Small Town Mayor Leadership Lessons
15/10/08 Filed in: 7 Ideas Coach
7 Ideas Coach Audio Podcast
In addition to an executive coach, speaker, and leadership consultant, I happen to be a small town mayor - of Hillsborough, NC. My role as mayor provides a great lab to practice what I preach about leadership.
My experience as a small town mayor has certainly not prepared me for national office, to be CEO of a global corporation, or any number of other occupations. However the leadership implications of being a small town mayor is illuminating, and this coachcast discusses seven leadership insights deeply reinforced by my civic experience.
Work to bring people together, not apart.
Divide and conquer is great, if your main interest is conquering. However if you are seeking solutions in the best interest of the community, you must focus on common ground that bring people with differing perspectives together in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
Our Vision is more powerful than my vision.
A powerful vision gives any group of people direction, be it town, company, school, or a nation. A powerful vision informs the choices made that shape the future. Exceptional leaders don’t impart a vision, they cultivate the emergence of a vision – a huge difference. While the seed for a vision can certainly originate from a leader, there is incredible power and energy when a group of people discover their collective vision. Leaders who facilitate that discovery help create a vision that is owned by the group and has a life of its own. A vision that has a life of its own provides genuine motivation, and is not dependent on any one individual.
Trust does not come in neutral.
True for small town officials is also true for non-profits and for businesses - you can lose your constituents or your customers overnight if trust is lost. Some universal ways to gain trust, true in small towns as well as elsewhere: everyday good management practices, transparency in your business transactions, and telling the truth in a time of crisis or change.
Communicate proactively, strategically, and relentlessly.
Pay attention to what messages you project, both explicitly and implicitly. In your words, honor the past, give an honest assessment of the present, and a positive message about the future. Also remember that communication is a two-way street. Communication is not only taking care about the messages you craft, but in the venues you create to listen and give stakeholders opportunities to offer their insight.
Nothing replaces connecting to people one-to-one.
That well composed memo, that superbly articulated press release, that high-energy presentation, none of them hold a candle to making contact with people face-to-face. I sure learned that getting elected to be a small town mayor involved walking through neighborhoods and knocking door-to-door. In a small town to find out what’s happening, and to let people know what’s going on, what works best is spending some time Saturday morning in the coffee shop, walking through the farmers market, or strolling down the main street.
At the end of the day, you have to show results.
If you are going to make a difference as small town mayor, an entrepreneur, a corporate or non-profit executive, or a knowledge professional, you have to show constructive results for your efforts. Results can be tangible (like constructing a town’s first soccer field) or intangible (like building better relationships between officials). Exceptional leaders seek both.
Never forget that success comes from the work of many people.
In his landmark book, Good to Great, Jim Collins found that leaders of great companies universally credited organizational success to others. The higher up you go, small towns and elsewhere, the more likely you are to be given both credit and blame for whatever happens. It’s easy for those who really made things happen to go unrecognized, or to inflate your own contribution. Make it a practice to publicly credit the work of other people, and keep reminding yourself that your success comes from their efforts.
In addition to an executive coach, speaker, and leadership consultant, I happen to be a small town mayor - of Hillsborough, NC. My role as mayor provides a great lab to practice what I preach about leadership.
My experience as a small town mayor has certainly not prepared me for national office, to be CEO of a global corporation, or any number of other occupations. However the leadership implications of being a small town mayor is illuminating, and this coachcast discusses seven leadership insights deeply reinforced by my civic experience.
Work to bring people together, not apart.
Divide and conquer is great, if your main interest is conquering. However if you are seeking solutions in the best interest of the community, you must focus on common ground that bring people with differing perspectives together in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
Our Vision is more powerful than my vision.
A powerful vision gives any group of people direction, be it town, company, school, or a nation. A powerful vision informs the choices made that shape the future. Exceptional leaders don’t impart a vision, they cultivate the emergence of a vision – a huge difference. While the seed for a vision can certainly originate from a leader, there is incredible power and energy when a group of people discover their collective vision. Leaders who facilitate that discovery help create a vision that is owned by the group and has a life of its own. A vision that has a life of its own provides genuine motivation, and is not dependent on any one individual.
Trust does not come in neutral.
True for small town officials is also true for non-profits and for businesses - you can lose your constituents or your customers overnight if trust is lost. Some universal ways to gain trust, true in small towns as well as elsewhere: everyday good management practices, transparency in your business transactions, and telling the truth in a time of crisis or change.
Communicate proactively, strategically, and relentlessly.
Pay attention to what messages you project, both explicitly and implicitly. In your words, honor the past, give an honest assessment of the present, and a positive message about the future. Also remember that communication is a two-way street. Communication is not only taking care about the messages you craft, but in the venues you create to listen and give stakeholders opportunities to offer their insight.
Nothing replaces connecting to people one-to-one.
That well composed memo, that superbly articulated press release, that high-energy presentation, none of them hold a candle to making contact with people face-to-face. I sure learned that getting elected to be a small town mayor involved walking through neighborhoods and knocking door-to-door. In a small town to find out what’s happening, and to let people know what’s going on, what works best is spending some time Saturday morning in the coffee shop, walking through the farmers market, or strolling down the main street.
At the end of the day, you have to show results.
If you are going to make a difference as small town mayor, an entrepreneur, a corporate or non-profit executive, or a knowledge professional, you have to show constructive results for your efforts. Results can be tangible (like constructing a town’s first soccer field) or intangible (like building better relationships between officials). Exceptional leaders seek both.
Never forget that success comes from the work of many people.
In his landmark book, Good to Great, Jim Collins found that leaders of great companies universally credited organizational success to others. The higher up you go, small towns and elsewhere, the more likely you are to be given both credit and blame for whatever happens. It’s easy for those who really made things happen to go unrecognized, or to inflate your own contribution. Make it a practice to publicly credit the work of other people, and keep reminding yourself that your success comes from their efforts.
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