In case you missed them, here are the 10 most read articles from January to March:

1. Fixing Sign Codes After Reed: All Is Not Lost 

Local governments can, should, and must revise their sign codes to comply with Reed. While it might not be easy and all the fixes won’t make perfect sense, Reed provides communities an opportunity to ask themselves what they want their communities to look like and how they can get there creatively and legally.

2. Become a More Inspiring Leader in 2016

Simply making a New Year’s resolution to have a more open mind in 2016 likely won’t be enough to turn things around. There are these behaviors and practices that, through repetition and perseverance, can help leaders and anyone else develop a mindset that’s open to imaginative and better ideas.

3. Nine Brain-Aging Habits That Can Stifle Your Competitive Edge

This article discusses that as demands grow and resources shrink, we all struggle to do more with less—and without proper coping skills, we slide down a slippery slope of chronic exhaustion into debilitating burnout. That’s bad news for the middle-age-ish among us who work with younger team members.

4. Building Career Resiliency

Written by Pat Martel and Jan Perkins, this article provides tips on how to build a resilient career in local government. Whether we are naturally resilient or working toward it, there are common traits and practices that seem to encourage resiliency in everyone. Cultivating them will help you personally and professionally, whether you’re early in your career, at the midpoint, or in your peak years.

5. Policing the 2016 Super Bowl Stadium

The police department, human resources department, and city attorney’s office created an innovative model for any community that needs to regularly expand the capacity of its police department for large-scale special events. This model met Santa Clara’s goals of providing effective protection to the stadium with no negative impact on the delivery of service to the rest of the community. In turn, this model has also strengthened relationships between the Santa Clara Police Department (SCPD) and federal, state, and local law enforcement jurisdictions.

6. Does this excuse make my but look big?

Negative elements like making excuses often take root in our lives because we allow ourselves to get caught up in an endless cycle of repeating excuses instead of taking control, breaking negative habits, and building self-esteem. Here are a few ways to take control of what’s happening in your life.

7. Get the Picture: Addressing the Surveillance Revolution

The use of video in public safety is growing rapidly. Local governments are deploying a wide range of such systems as downtown surveillance cameras, automated license plate readers, police dash cams, and police body-worn cameras. Some communities are also implementing systems that allow the public to submit video to central command centers during an incident.

8. Spotlight on Police Culture

All too often, police and residents find themselves in a standoff in which neither side comes out the winner. How did those appointed to serve and protect become perceived enemies of a significant proportion of the population, specifically minorities and those of color, in so many American communities?

Part of the answer lies in the organizational culture that has developed in many policing organizations, where cultural assumptions reinforce the “them-versus-us” attitude apparent since the Los Angeles Rampart neighborhood police scandal in the late 1990s.

9. Employed But Looking

Finding a job that's a better fit for you is a great goal, and in some cases, it can be wise to keep your job search confidential from your current employer. A successful job search campaign might take several months—or even longer—to conduct, and employers might possibly show you the door tomorrow if they learn you're planning to move on. Take steps to ensure that you leave on your own terms and timeline. Here is some advice on keeping your job search confidential.

10. Forget Strategy, Embrace Agility

Organizations must balance different priorities to compete; yet they face much more uncertainty than an athlete like Mo Farah. A race is a well-defined event. The location, starting time, distance, competitors, and design of the track are all known in advance. The “playing field” of an organization, however, is becoming less clear. 

 

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