coffees to a range of cafes, while their dedicated coffee subscribers fuel their home espresso machines, moka pots or the good old French press with regular deliveries of freshly roasted beans. The setting leans more towards the rustic at Aldinga roastery Goodness Coffee Co. Homed in a heritage-listed blacksmith’s workshop, the charismatic shop front enhances the experience of drinking their house roasts. Old tradition meets new, with the prominent positioning of recycling bins for patrons to deposit their takeaway coffee cups, or otherwise take home the packaging to pop in the home compost. Aldinga stablemate Fleurieu Roast opens its doors to the public only on Saturdays. If you drop in at the right time you can come and see exactly how coffee is roasted, bags of green coffee from around the world stacked in the corner ready to roast.

Through seven days of lockdown, a cup of coffee helped mark the passage of time. Another homeschool lesson endured, another rainshower dodged, another sibling disagreement diffused. We snuck in a couple of takeaways and brewed coffee after coffee in our stovetop Bialetti. Gratefully released a week later, we were back on de Rose’s doorstep with our standing order, happy to again sip a barista-made coffee, made by a friendly face. Because the bean, the grind, the milk temperature is important, but it’s not the only thing that brings us back.