Gazing into the Crystal Ball --The 3 Big Leadership Challenges of the 21 st Century-- MCMA Lake Ozark April 23, 2009 April 23, 2009 Dr. Frank Benest Palo Alto, CA

Overview 1. Trends Impacting Local Government 2. Premises 3. Nature of the Leadership Task 4. Frank’s Big 3 Leadership Challenges 5. Resources and Questions

Mega-Trends 1. Select two different mega-trends that have or will have significant impact on local government (consider demographic, social, economic, political, technological, and value trends) 2. Identify the continuing or anticipated impacts

Premises  Local governments face a world of accelerating and discontinuous change  Problems we face are complex, divisive, and emotionally-laden  Mega-trends dramatically impact local governments  People have lost confidence in all institutions, including government

Premises (cont)  No one institution, including government, can solve any major problem  Power is diffuse (“blocking” power)  Local government organizations are facing an era of “permanent fiscal crisis”  Big challenges require more leadership, not more management

The Nature of the Leadership Task  Big issues of the day are leadership tasks a. Technical work can be addressed by management b. Adaptive work requires leadership  Leadership vs. management  People skills are more important than technical skills “Leaders don’t force people to follow—they invite them on a journey.” Charles Lauer

The Importance of People Skills

The Nature of the Leadership Task (cont)  Given nature of challenges, learning capacity becomes key to success  The primary function of leaders is growing more leaders  Employee and civic engagement becomes paramount

Continuum of Involvement Informing  One way monologue  Telling/selling  Educating  Presenting technical information  Discerning public opinion  People are not responsible for identifying or carrying out decision or solution Engaging  Two-way dialogue  Listening/responding/ listening  Learning  Eliciting values, hopes, dreams, concerns, fears  Discerning public judgment  People are responsible for identifying or carrying out decision or solution

Leadership Challenge #1 Collaborating Across Boundaries

 Big problems cut across boundaries, internally and externally  “Boundrylessness” must become strategic goal for organization  Organizational leaders must take responsibility for larger issues outside their domain and control  Organizations need “external sensing” capability

Collaborating Across Boundaries (con’t)  Collaborations require building rapport and relationship before problem-solving  Organizations must commit resources to collaborations  Greatness in social sector has more to do with work outside organizational boundaries than internal operations

Leadership Challenge #2 Developing a New Story for the Permanently Restructuring Organization

 Recognize the Challenge of Constant Resizing and Restructuring  Create a Story to Imbue Organization with New Spirit

What Is Our New Story? In the next five years…  Will our local government shed outmoded programs or outsource certain discretionary services in order to better focus on core services or competencies?  Will we better utilize technology to promote efficiency and civic engagement?  Will we eliminate non-value added process and promote more entrepreneurial style of solving problems?

In the next five years…  Will we sell services to other communities or collaborate with other entities in delivering services?  Will we better engage community partners to solve problems?  Will the local government be able to free up revenue to make new strategic investments?

Developing a New Story (cont)  Recognize the Challenge of Constant Resizing and Restructuring  Create a Story to Imbue Organization with New Spirit  Engage People in Creating New Story

Leadership Challenge #3 Creating Talent Strategy for Your Local Government

Demographic Crisis Facing Local Governments in U.S.  The Numbers  80 million Baby Boomers (born ) leaving U.S. economy  50 million Gen Xers (born ) replacing them  Large talent “replacement gaps”

Age Distribution of Gov. & Private Sector Workers – 2001

City of Palo Alto Organization Chart

City of Palo Alto’s “Retirement Wave” 50% of Management and Professional Employees are eligible to retire in three years three years 35% say they will definitely retire

A View From The Trenches 1. What are some indicators of a talent challenge in your organization? 2. What are the organizational impacts?

Organizational Impacts  Promoted managers or professionals not ready  Difficulty recruiting seasoned managers or professionals  Loss of productivity  Service problems  Loss of institutional knowledge  Increased recruitment and training costs  Loss of organizational capacity

Creating Talent Strategy 1. Analyze workforce and identify vulnerabilities 2. Initiate succession planning to respond to “retirement wave” a. Identify talent and accelerate development of aspiring managers b. Transfer knowledge c. Attract young people into local government careers

Creating Talent Strategy (con’t) 3. Identify competencies required for future, especially in “pivotal” positions 4. Retool hiring practices (see “Hiring 2.0” Guide of Best Practices)

Creating a Talent Strategy (cont) 5. Create learning organization a. Provide strong rationale b. Offer array of learning opportunities c. Focus on “doing” d. Provide coaching resources e. Encourage learning plans f. Re-conceptualize role of managers g. Allow for mistakes

Creating a Talent Strategy (cont) 6. “Re-recruit” employees 7. Align all organizational systems to support talent strategy

Resources Cal-ICMA Coaching Program Check out “Hiring 2.0” Guide ICMA Next Gen resources Articles—contact Frank at “Creating a New Future for the Downsizing Organization” “Retaining and Growing Talent—Strategies for Creating Organizational Stickiness” Good to Great and The Social Sectors, Jim Collins, 2005

Follow-Up Action “As a result of this workshop, what is one idea that I would like to incorporate into my city management practice?”

Wrap-Up  Questions?  Perplexing issues? Thank You!