2018/10/12 - Walter's Blog: We All Must Continue to Learn
October 12, 2018
Our goal in the City of O’Fallon is to be a premier city in the region and the state. With guidance from the strategic visions of the Mayor and City Council, we strive to responsive to our citizens and efficient with our resources. In order for us to achieve this kind of excellence, we encourage training and professional development for our employees. It was my turn for training last week when I attended the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Annual Conference in Baltimore. The training was valuable, and I think was well worth my time.
The ICMA Conference features more than 3,000 city managers from around the world and is the pre-eminent conference for local government management. The nation’s economic and political challenges were a prominent topic at the ICMA Conference. While citizens are increasingly dissatisfied with their state and federal governments, satisfaction with local governments is at an all-time high nationwide (this is true in O’Fallon as well with an 81% approval rating).
I attended several sessions that discussed how we use our positions in local government to be leaders in the community to make citizens’ lives better. This involves listening to their concerns, considering the views of all sides, and making decisions that serve the public interest. This has become increasingly difficult in a political environment of competing values, but that is the essential task of a city manager to facilitate these decisions between the citizens, City Council, and City employees.
Here is a summary of some of the specific sessions I attended:
- Leadership in Turbulent Times: Author Doris Kearns Goodwin presented insights from her new book that highlights the leadership qualities of Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson.
- The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing: Author Daniel Pink discussed how we are biologically predisposed to be more effective and different times of day, we should be aware of these changes to manage our organization effectively.
- Unleashing the Potential of Teams and Individuals: Author Greg Bell explained his concepts to motivate employees to work together as teams.
- The Evolution of a Smart City: Examples from various cities that have utilized “Big Data” to streamline services and efficiencies.
- Implicit Bias: Concepts on how to reduce discriminatory hiring and human resources practices.
- Crisis Ready: Lessons on how to prepare your organization for crises and disasters.
Conferences are a great opportunity to learn new concepts and recharge your batteries, and these meetings did not disappoint.