By Mike Conduff, ICMA-CM

Just like Troy and the Trojan Horse, sometimes our biggest governance threats come from inside our own organizations.

Whether it is a staff member telling tales to an elected official on the sly and intentionally undermining the manager, a disgruntled employee leaking information to the media, or even an outright “him or me!” showdown with a key department head, it can be exceedingly difficult to stay focused on achieving council outcomes when managers are simply trying to survive the onslaught from their own team.

These situations are equally distracting for elected officials. Even when they have a genuine desire to govern well, pressures from the public and the media make it hard to stay in their policy role.

A Political Firestorm

An accomplished and seasoned manager who only recently had been appointed in a community called me for advice on a difficult situation. After months of subtle insubordination based on a perception that the manager was not as supportive of one department as desired, the longtime and “homegrown” police chief had thrown down the gauntlet: “Either the city manager goes, or I do,” was the ultimatum to the city commission.

With an agenda item posted to discuss the employment of the city manager, the chief showed up with essentially the entire force dressed in their blues to plead his case. With many tense moments in the discussion, the council ultimately voted—by a majority of just one—to keep the manager.

After the meeting, however, one of the members who had voted in support of the manager resigned, citing “the pressures” of serving.

Subsequent to the meeting, the chief had gone to the mayor to ask for a different solution: Keep the city manager, but allow the chief to report directly to the mayor. The city charter seemed to allow for the arrangement in that the mayor had approval authority for the appointment of the chief, although the rationale was a bit tortured in that all administrative powers were vested in the manager. In such a political firestorm, obviously governance had seemingly taken a backseat to survival.

Support Matters

After checking that all of the interpersonal opportunities for resolution had been explored (they had!), the first thing I counseled was moral support—for the mayor. Fortunately for managers who avail themselves of it, the ICMA and state association networks are strong ones, and the manager felt well supported by colleagues.

The mayor, on the other hand, was certainly stuck in the middle, and without the professional support from other more seasoned elected officials might not see a clear path.

To accomplish this, we arranged to have lunch with a seasoned professional colleague and his equally seasoned mayor from a community far enough away to be clearly impartial, but close enough to be similar. The conversation really focused on thinking beyond the urgency of the moment to the long-term future of the community.

If the mayor gave in to the pressure on this situation, which certainly was enticing in that it would solve the immediate problem, what would prevent the chief from making further, perhaps more aggressive demands in the future? If the balance of the manager’s organization saw the effect of ultimatums, what would keep other staff from using the same tactic when they did not appreciate a managerial decision or direction?

If the manager is responsible by charter for “administration,” what happens when the chief doesn’t like a benefits or internal process change that affects the department?

By helping the mayor understand the negative ramifications of a quick fix and providing counsel from an elected veteran who had “been there and done that,” sufficient breathing room was created for further dialogue. Using this approach also had the added value of demonstrating the regard for the manager within the professional community, as well as raising the stature of the manager with the mayor in the process.

By the way, I also tried to make sure the manager’s spouse and family were doing okay; their emotions are often the collateral damage of what managers do and while intellectually they might grasp the situation, not being able to “do” anything about it does make their role very difficult.

Your Options

In a nutshell, here’s what you can do if faced with an insubordinate situation:

• Make sure you have done all you can to resolve the conflict on an individual basis. Meeting challengers on their turf demonstrates your confidence and commitment to the community. New managers in new positions sometimes need a counselor or coach to help them through this stage.
• Make sure you remain professional at all times. Author Stephen Covey’s adage of “loyalty to the absent” is especially important. If we engage in disparaging our protagonist, we create worry even among our supporters about what might be being said about them when they are not present.
• Make sure you are letting your colleagues know about your stress, and use them to think through solutions. While the neighboring communities’ managers may be too close to share details with, it is a sign of strength, not weakness, to seek support and guidance from fellow professionals.
• Make sure you are listening to your spouse and children’s words and body language and staying attuned to their needs. While managers have the ability to impact the situation—for good or for bad—family members are largely helpless and need empathy.
• Make sure you remain optimistic and focused on organizational outcomes even while dealing with the conflict. This demonstrates your commitment to the balance of the group and keeps staff from having to take sides.
• Be willing to help others learn through the process. Challenges faced and overcome increase the governance capacity for all.