Recently I was reading PM magazine searching for leadership articles or quick tips that I could share on this blog, and I thumbed across 'Building Career Resiliency: Hone Your Ability to Grow from Adversity.' The article includes great takeaways and common traits and practices that encourage resiliency in everyone. What makes the article even more intriguing are the people who wrote it: Pat Martel and Jan Perkins. As an employee of ICMA, I've had the opportunity to get to know Pat's story through events such as the Annual Conference and our board meetings at our D.C. office.

I'll be honest when I say that I'd never heard of Jan Perkins before (I know what you are thinking) but when I finished the article, I knew I had to learn more about her story. Luckily, Ms. Perkins graciously agreed to answer my 10 questions on her career, motivations, goals, and greatest challenges. While my profession is not in local government per say, I felt like everything she was saying is something I have encountered both in my career and as a woman, and her tips on how to build career resiliency are tips I'll take with me forever. I hope by reading this, you can too.

Here's my interview:

Q1: It’s mentioned in the beginning of “Building Career Resiliency,” which you co-wrote with Pat Martel, that everyone who pursues a fulfilling career will eventually encounter challenges. What challenges have you faced that has helped define your career?

JP response: Throughout my career, whenever I saw an opportunity to take on something new, regardless of whether I knew anything about it or not, I did. Not only did it invariably turn out to be interesting, I learned, stretched myself, got to know new people and built my confidence. Since I was always on the young side as I moved into executive level positions, I typically was supervising people much more senior than myself and with tremendous expertise in their fields. I looked at those situations as opportunities to learn as well as develop partnerships. When as a deputy or assistant city manager I was supervising long-tenured people, I actively sought to learn about their goals and form effective working relationships. My approach has always been about working collaboratively and respectfully with others to get things done, do what I say I will do, and not think I need to “know it all” before taking on something new.

It’s also mentioned in the article that there are common traits and practices that encourages resiliency on everyone. I’d like to go through each one with you and talk about your experiences – so readers can see how cultivating them can help them personally and professionally.

Q2: We’ve all had those good, bad and ugly experiences in our job. What’s the greatest lesson you ever learned as a result of practicing self-awareness?

JP response: Listen carefully to what I hear, both what is said and unsaid. Openly ask for feedback, including from subordinates, and not punish the messenger. I try to convey that I consider direct and honest feedback as a gift. My attitude is that people are thinking something, and it is a gift to be able to hear it and address it. People will only share their concerns if have confidence and trust in the relationship.

Q3 – Part 1: What does having a set of values mean to you?

JP response: It means walking the talk: fully understanding what you believe in and practicing the behaviors that support those values. For instance, one of my values is teamwork. In practice it means that we listen to each other, disagree honestly, expect team members to assist each other without being asked, and take an organization-wide approach to issues. Also important value to me is the city manager’s role in directing staff and in ensuring that the different roles of council and staff are respected. In practice, this means fostering a partnership with the council through which they understand their policy role and respect the city manager’s role in directing staff. Sometimes, it is necessary to have difficult conversations with elected officials, as well as with staff, about this.

Q3 – Part 2: What do you find to be the best process for creating a mission statement, vision, and values for an organization?

JP response: It has to be an interactive, engaged process so that the end result is one that people have been part of creating. Otherwise, it is just a set of words. It is helpful to have some guidelines to explain the differences between mission and vision, how to craft them, and to engage in enough discussion so that it isn’t the first statement suggested that gets approved. It takes careful thought. For values, it is essential that the behaviors that support and the behaviors that detract from the values get identified – otherwise, people will not really know what the words mean in action.

Q4 – Part 1: When you first started your career in local government, what were your goals?

JP response: My goal was to change the world for the better. I learned about the job of city manager because I grew up in Kansas City, home of legendary city manager LP Cookingham. I heard many stories as a young person about his role in getting rid of corrupt practices that had been in place in Kansas City and how he instilled professional management. I went to the University of Kansas as an undergraduate during the Vietnam War era. At KU we had major protests and even fires. Buford Watson, city manager of Lawrence, Kansas, showed tremendous leadership and sensitivity in dealing with the public-safety issues that occurred as a result of anti-war demonstrations – while respecting everyone’s rights to protest. I knew that the job of city manager fit perfectly with my commitment to being part of changing the world for the better. Both of these role models showed me a career that I knew I wanted. I continued at KU to get my MPA, which has long specialized in training city managers

Q4 – Part 2: What goals do you still want to achieve?

JP response: My goal remains changing the world for the better! My more “local” goals are to help local government leaders be and become their best, and to encourage women to aim high. These have been constant goals for me over the years and remain so.

Q5: When you write about balancing optimism and realism, you mention that women, in particular, often pressure themselves to reach unrealistic standards of perfection and become discouraged when they inevitably fail to achieve them. How can someone distinguish between not good enough, good enough, or being an unrealistic perfectionist?

JP response: I think women never feel we’re “good enough” and so many of us are perfectionists. While we need to be competent, too often we think we need to know it all before reaching up to higher positions. I think we can all take a deep breath and realize that no one knows it all – and that is why we continually learn, surround ourselves with people smarter than we are, and build effective teams. I don’t believe anyone needs to be “completely ready” to take the next move. Take a look at the job description of the position you are thinking about – if you have the fundamentals, have confidence in your ability to learn, then go for it! Don’t wait to be asked. It takes courage to step out, and I encourage women to not miss out on opportunities and wonderful new life experiences by saying yes.

Q6: What’s the most useful form of feedback you have ever received?

JP response: Direct, immediate, one-on-one, and delivered in a way that showed the person’s sincere interest in my career development and in me as a person. This goes for positive and negative feedback. We grow from both types.

Q7: Mentorship is always a key topic when it comes to talking about resiliency in the career. Who has been your greatest mentor?

JP response: I’ve had many. A very early one was one of the very few women city managers in the 70’s, Tina Clifton of Rolling Hills, CA. She was on a panel at an ICMA conference in 1976. I went up to her afterwards and introduced myself. She was very gracious and told me how much she loved being a city manager. Another mentor was Judy Mohr Keane, who was a constant source of encouragement not only for me but for other women entering the profession. She chaired the first women’s task force report in the mid-1970’s. Joseph Zainea, city manager of Grand Rapids, MI, was also a mentor. He hired me into my first job out of the KU-MPA program and encouraged me to be involved in ICMA. And another one was Frank Ollendorff, retired city manager of University City, MO, whom I also met at an ICMA conference very early in my career. Every time I saw him at an ICMA conference, he asked when I was going to apply for city manager. By his question, he pushed me, gently but consistently, to move forward into new opportunities.

A little change of topic before we close out.

Q8: For relatively new assistants/deputy city/county managers, when is the right time for them to start looking for their first city/county manager position?

JP response: The time is right when a person decides he or she wants to have more influence on setting direction, instilling her or his own values within the team, and being the one accountable at the top. There is no “right time” to do it – but it is easy to miss opportunities if one waits until she or he is “totally ready.” Being a department head or assistant city/county manager are critical leadership roles – but we need capable leaders at the top, too.

Q9: How do they position themselves to get the ‘growth opportunity’ assignments in the manager’s office?

JP response: Volunteer for new projects. Don’t wait to be asked. See what needs to be done and do it. Follow through on commitments. Build relationships. Don’t regard anything beneath you. Show you will get things done, and do it with teamwork and regard for others. Be someone in the office that department heads and others come to for assistance because they know you will help the get things done.

Q10: The biggest conversation today is the small number of women leading local government. What do you believe should be done to help change this?

JP response: This requires a combination of women building their own confidence, elected officials who see capable women in the top jobs, work environments that are supportive of women managers, and managers (women and men) serving as mentors and actively supporting women in executive management. The recent ICMA Women’s Task Force prepared a report with many recommendations, and it is an excellent blueprint for action.

ICMA’s Women Leading Government initiative is a vehicle for networking, encouragement and career building. We have come quite a long way since the 70’s when there were only a handful of women city managers. Many women are now in the top seat, and even more serve as the number two, department head and management analyst. We must continue to encourage women to aim for the top job and support their efforts once there. Our municipalities deserve having the best people at the top and women are most certainly among the “best people”!

Jan Perkins is a former city manager of two California cities — Fremont and Morgan Hill.   She started her career in Michigan serving the cities of Grand Rapids and Adrian.  She served as assistant city manager in Santa Ana, CA.   Jan is currently a Senior Partner with Management Partners, a local government consulting firm.  She serves as ICMA Liaison, and is on the board of ICMA’s Women Leading Government. She has an MPA from the University of Kansas and is an ICMA Credentialed Manager.

Want to learn more on building career resiliency in local government? Register for this free ICMA Summit Workshop with Women Leading Government: You Have What It Takes to Be a Resilient Leader.