Women Leading Government held an Executive Network Call on October 8, 2015 on the topic, Effective Leadership When the Community Is Divided. This was one of WLG’s confidential conference calls for chief executives, including city managers, county managers, and general managers of special districts. On this call, the executives discussed current situations they are dealing with. The participants noted that when there is a very hot topic, it seems that other crises come up that are unrelated but add to the accumulation of issues that need to be managed. Suggestions made for providing leadership in highly contentious situations included:

  • Have a menu of possible options and strategies, and continually look at what particular strategy would be best suited.
  • Manage the message, and help the governing body stay on message.
  • Keep your perspective in the midst of “battle” and be strategic — taking time to hit the pause button and reflect on what is working and what options should be engaged.
  • Use small groups and one-on-one meetings with key stakeholders who may be better able to hear each other’s opposing points of view in smaller settings, and find some path for a common ground.
  • Use a facilitator trained in collaboration to facilitate large group meetings
  • Get more assistance through added staff or consultants to deal with added workload associated with the volatile issue so the chief executive can continue to manage the organization and not be 100% consumed by the hot topic.
  • Strive to ensure that all processes and communications are fair and transparent.
  • Be mindful of emails as they may be subject to Public Records Act requests.  
  • Ensure that processes allow listening to voices that speak up while being mindful of people who are not speaking up but need to be represented.
  • Keep your “personal sanity” by reaching out to colleagues and taking time for your health.

Executive Network Calls are open to WLG members who are chief executives of their local governments (cities, counties and special districts).  Please contact the Executive Network Call convener if you would like to be on the list: Valerie Barone, City Manager, Concord, CA: Valerie.Barone@cityofconcord.org

Co-Facilitator: Jan Perkins, WLG Board member, ICMA Liaison, Former City Manager, Senior Partner, Management Partners, jperkins@managementpartners.com.

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