In this post of LeadershipTalks, we interviewed Patrick Callahan, a 2015 Distinguished Service Award winner. To receive such an award, one must exemplify:

• A consistent pattern of leadership in regional, state, and national management associations.
• A pattern of support to peers, colleagues, and young people entering the profession as a mentor, counselor, or "sage."
• A history of developing and implementing innovative programs and sharing and disseminating these through writing, participation on conference sessions, or direct assistance through a one-on-one peer assistance program.
• Teaching, lecturing, and/or supervising of interns through an undergraduate or graduate public administration program over an extended period of time.
• Development of a special area of expertise that has been exhibited and recognized, both within the community and by peers

We discuss Patrick's leadership role in local government, his greatest achievements, his advice for emerging leaders, and in honor of National Mentoring Month, Patrick shares who his mentors were.
 

Q1: How do you define leadership in your life? Your work?

PC: Leadership is the ability to facilitate conversations and group discussions that will result in finding ways to improve the quality of life in your community and enhance the well  being of people in your life.
 

Q2: What is the biggest problem you have faced as a leader and how did you overcome this?

PC: The biggest problem that I have faced as a leader was finding ways to develop good working relationships with those people who refuse to be civil and respectful or have hidden agendas.  My goal was to never “burn my bridges” with anyone with the hope that if you “kill them with kindness,” then they will eventually accept the fact their poor behavior will never work to their benefit in the end.
 

Q3: What is your one piece of advice you would give to an emerging leader?

PC: I would urge emerging leaders to re-read the ICMA Code of Ethics on a regular basis and remind yourself that the tenants of the Code of Ethics were written by some very intelligent people, who based these guiding principles on some very sound logic.
 

Q4: What are some ways you have promoted leadership development to your staff and peers?

PC: I would like to think that I empowered people to fulfill their duties and responsibilities with minimal interference and trust.  If you surround yourself with people, who are intelligent and enjoy their work, you will never need to “babysit” them and they will develop their own leadership skills, without much effort on your part.
 

Q5: Let’s switch gears shall we….who are or were your heroes and mentors?

PC: My two main heroes were my father, who passed away at 87 years in 2012 and my father-in-law, who passed away at age 83 years  in 2005.  While neither man ever attended college, they were both phenomenally smart men, who knew how to “read people” and treated people in both their personal and professional lives with dignity, respect, and civility.  They were both veterans of World War II and they truly were members of the “Greatest Generation” that helped save the world from an evil that could have easily changed the course of history for the worst.
 

Q6: What would you recommend to those searching for a mentor?

PC: A mentor could be a parent, grandparent, former employer, a fellow professional in a another city, a former teacher, or just a very wise friend.  It should be someone who you respect, trust and who most likely can identify with you,  because they “have been there and done that,” or at least something reasonably close to it.
 

Q7: Are there things to consider when choosing a mentor?

PC: Things to consider when choosing a mentor might include trust, availability, willingness to listen, honesty, and the insight on how to handle difficult issues and situations.
 

Q8: Are there certain things to expect when you become a mentor?

PC: I don’t think that being a mentor is something that you one day aspire to do.  Mentoring just comes to you at that moment in your life when you have had many life experiences that may, perhaps, be of some value to other people, but just prior to the early stages of senility.  Hopefully, that period in your life is longer than a few months or few years.  You may know when you reached that later stage in life when the phone quits ringing or the e-mails stop coming.
 

Q9: If you had to boil down this entire Q&A into a single piece of advice on leadership, what would it be?

PC: Lead by example and never do anything that you would not want to read about in your local newspaper.

Click here to find out more about Patrick's story and award.

Check out other Leadership {RE}Imagined articles here.