Small Budget, Big Thinking

1. Small Budget, Big Thinking How to Lead in Times of Expanding Challenges and Declining Resources

4. Have You Ever Had….. • Too much money in your budget? • Employees that are 100% competent, happy and eager to make your job easy? • Citizens that are always gushing with praise for your performance? • Elected officials that want to give more money to public works and less money to fire & police? • The perfect balance of sun, rain, cold and warm weather? • All of this at once for a sustained period of time?

5. Of Course You Haven’t • Public works is always challenging • Managing people is always challenging • Public sector work is always challenging

6. So What Has Really Changed? • Just that you have been sucked into the vortex of depressed and pessimistic public servants

8. Now is a Time for Extraordinary Creativity and Opportunity

10. Change Your Thinking and Attitude • Chance to demonstrate leadership • Chance to change things that have needed changing for years • Chance to elevate the public works profession • Chance to develop new relationships and networks • Chance to experiment • Chance to learn

11. "People in good moods are better at inductive reasoning and creative problem solving.“ --From Emotion, Disclosure, and Health, 1995 Salovey, Mayer, Goldman, Turvey, and Palfai

12. Motivation • Is it easier or harder to motivate your team today than it was 2 years ago? • Are you more or less motivated than you were 2 years ago?

18. What is Motivation? • Really talking about “Engagement” • Engagement means… • Coming to work energized – looking forward to the day • Excited about the work being done – how is it meaningful? • Would you do this work for free? • Is it a hobby or just a job?

20. Leading to Engagement • Trust • Engagement 1 in 2 vs. 1 in 12 • Compassion • Caring is noticed • Stability • 9 x more engagement w/confidence in financial future • Hope • 69% vs. 1% engagement – feeling enthusiastic about the future Source: Strengths Based Leadership; Rath and Conchie; Gallup Press, 2008

21. TRUST COMPASSION STABILITY HOPE

22. Building Trust • Get to know one another as people • Socialize • Off-site retreat • Ethical behavior

25. Role of the Leader • Admit mistakes • Live up to commitments • Invite relationships • Create opportunities • Risk losing in front of group • Create an environment that does not punish vulnerability

26. Compassion • Empathetic behavior • Face to face communication • Note cards • Must be authentic

27. Emotional Intelligence • Knowing your emotions. • Managing your own emotions. • Motivating yourself. • Recognizing and understanding other people's emotions. • Managing relationships, ie., managing the emotions of others. Source: Daniel Goleman

28. Emotional Intelligence “In my 1998 book WorkingwithEmotionalIntelligence, I proposed that EI-based abilities more often than IQ-type abilities or technical skills are the discriminating competencies that predict who among a group of very smart people will lead most ably.” – Daniel Goleman

29. Stability • Open, honest and frequent communication • Visible efforts to improve stability • Finding grants • Teaming with adjacent jurisdictions • Doing work for other departments Being unstable & crabby is all part of my mystique

30. Hope • Define a visible future and boldly go there

32. Leading Change • Why is this change important? • Who is with me? • Where are we going? • Selling our future • Empowering the team • Creating short term wins • Keep building momentum • Anchor in the culture There is no point where we say we are done!

33. Managers • Bring order and predictability to complex, chaotic situations • Focus on planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, problem solving • Focus on today, next week • Use appointed power Source: William Sterling, P.E. Leader-Manager: Is There a Difference; APWA Reporter December 2005

34. Leaders • Have a vision for a better future • Set direction for change through vision and strategy and aligning people behind initiatives • Inspire people to follow • Transform vision into reality • Focus on long term view • Use influential power Source: William Sterling, P.E. Leader-Manager: Is There a Difference; APWA Reporter December 2005

35. Leadership is NOT… • Equivalent to managing well • Forcing change through power mandates Leadership is … • Risky, yet rewarding • Necessary for change • Action based on passion and inspiration

36. Leadership is Proactive • Natural response is to be reactive • Think about what could be done, rather than focus on what needs to be done • Organizational culture may stress responding to near term needs • Spend more time initiating than responding • Develop the next generation of leaders Source: Strengths Based Leadership; Rath and Conchie; Gallup Press, 2008

37. Leading Characteristics • Continually learning • Service oriented • Radiating positive energy • Believing in other people • Leading balanced lives • Seeing life as an adventure • Creating synergy • Exercising for self-renewal Source: Steven Covey, Principle-Centered Leadership

38. Team An energetic group of people who are committed to achieving common objectives, who work well together and enjoy doing so and who produce high quality results. Doufour (2008)

39. HAS ANYONE EVER MET THIS GROUP OF PEOPLE?

40. Five Dysfunctions of a Team

41. Healthy Team • They trust one another • They engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas • They commit to decisions and plans of actions • They hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans • They focus on the achievement of collective results

44. Left Brain Approach • Public works industry tends to be dominated by engineers and other linear thinking problem solvers • Public works is always inundated with demands for service which all appear on the surface to be emergencies • Public works never has enough resources to get the job done the way we want to do it! (and we never will!) • We tend to solve the immediate problem

45. Integrated Approach • System Thinking. Recognize everything is interrelated and find meaning, purpose and connectedness. • Simplify. Utilize powerful tools that are simple and easy to use. • Exploring. Create a sustainable future through risk-taking, innovation, and courageous leadership. • Knowledge. Recognize and improve the public works profession’s contribution and continued leadership on creating transformational change within their communities. • Teamwork. Create a foundation for success by embracing collaboration with other municipal departments, elected officials, citizens and other professionals. • Caring. Nurture relationships to foster change. • Efficiency. Deliver services and provide infrastructure that promotes less waste, less pollution and less consumption. APWA Center for Sustainability

46. Opportunities Abound • Chance to demonstrate leadership • Chance to change things that have needed changing for years • Chance to elevate the public works profession • Chance to develop new relationships and networks • Chance to experiment • Chance to learn

47. Low and No Cost Ideas • Ethical behavior • Compassionate behavior • Read books on leadership • Brown bag lunch ‘n’ learn • Listen • Pizza or donuts • Engage your team in problem solving

48. Low and No Cost Ideas • Get out in the community • Walk around your department and talk to people • Buy a box of cards and some stickers • Give people achievable assignments that will challenge them • Say “please” and “thank you” • Ask questions

49. Thoughts on Leadership • The ability to lead is closely related to what inspires you • If you are inspired to change, leadership comes naturally • Love your work • Find what inspires you and go there • Find out what inspires your team • Your enthusiasm will inspire others

50. The Role of Leadership