January is National Mentoring Month. Thanks to all those who have committed to mentoring, coaching, and supporting those in the profession. Mentors provide knowledge, help set goals, support professional growth, and help make connections. Leaders like you provide pivotal advice or needed support that changes a person’s career path. You’re a vital part of assisting professionals in developing the skill sets and networks needed to succeed in this profession. ICMA will be highlighting mentoring throughout the month. Post your experience as a mentor and a supporter of the profession!

 

ICMA Mentor Member Spotlights

Aretha Adams, city manager, Heath, Texas

Kathleen Rush, retired village administrator, Woodridge, Illinois

Phil Messina, retired city manager, Carnation, Washington

Darrin Tangeman, town manager, Truro, Colorado

Charlene Marsh, assistant to the city manager, Norcross, Georgia

 

Mentoring provides a shared opportunity for learning and growth. In fact, many mentors say that they are surprised and grateful for the experience because it is more rewarding than they imagined. There are multiple formal and informal opportunities to mentor within a local government organization, through other professional associations, and through ICMA.

"Serving as a mentor to students entering the profession, as well as mid-career professionals, has been one of the most profound privileges of my life. I am certain I have learned as much from those I have mentored as they have learned from me."

-Marc Ott, ICMA CEO/Executive Director

 

Be a Coach: Participate in CoachConnect.

Now is the perfect time to be a part of a community of over 260 coaches and 280 learners with ICMA's CoachConnect. Share your knowledge and expertise by serving as a coach to emerging leaders and mid-career professionals throughout the country with 1-1 Coaching. Or find your next mentor to support you on your career path. Participate in the always popular speed coaching session at the ICMA Annual Conference. 

 

Be a Senior Advisor: Apply to the Senior Advisor Program. 

Are you a retired manager? The ICMA Senior Advisor program is a joint program of ICMA and state associations. The senior advisor program is designed to help with personal and professional issues, not to provide technical assistance or solve substantive problems in a local government. Senior advisors are friends, colleagues, and advisors to the profession—not consultants.

 

Be a Mentor: Connect with a Student Chapter. 

Mentoring provides a shared opportunity for learning and growth. Reach out to your local ICMA Student Chapter and connect with students by mentoring, sitting on a panel, providing a tour of the community! Does your community have an ICMA Student Chapter? If not, then help start one with the ICMA Student Chapter resources. 

 

Continue to check-in and follow #ICMAMentors, as it provides mentoring news and information as well as resources on the many ways you can get involved with mentoring.

Here are more ideas to help promote mentoring:

  • Advise a young professional from your community or another community about the rewards of local government management.
  • Nominate a peer, mentor, or colleague that should be celebrated. Take a moment to nominate them for an ICMA Local Government Excellence Award. Professional awards are presented for career excellence, development of new talent, excellence in leadership as an assistant (regardless of title), early career leadership, and academic contributions. 
  • Reach out to new ICMA members, to newly appointed professionals, and to managers in transition and share encouragement and experiences.
  • Welcome new ICMA members by joining the Welcome Ambassadors committee or use your talents and interests to become engaged with ICMA by joining another ICMA committee. 
  • Connect your alma mater with the ICMA Student Chapter program.
  • Encourage your staff to join ICMA. ICMA offers a reduced-fee membership for entry-level to mid-management members (under department head positions) to provide comprehensive career tools and help those early in their local government career better frame their professional identity.
  • Encourage early-career professionals and emerging leaders to participate in professional development and leadership opportunities, some of which include:
    • Leadership Institute on Race, Equity, and Inclusion. The institute offers local government participants interactive learning, superlative instructors, networking with colleagues, and engaging discussions of the key leadership issues surrounding racial equity. Participants embark on a 12-18-month journey to transform themselves, their community, and the local government profession into something greater than it was when they started.
    • ICMA High Performance Leadership Academy. The ICMA High Performance Leadership Academy is a 12-week online program created to equip local government professionals with leadership skills in organizational development and change management, negotiation and collaboration, effective communication, and how to deliver increased value from high performance management.
    • Leadership ICMA. An intensive two-year ICMA University program designed to cultivate key competencies needed for successful leadership at all levels of local government management. 

Get Inspired! 

Letter from the CEO/ED — Gen Z Can Discover a Purpose-Driven Career in Local Government with the Help of Mentors [PM article, 2023]

Letter from the Executive Director: Mentorship — A Powerful Way to Honor the Profession of Local Government Management [PM article, 2022]

Two-way Relationship for Mentors and Mentees. An exploration of elements that are essential to finding the right balance for professional and personal success in a mentoring relationship–for mentors and mentees. [Podcast, 2022]

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: An Amazing Mentor Makes All the Difference. A moment of gratitude for the city manager and other women who helped me get my start in local government. [PM article, 2022]

The Man, the Manager, the Mentor. A conversation with Bobby Green, a beloved mentor to many, on the importance of identifying and developing the next generation of local government leaders. [PM article, 2022]

ASSISTANTS AND DEPUTIES: Mentors Make Me a Great Assistant City Manager. A mentor is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction. [PM article, 2021]

Impact of Mentorship on Veterans and the Community. Veterans Local Government Management Fellowship shows the impact that mentorship has on veterans and the community [article, 2019]

What My Mentors Have Taught Me-. Bob O'Neill, former ICMA Executive Director, celebrates his mentors and what they have meant to him throughout his career. [article, 2016]

 

January 2024 Engagement Days

#ICMAProud #ICMAMentors #MentoringMonth

  • January 9 – I Am a Mentor Day 
    • A day for volunteer mentors to celebrate their role and reflect on the ways mentees have enhanced their world.
  • January 15 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service 
    • A day to share in the inspirational words of Dr. MLK, Jr. and elevate the spirit of service through volunteerism.
  • January 17 - International Mentoring Day 
    • A day of international conversations on social media where photos, videos, and powerful mentoring stories are shared.  
  • January 25 - #ThankYourMentor Day
    • This day concludes the mentoring campaign! Anyone with real life mentoring experiences can thank those who helped them on their path to adulthood and beyond.