Rockhampton's Barbara Miller has a welcoming, eye-reaching smile with a hint of steely determination. In essence she's a people person focused on everyone's success, not just her own.

It's no surprise the CQUniversity graduate has recently (Nov 13) been named as Queensland's Young Manager of the Year, during the Australian Institute of Management (AIM) Management Excellence Awards in Brisbane.

Barbara Miller with Council CEO Alistair Dawson

At age 31, Barbara's been openly tipped as a future CEO for Rockhampton Regional Council, where she is currently employed as Executive Manager People Performance and Wellbeing.

"I love what I do ... I'm passionate about it," she said.

Barbara (then Ashton) completed a double degree majoring in HR and Psychology and has found the mix especially useful for unlocking the power of empathy.

"A lot of people just put their own values on everyone else but CQUni taught me not to do that. The Uni taught me to respect people's differences, to let people shine and bring their strengths out," she said.

Barbara got the chance to apply her skills shortly after the regional council was created, drawing in 4 previous administrations under new CEO Alastair Dawson.

Barbara receives her trophy from a representative of category sponsor Vodafone in Brisbane. Photo courtesy of Kirkland Photography.

She says Alastair encouraged her section to brainstorm their own brand and mission, hence they decided to move away from the term HR and to embrace the new title with 'people' at the core.

Born and bred in Rockhampton, Barbara is proud of the University. She has a brother (James Ashton - Bachelor Business) and sister (Susan Ashton-Lyons) who are also graduates and 2 younger sisters (Dyann Williams nee Ashton and Tenille Ashton) who are currently enrolled as students.

While accepting her trophy in Brisbane, the awardee had the chance to espouse her philosophy on management.

"I don't think of management; I think more of leadership ... a good leader makes people respect them and have confidence in them whereas a great leader helps people respect themselves and have confidence in themselves," she said.

"I aim to develop my team and get them to be the best that they can be. I'm the type of manager who lets the team work autonomously but with guidance, so I give them the direction but let them find their own path and I'm there if they need assistance or advice along the way.

"Alastair has been very supportive. He has helped us introduce the zero harm philosophy (safety) and zero tolerance philosophy (workplace harassment and bullying). Due to his support and guidance we've been able to introduce those programs pretty much of our own free will. We gave the premise of what we wanted to achieve and he let us run with it."

Barbara is part of the Council's leadership program and as such has monthly access to coaching by Dr Tim Baker from Winners@Work  and takes part in monthly team sessions.

She has embraced the Council's 360-degree feedback process and is proud of data showing improvement across key areas of her management style.

"I'm an open door manager but Dr Baker suggested I close the door occasionally to have time for reflection ... I've struggled a bit with that but it's been quite effective."

CEO Alastair says Barbara has shown a talent for guiding Council staff identified with potential for advancement.

"Barbara is already a senior mentor with the organisation and highly valued and at her young age is able to have a lot of credibility with organisation," Alastair said.

"Our aspiration is to one day see Barbara as a future CEO for this region. She has all the credibility and skill and if she's further developed in her career she would make a great CEO one day."

Barbara is responsible for the strategic direction and development of human resources, workplace health and safety and training and development at Rockhampton Regional Council. The Council has more than 1280 employees and serves over 100,000 people across 79 communities.  Barbara and her team of 18 staff also set the policy for the Council's operations in all areas of staff management.

"The awards journey has provided me with an opportunity to reflect on what we've achieved as a Council in such a short period of time," she said.

"To be part of the most significant change in local government history (the Council amalgamations) in Queensland has been incredibly rewarding and challenging and the awards have given me the chance to really consider what we've accomplished."