What will the New Year bring?  The stresses on local government are enormous and seemingly unrelenting whether they are: additional budget cutbacks, a fall over the fiscal cliff, and severe weather emergencies outbreaks of violence or any combination of these.   Unplanned rapid growth and development also strains the ability of our organizations to manage effectively.

The only true certainty is uncertainty.  As leaders in local government we have a responsibility for trying to mange that uncertainty and mitigating the adverse impacts of unplanned events.

Consequently we are constantly grappling with the concept of leadership.  We attend seminars, read books, and “try on” the latest innovations.  The list can be exhaustive:  Management by Walking Around, High Performance Organization, Good to Great, Leadership Lessons of the Godfather, Who Moved My Cheese, Six Sigma and Baldrige, to name a few.  In my mind there is no one correct model but the learning process helps us identify what our own style is and how we can be comfortable in the leadership role.

A number of writers have discussed things like communications, competence and commitment as being essential leadership traits.   In my mind these are essential skills and can be taught and improved over time.  There is, however one essential trait that is innate and cannot be taught.  You either have it or you don’t:  character.  ICMA got this right when it created its Code of Ethics and it has been a guiding light of our organization for 100 years.  Efficiency and effectiveness without character can become a form of fascism.

The essential character, the integrity of a leader cannot be doubted.  Doing what’s right regardless of the personal consequences is a form of moral courage.  We are judged by our actions.  And when there is a discrepancy between are words and our acts we are judged accordingly.  Character creates an ability to lead.  Continuous demonstration of character and integrity is essential.