It's been an exciting day here in Milwaukee, where the ICMA Annual Conference is in full swing. We've heard two great keynotes so far. Last night, Tim Hoelter shared the story of joining Harley Davidson in the early 1980s when it had a shoddy product, a negative image, and challenging labor environment. Many had written off the company completely, but Tim fought to turn it around by empowering employees, leveraging the strengths of the Harley Davidson brand, and embracing the loyal communities of Harley owners. This morning, Bill George related his experience at the helm of a medical technology company to public sector leadership. In any arena, Bill argued, the best leaders are those who are deeply motivated to make a positive impact, draw on the talents of a wide range of people, and have a strong understanding of themselves.

Even though these speakers don't come directly from local government, they have given conference attendees valuable lessons on leadership. Both touched on the fact that leadership is more about attitudes than a specific set of rules or knowledge. Yesterday's solutions may not work for today's problems, but a good leader has the courage to think differently and to use the skills and expertise of others to tackle new challenges.

Managers and other professionals in local government are facing unexpected challenges in a constantly changing environment. In a field as broad as public service, it's simply not possible to be fully prepared for every conceivable situation a city or county will face. Local government professionals have long become better leaders by drawing on the support of their peers, and it's these connections that have made this conference such a success. Of course, for more than year now thousands of leaders have providing each other support on the Knowledge Network. Not only does it offer resources on leadership specifically, but all of its 200 topics, 6,000 documents, and thousands of users are there to support leaders at the core of better communities.

If you're here in Milwaukee, be sure to come by the ICMA Pavilion for a Knowledge Network demo. You can also join a roundtable discussion on learning from other local government leaders on Wednesday from 9:30-10:30 in room 203B.