Harry Black is the city manager of Cincinnati, Ohio.

What excites you the most about the profession right now?

I sense and see that the profession is evolving. A lot of the issues are what they've been for many, many decades, but there are new issues that are manifesting themselves, requiring different approaches, different strategies, and a different toolkit. So, the profession is evolving, and the expectations of the public are evolving. The tools we have at our disposal are really fantastic today. We are being driven toward an analytics-based approach as a major tool for delivering high-performance service.

Does a specific example of evolution in the profession come to mind?

Things are moving much faster with the Internet and social media. You don't have a day, or a week to really contemplate a situation. You have to be prepared to assess and act very quickly. Obviously, you want to be as responsible and substantive as possible, but the world has gotten much faster, particularly at the local government level. The speed at which local government moves is beyond that of other levels of government.

Do you have any thoughts about increasing the diversity and inclusiveness within local government?

I think it's essential that we aggressively pursue diversity and inclusion. People need to think about the more than 40% of our public sector employees at every level – federal, state, and local – that are eligible, or near eligible for retirement. If you think about what that implies, therein lies a major challenge for local governments, but also a major opportunity. We ought to reach out with open arms, pull in a diversity of talent, develop that talent, and continue to evolve local government management.

Can you think of any successful tactics that are being used to push through the glass ceiling?

What I tell young people, particularly minorities, is do your best to be the smartest person in the room, and if you do that everything else will take care of itself. It’s about adding value. The problems are so monumental today, local governments are just looking for solutions and strategies. They don’t really care who they’re coming from. So work on adding value and growing your talent base within yourself and I believe things will work themselves out. Clearly we need to do more from an organizational standpoint to be more inclusive, and work with those in the organization from a professional development standpoint so that they can be successful.

What types of things do you do to encourage the next generation?

My entire leadership style is very participatory. Even though we may be dealing with a very serious issue or challenge, everyone at the table has a voice. I not only use it as an opportunity to solve an issue or come up with an innovative strategy, but to do it in such a way so everyone at the table is getting something out of it from a development standpoint.

How did you get a start in local government? And why did you choose local government?

My local government experience started as a management trainee with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Then I had an opportunity for a one year visiting research fellowship with ICMA. Working at ICMA, not only in terms of my research project, but also working on some other management and technical assistance initiatives, I was able to get a really good bird’s eye view of the city management profession. And I found it to be very exciting and very rewarding. It's something that I really wanted to pursue myself. This is where my aspiration to one day become a city manager germinated.

Where did you go after your fellowship at ICMA?

I ended up going back to New York City and working in several different public sector organizations from the New York City Transit Authority to the New York City mayor's office. That began my local government adventure. I have since worked in a range of mostly mid-sized to very large cities.

At one point you transitioned to the private sector, and then returned when you were offered a position with the city of Cincinnati. What prompted you to return to the public sector?

All but eight years of my career have been in the public sector.  Although my private sector work focused on providing consulting and staff augmentation support services to the public sector, I missed the excitement and satisfaction of implementing solutions and the interaction with my colleagues and those we serve.  Being in the public sector is gratifying and lends itself to a higher level of community relevance.

What value does private sector experience bring to the public sector workforce?

Speed of execution is a private sector value that I am able to share with my public sector colleagues. It’s important to always get to the finish line sooner rather than later. Performance management and a results orientation is another value that I am able to share with my public sector colleagues. Although effort is commendable, results are what matter the most.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

The highlight is becoming a city manager. That's something I've always wanted to be, but I wasn't sure if it was going to happen. I had given up on it and then all of a sudden I received a telephone call regarding a job with the city of Cincinnati. Being a city manager is really the pinnacle of a public administration career. You can't go any higher than that in local government.

What challenges do you see for the profession in the years ahead?

A significant portion of the public sector workforce is either at or near retirement eligible. As such, does there exist an adequate pipeline of talent to offset an imminent brain/talent drain?  I think we need to more directly engage this reality in creative and innovative ways.

As social media continues to evolve, so will public sector workforces as a means of leveraging all that is good about social media, while counteracting some of the risks associated with it.

What's the reason that you would suggest to someone that they should join ICMA?

ICMA is a prime vehicle for connecting with the profession on a variety of levels. If you can come to the conference, you can see other managers at various levels of their overall career paths. Whether a city manager, assistant city manager or a department head, you can see light at the end of the tunnel in terms of where you might want to find yourself in five or ten years. And talking to other city managers, we all deal with the same issues. We’ll discuss how we’re all dealing with a particular issue as opposed to how we might be dealing with that same issue in Cincinnati. It's all about learning and sharing information. ICMA has always done a great job of that. Going back 25 years, in terms of my engagement with ICMA, it's provided a wealth of information for professional development, topical information, and technical assistance vehicles and tools that we can tap into, so we are not having to reinvent the wheel all the time.