1. The Essential Nature of the Leadership Task
Leadership Academy
Session #1—Jan 18, 2018
Eileen Beaudry

2. Leadership Academy - Shared Service
CC Local Government Leadership Academy
Academy Organizing Committee
Public Managers Association

3. Leadership Academy Curriculum Focus
Promoting leadership aptitudes and skills
as opposed to nuts-and-bolts of
supervisory or management skills.

4. Three Reactors for Today
What resonated
with me?

5. Academy Basics Attend all sessions & full participation
Arrive at no later than 8:15 am-prompt start at 8:30 am
Phones are off the table & off; make calls at breaks
Read articles & be prepared to discuss
Actively serve on Team Project
Participate in 1 to 1 coaching
Reflect & apply
Have fun!

6. Four Academy Components
Class Presentations
Career Journeys/Case Studies
Team Projects/Presentations
One to One Coaching
Purposes:
To create a cost-effective talent development program
To enhance the leadership skills of the participants
To assist participating local governments in succession planning efforts
To offer participants positive development opportunities in tough times
Why Case Studies?
Given accelerating & discontinuous change, an organization’s capacity to learn & adapt becomes key to survival & success now & in future
Case studies allow us to learn from our own real-life experiences or the experiences of our colleagues
Case studies provide lessons that can be applied to future practice
Case studies are one way to promote learning & support a “community of practice & learning”

7. Your Leadership Profile
Your key values
Your communication style preferences
Why staff would follow you (strengths)
How make our weaknesses irrelevant
Gifts that you give away as a leader
Favorite leadership quotes

8. Agenda for Today Welcome and Background Eileen’s Career Journey
Ice-Breaker
Introductions
Context of Local Government and Leadership Competencies
Video: Jim Collins – Good to Great
Guest Speaker: Kevin Duggan, Ethics
Form Project Teams

9. Eileen’s Career Journey
Listen and try to discern some key elements leading to successful advancement in career & fulfillment

10. Exercise: Who’s in the Room?
Generations
Professional Fields
Birth Order
Who’s in the room?
1. Count-Off by Group: Plan an Outing that you would all enjoy
2. By birthday month
3. Birth Order: Eldest / Middle Child / Youngest
(What is something that you gained from your position in your family that is an asset to your work or leadership style.)
4. Meet Your Peers in Your Work Areas:
Public Safety/
Econ Dev/
CMO + Admin + Internal Services
Parks/Rec/Arts
Planning Building
Public Works

11. Which generation do you identify with?
Four generations
Traditionalists (pre-1945)
Boomers ( )
Gen X ( )
Millennials ( )
Discuss and Report Back: What are 2-3 assets
that your group brings to the workplace?

12. Birth Order Find your group!
Eldest
Middle
Youngest
Individual
Does your birth order shape your workstyle or leadership style in any way?

13. Professional Fields Find your professional group
Do Speed Networking and Exchange business cards

14. Self-Introductions Your name, title, organization Fun fact about me
One thing I want to learn…

15. 15 Minute Break

16. Context of Local Government
1. What are 2-3 key aspects of the internal context of local government?
(for example: heavily unionized)
2. What are 2-3 key aspects of the external context of local government?
(for example: very scrutinized)

17. Key Question
In this kind of environment, what do organizational members need from their leaders?

18. The Big Challenges & Leadership Competencies
1. What are 2-3 big challenges facing
local governments in the next 5 years?
2. To effectively address these challenges,
what are 2-3 indispensable competencies
for leaders at all levels of the organization?

19. The Nature of the Challenges
Technical challenges (“tame”)
Solutions are known & can be addressed through management
Adaptive challenges (“wicked”)
Solutions are unknown, often involve value conflicts, & require leadership at all levels

20. A Disruptive World
Local governments are overwhelmed with accelerating & discontinuous change
Problems are complex, difficult-to-solve,
emotion-laden, & divisive
No one institution,
including government, can solve
any major problem

21. A Disruptive World (con’t)
Power is diffuse (“veto” power)
Citizens have lost
confidence in all institutions,
including government
To confront any major challenge,
leaders must cross boundaries
Experimenting & learning are key ingredients to adapting

22. “Are we learning as fast as the world is changing?”
Gary Hamel

23. Indispensable Competencies
Active futures orientation
Boundary-crossing & partnering skills
Learning agility
Ability to start
conversations & tell stories
Ability to create meaning
Ability to develop talent
People skills

24. The Importance of People Skills

25. The Essence of Leadership
“Leaders do not force people to follow—they invite them on a journey.”
Charles Lauer

26. “Why would anyone want to follow me?”
Identify 2-3 reasons that people would want to follow you
Identify one trait that would cause people to be reluctant to follow you

27. A Leader Who Inspired Me
Past or Present
What the person did
Qualities that you admire
What gifts does this person give away as a leader?

28. Jim Collins Video (quiz)
Business Professor at Stanford
Wrote Good to Great
Good to Great in the Social Sector

29. Kevin Duggan - Career Journey
Key elements

30. Why Ethics?
Kevin’s Ethical challenge as a City Manager

31. Case Study: Bob the Go To Employee
Read description of case
Critique at your table

32. 15 Thoughts on Ethics and Integrity

33. #1 Prevention First Never take ethics and integrity for granted
Talk about it
Train
Don’t assume it will just happen
Make it part of the organization’s culture and value system

34. #2 Hire for Ethics Have Ethics as a hiring criteria
Talk about it as part of the selection process
Do thorough background checks

35. #3 Does Legal = Ethical ?
Not breaking the law will keep you out of jail, but won’t make you a role model
Remember the spirit and letter of the law
Our obligation: maintain public confidence

36. #4 Beware Rationalization
“I deserve…”
“In this case, it is okay to …”
We can be seduced by our ability to come up with a “plausible rationale”
Our greatest enemy is our and our employees’ ability to rationalize that inappropriate conduct is okay

37. #5 BEWARE “…but no one will find out!”
A secret is a 5-second head start
Always someone who will (or could) know
No one finding out is NOT an appropriate criteria
YOU WILL KNOW

38. #6 The Newspaper Rule Best defense to seduction of rationalization
Understand you don’t just have to convince yourself – you have to convince everyone else

39. #7 The Taxpayer Rule
What you think is justified vs. what taxpayers will think is reasonable
Public funds belong to the public

40. #8 Leaders Need to WALK the Talk
Talking about vs. demonstrating ethics and integrity
Leaders need to hold themselves to a higher standard

41. #9 Being Tested isn’t Easy
When you have something to lose or gain
When you can suffer personally or professionally for taking a stand
When it is difficult and uncomfortable
You Are Only Really Tested When it Isn’t Easy:

42. #10 As a Leader, it’s not Just About You
You won’t simply be held accountable for your conduct, but also for the conduct of those in your organization
You will fail no matter how ethical you are if your organization fails to perform ethically

43. #11 The Three Levels of a Leader’s Ethical Responsibility
What you did:
Your decisions and actions
What others did – that you knew about:
Did you respond?
How you responded
What others did – that you didn’t know about:
Should you have known
Pay attention
Ask questions/due diligence
“Open to bad news”– Don’t shoot the messenger

44. #12 Responding to an Ethical Failure: Being Judged Not Just on What Happened, But How You Responded
Avoid the “C” word at all costs (“coverup”)
Full disclosure
Early disclosure
Corrective actions
The biggest issue is often not what happened, but how it was responded to
How you respond may well be the primary basis on which you will be judged
“Not deciding” is a decision for which you may be held accountable
Don’t turn an honest mistake into an ethical scandal

45. #13 Whose Responsibility Is It – Is It “Your Job”?
If you know about it – it is your responsibility to do something
What is required of you depends on circumstances
You don’t necessarily need to be the “Lone Ranger,” but…

46. #14 During an Ethical Crisis
Protect those who stand up for ethics
Keep organization focused
Recover from failure – learn and get better

47. #15 Three Questions You Must be Prepared to Answer
What did you know?
When did you know it?
What did you do about it?

48. Key Thoughts
You will not be an effective leader unless you demonstrate ethics and integrity
Beware of the “R word” – Rationalization
If you are a leader, it is your responsibility
No one finding out is not the criterion
The “newspaper rule”
The “taxpayer rule”

49. Resources on Ethics International City Management Association
Institute for Local Government (California)

50. Article: Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?
Leaders must be authentically true to themselves, unafraid to express both their strengths and their weaknesses
Hierarchy is neither necessary or sufficient to create a leader
Great leaders tell great stories to motivate their followers; logical analysis does not excite people
There are no leaders without followers; leadership depends upon relationships

51. My Take-Aways + Reaction Panel
What resonated with me?
What did not resonate with me?
What do I have to add?

52. Team Projects Teams will consist of 6-7 members
Teams will act as consulting group for local government agency facing real- life challenge
Teams will interview subject matter experts, review key documents, come to conclusions & provide recommendations to agency leaders

53. Team Projects (con’t)
Executive Sponsor for Team Project will serve as a “go-to” resource & provide guidance, information & suggestions
Team will make a Dry Run presentation to Academy class & Executive Sponsor
Team will make Final Pres.
to Public Managers Assoc.

54. Team Projects (con’t) Today We will review the 5 Projects
Participants identify their interest areas
and we will form the Project Teams
Select unfamiliar topic area

55. Team Projects (con’t) Teams get started
Each team member picks “stretch” role to expand skill set
Identify organizations that you assume are involved
Identify SME’s
Arrange to meet with
Executive Sponsor

56. Team Projects (con’t) By Next Session Meet with your Executive Sponsor
Develop outline on how you will carry out
project (Feb Session--copies for everyone)
Eileen & peers will provide feedback on
outline (at end of Feb 15th session)

57. 2017 Team Projects

58. Team Project Outline Bring Copies Next Session:
Topic + Executive Sponsor
Deliverable(s)
How deliverable will be
used by Sponsors
Methodology—how we plan to proceed
Key players/SME’s
Key documents

59. Readings/Homework for Feb 15
Crucibles of Leadership, Warren Bennis, HBR
Homework
Identify “mini-crucible” in your life
Meet with Executive Sponsor
Develop a outline for team Project