Transcripts

Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.

 

 

Welcome to Voices in Local Government, an ICMA podcast. My name is Joe Supervielle.

Today's topic is Effective Change Management. Our guest expert is none other than

ICMA's new CEO and executive director, Julia Novak. Julia was interviewed by the new

co -host of the podcast whom I'm excited to introduce to our amazing and supportive

audience, Angelica Waddell. Welcome to ICMA. Welcome to the show, Angelica. Thank you,

Joe. I'm so excited to be here, and I'm really excited to become a regular co -host

moving forward onto this podcast. Angelica is an award -winning strategic marketing and

communication certified professional with more than 15 years experience. Over the last

decade, she worked closely with hundreds of local governments across the US, and has

collaborated with ICMA as a partner via her role as marketing director for Poco

National Research Center. So Angelica, you interviewed Julia. What were the highlights?

- Yes, thank you. Thank you for the warm welcome. And it was really wonderful to

talk to Julia earlier and discuss change management and why that's important,

how it impacts local government. You know, Julia is the perfect person to interview

for a subject like this because Julia is a long time credentialed and award -winning

leader in the local government space. She's well known, she's been a business owner,

and you'll hear a little bit more about her background as well. But we wanted to

pick her brain on times of change, how to be a great leader in a time of change.

So, she gave us a few highlights there about what local government leaders, what

city managers need to be thinking about, and then what other levels of leadership,

you know, staff in other departments and things like that, should be thinking about

as well. Yeah, it's interesting because Julia's role in leadership is for the

membership, but also the ICMA staff. And as the listeners will hear in the

interview, it kind of goes both ways, but the expertise she has in the chair of

city manager, but also with her time as a consultant, definitely Lynn's experienced

to sing both sides and doing well with it. So we're excited to have her.

Absolutely. She's strategically minded and she's well experienced. So you're going to

really enjoy this interview coming up. Now to answer the question on what are the

highlights from the interview, There's three things that I think everyone should walk

away with, number one, change is inevitable. We will all experience change,

no matter whether we're in the local government space or anything else, it's just

part of life. So you'll hear about how to handle that inevitability of change and

how to prepare for it a little bit because we know it's coming, we know it's in

our future, and we know that in local government there's unique things to consider

because it impacts our communities, our residents, our elected officials,

and other stakeholders. Number two is that change can be influenced by leadership,

and that requires intention, intentional leadership, it requires communication,

lots of communication, repeated communication. So you'll hear quite a bit about that

and some nice tips that you can use at home to be a better communicator through

times of change. And then finally is buy -in, buy -in especially in the local

government space And what that means for innovation. I'm really excited about this

topic because we have to bring other people along with us when we are moving

through times of change, when we are communicating. It's all about working with other

people, with other humans, and creating opportunities for us to be innovative.

So you're going to hear a lot about that as well in this interview. Yeah, change

is inevitable you said it personal life professional life City manager has a new

council to deal with an employee has a new boss or a new CEO on on board You

could have a new process or a new software to learn Maybe you're reassigned to a

new job or different priorities within the job you have Even losing a job honestly

that no one wants to talk about that too much But that is a situation and that's

something you have to adapt to and change with And it's tough, but coming at it

from, well, here Julie's expertise coming kind of from the top, but even leadership

team, mid -level leaders, and then just staff, you might not have control a little

bit. You might have zero control over this change, but you do have control on how

you respond to it, how you adapt to it, and how you turn change into opportunity,

which I know easier said than done. It's not a yes no, it's not like a binary

thing. It's kind of a spectrum. And even when it's tough, you can do your best to

make the most out of it, even if it's not perfect or smooth all the time. And you

said, as one of those highlights, think a key to capitalize and making an

opportunity is communication. Again, that's kind of a buzzword or cliche. But Julia

gets into some specifics on how to actually do that, not just say, oh, you need to

communicate more. Everyone, everyone kind of knows that, but she gets into how to do

it. And again, that's coming from the top. But I think a big part of it is the

leadership team, and even mid -level managers and supervisors, they play a big part

in kind of facilitating the rest of staff to get that buy -in, which was another

one of the key points there. Navigating change is a big part of being an effective

supervisor. And I think you have more on that, right, Angelica? Sure do, Joe.

So we actually have a course coming up here. It's the ICMA's effective supervisory

practices training series course. And this, I'm so excited about this, Joe. I'm

actually going to be enrolling into the course myself because I want to level my

own game up and be a better supervisor. And I know that you've taken it. Basically

it's a six session series and it starts in April, April 9th, and then we're going

to be done mid -June, you're gonna wanna go to learninglab .icma .org.

But Joe, you took the series in the past, didn't you? - I did, and also learninglab

.icma .org is the website. It's also hyperlinked wherever you're listening on Apple

Spotify, icma .org. You can get to it directly from where you're listening. I did,

I took the course last fall and attending the sessions live online is great. The

chat was very active. Michelle Flattery who's kind of the main facilitator and the

individual presenters on each were so good it didn't even feel like I was listening

to a presentation. It's not just oh another webinar, another webinar. Nope. It was

very interactive. There are kind of polls and chat within your peers,

local government experts, some ICMA staff, some consultants and it ranged from that

CAO level all the way down to people who are just interested in doing this in the

future. And as Angelica said, you don't have to be the leader or the department

head. These are skills to help anyone, even if you're not formally supervising

anyone, just mentoring or helping the younger people in your department. There was a

lot of stuff I picked up from the classes, from the book. I thought it was great.

And also just one more note, it can seem maybe overwhelming or a lot to fit into

the schedule, but the great thing is these are also on -demand. So I recommend

trying to get in there live and interacting with your peers, but if you miss one,

as we talked about change happens, you get that new deadline or urgent task from

the boss or even from the council and you can't make a particular session. They're

on -demand for you to catch up, read the chapters in the book, do the on -demand

session and catch up and keep learning that way. So it's a convenient course, really

good course. ICMA has been doing it for decades, but we keep evolving it and keep

making it effective based on feedback. So I'm excited that the spring session is

coming through. I'm excited you're going to be in there with them. Oh yeah, because

this is an opportunity to learn, to grow, but really to invest in myself and invest

in my own career. And that is so exciting. I'm going to be there and you can

invest, for those of you listening, you can invest in your career as well. It's a

great opportunity. And I saw a statistic, Joe, on LinkedIn recently that said that

the majority of people who leave their jobs left and quit because of poor

supervision and poor management. I don't want to be that type of person that's

driving people away. Yeah, I think we've all experienced that or at least come close

to it. Good bosses, bad ones, mediocre, and strengths and weaknesses too, right?

That's part of the course. And one aspect I thought was maybe the most interesting

was when you're supervising people how to balance the task of being the boss versus

the technical expertise that you've been building for years. And when things get

tough or sticky, There can be that habit or just default. Let me go back to what

I know I'm really, really good at. But it's interesting because you have to balance

it. And sometimes whether it's delegation or just getting the most out of your

people and your team, that's how you can actually contribute to the organization's

goals beyond just tasks, X, Y, and Z. - Perfect. So sign up yourself,

sign up your supervisors, sign up your organization. Y 'all will love this course.

I know I'm going to love it and I'm ready to take my career to the next level

and bring others along with me. And again, that brings us nicely into the idea of

change management because an effective supervisor knows how to lead through change.

Yeah. And Angelica, you hit on some of the highlights from Julia's interview, but

just one more thing I wanted to get to before we we throw to that is measuring

change. A lot of these podcast episodes we've done over the last few years, I guess

have these great plans and great ideas and whether it's a program or a new

procedure. Well one question I was asked is how are you measuring it to make sure

it's successful or again a spectrum it's not always a yes no did this work it's a

yeah let's of course and a leader and the staff measure this change.

- That's such a great question. The first thing that we should be thinking about is

are we measuring change? Think about your own organization. - Yeah, just doing it in

the first place, yeah. - In the first place. 'Cause a lot of people recognize that

change is happening and we gripe about it and it's scary and it's terrible. But

then if we don't measure that change in the first place. We can't really do

anything about it. We can't really have an impact on where that change ends up if

we're not measuring that change. So the first thing is make sure you are measuring

change. And then you're going to say, okay, Angelica, that sounds great, easier said

than done. But I got three things, three simple things. Give us some specifics. So

number one, you've got to measure

What is changing?

And that means you might have, you're gonna have a hypothesis, right? You're gonna

be a data scientist now. And you're gonna say, we have a goal, or we have a

problem that we want to address. Something is changing and we wanna address it. So

what is it about that thing that's changing? And what do you to understand about

that and ask yourself that question and then say okay, we're gonna pick some key

drivers Some key metrics that we're gonna watch Over time we're not just gonna check

on it one time and then never look at it again Because that could have been an

outlier for all you know, but we're gonna look at it at intervals Multiple times

over time because that's going to help us track trends over time.

So first of all, what is changing? And then we want to see how is that changing?

Again, if we're tracking those metrics over time, we can see are things improving?

Are things not improving? Are they going the opposite? Are they staying the same?

Understand how that it's changing whether you're asking people you're doing surveys or

you're tracking those metrics for whatever the the outcome that you want to see you

need to understand how the differences are going and and then what that vision was

what was your your purpose in the first place in understanding what this changes and

then finally Once you have your metrics, once you've determined your goals,

and once you've looked and analyzed the data so you understand how things are

changing over time, what are you going to do about it? You have to take action.

And that's one of the things that I would encourage more people to not just look

at the data and say, "Wow, that was pretty. That was nice." But really

what is the next strategy that you're going to leverage because you saw the data.

- Yeah, and I think that's where, again, the cliche of buy -in, but it's not. To

get the buy -in, that's where the leaders and the rest of the team can have

conversations about what the metrics should be and what level to make sure that

there's not miscommunication on, okay, We think the numbers should be this or I'm

gonna position it because I kind of know I can finagle these numbers and get to

where it looks nice. But is that actually driving a real outcome? Because at your

level, you might have the metrics, but your boss, whether it's the city manager or

even the council or eventually the general public, they're expecting results, not just

numbers on a page. So that's how you kind of get there. But you have to have

something that's measurable. And again, it's not, It's also not necessarily linear,

right? You're not gonna see that chart going from the bottom left straight up to

the top right. Might go up and down a little bit and you might hit some roadblocks

or some bumps that's part of the learning and the growth, right? It's not gonna be

a perfectly smooth thing. And I think that's also setting expectations upfront driven

by the leader is how you get the buy -in. And maybe ease the pressure a little bit

and we won't step on it, but Julia talks about that too as well, not allowing room

for not necessarily failure, but trying new things. And okay, that didn't work

exactly, but we're going to adjust and make it better and not just pressure on,

here's the metric, here's the deadline, hit it, hit it or else, because that's not

going to produce a good working environment. That's right. Julia is official and even

her informal communication to both members and staff. I think it's been transparent,

honest, definitely genuine. I think she's living up to all these strategies that she

talks to you about in this interview, so we're just really excited she's here at

ICMA, that you're here as well Angelica, and we're all treating this like an

opportunity, not just a big scary change, but an opportunity to improve and

ultimately make sure ICMA is delivering for its members the same way you all do for

the public that you serve. That's right. Change is all around us. It's here.

It's in our communities. It's here in this podcast. It's at ICMA.

And I'm really excited about it, Joe. And I know that you are too. And I know

that y 'all can't wait to see what Julia has to say about it.

 

 

 

 

Hi Julia. Thank you so much for joining us today. Hi Angelica. I'm so glad you're

here. I am too. This is exciting. Yeah. So everyone this is ICMA's new CEO Julia

Novak. Julia has an extensive background in local government leadership. She has been

an ICMA credentialed manager since 2002 and she served lots of different communities

all around the United States as a city manager among other positions. She's helped

local governments nationwide achieve their leadership and strategy initiatives, helping

them as a business owner herself as a consultant and a senior executive in another

organization. And she's used her entrepreneurial spirit and her leadership and

management expertise to really help local government leaders everywhere, not Not only

in the US, but also around the world. So Julia, thank you and welcome Thanks,

I'd like to think all of the things you said are true But but it also feels kind

of funny to have somebody talk about you like that But I'm glad to be here and

and happy to have the chance to connect with you and also to share thoughts That

they might be interesting to our members Absolutely and today we're talking about

change management And one of the things that we know as leaders is that there's one

constant out there in this world, and that is change. It is something that is

scary, but at the same time, something that is unavoidable. But if we're not scared

about it, about change, we can really make big differences for our communities. We

can have huge impact. So to get us started here, Julia, let's jump right in. What

is change management and local government? So change management is a whole area of

discipline with models and consultants who just specialize in change management.

You can get certifications in change management. I think for local governments, change

is the constant. As you said, the only thing constant is change. But change in

local government is so dynamic because it happens not just because you as the leader

might want the change, but because the community demands it, the elected officials

are asking for it, the dynamics are changing, developers are changing the shape of

your community, and what we know is that change is opposed when it creates a

feeling of loss. And so it could be, I remember when we were a small town, I used

to know all my neighbors, or it could be, but that gas station was at the corner

or whatever it was, and I walked down there to get snacks after school, whatever

that is, that is when change is opposed. And so as leaders,

what we have to do is not only navigate change coming at you from all different

directions, we have to bring people along on the journey. And specifically,

I think that's what change management is about. It's about enrolling people in the

outcome that you're looking for and bringing them along with the change. So it

really is about working with people and helping them through that time. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Why do you think that change is so scary?

favorite one is the only the only person that likes change is a wet baby. And even

sometimes I think that can be questionable. So, you know, it's just it's not

something we want. We want other people to change. Do we ever want ourselves to

change? Change is asking us to do something different. Maybe it's getting you outside

your comfort zone. But it also does mean that the world that we're comfortable with

the community that we're comfortable with the organization that we're comfortable with

the elected officials that we're comfortable with, the neighbors we're used to having,

all that is changing too. And that feels very unsettling to people. So it's just

the uncertainty that the change will be a better thing. You know,

nobody resists the new iPhone, right? Except for the price. Nobody resists the new

watch, the new big screen TV. Like those aren't things that we object to.

It's changed that we're not sure we're really going to like so certain types of

changes as human beings were psychologically prepared to accept and other types we

are not and so leaders have to bring people along on the journey. Absolutely we've

all been to those those city council meetings where usually there's the same five

people that show up to everything and you know them by name and you don't really

see anybody else. But then you change something and now things are uncertain about

the fate of the prairie dogs. What is going to happen to the prairie dogs? And the

next thing you know there's hundreds of people at the City Council meeting who've

never been there but it's the change to the policy or the issue or something that

they were concerned about that they were afraid was going to have an adverse effect

and now suddenly everyone is ready to participate. But it's something that is within

us is human nature. Like you said, if we are accustomed to that change like the

new phone and you expect it's going to be a good change for you,

there's definitely less resistance. Like you said, it's definitely the things that are

uncertain that might impact your values, might impact your family and your community

that we see people starting to bristle at. And of course, that's where local

government comes in. So let's get into our main questions. Okay.

All right. So in your opinion, why do you think that change management is critical

for local government leaders? Because it goes back to a little bit of what I've

said, but you have to be able, equipped to lead change, that is not only what you

want to do internally for your organization, but it's responsive to the change in

elected officials, and we know that can go one way or another. At any given

election, the direction of a community can change, and you have to be able to bring

the organization along on that city council's County Board, those elected officials,

you have to bring the organization along on that journey and also changes happening

from people outside of the organization could be a developer. It could be a

neighborhood association, but they are either asking for or entitled to change as a

result of being able to have property rights where they can develop property. So,

because change is the constant and it's going to come at you from a lot of

different directions, not just what you want to achieve as a leader, you need to be

prepared to manage that effectively. And that's exactly why it's so important for

local government leaders that's a way that's different from the private sector because

let's say you are going through change in the private sector and you have your one

business that you're focusing on, you're going to have change impacting you too.

Everyone has change impacting them. But you don't necessarily have as many

stakeholders, as many voices that you need to make sure that you're considering like

you would in a local government setting. Yeah, so let's talk about the strategy

here. So you know, the strategy for change management, and this is where the

discipline or the science of change management can help you as a leader, it gives

you something to lean on. But I think the first and most important thing to

remember is you have to be intentional as a leader to bring about the change,

to bring around the change or to bring people along on that journey. So if you're

intentional in how you approach it, then you will just by nature,

adapt some of these, the principles, the science behind change manager,

whether it's the change management, whether it's that prosci model that I think is

probably one of the most known and you can get prosci certified. And it uses an

acronym called ADCAR, which is Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement.

So that's the model of bringing people along on the change journey. Or there's

another model, the Cotter model. So those models exist. They're tools for you as a

leader. I don't think every person needs to get certified. I think you need to

understand the concepts. I think you need to be intentional about bringing around the

change that you need to because you want to or because it's being imposed on you

and it's your job as the leader to bring the organization around to serve the

community in that way. I love that idea of intention. It brings about the idea of

intentional leadership and moving forward with vision and moving forward with a

strategy and a plan and then bringing others along with that plan.

So what is the first thing, if you're thinking about it strategically, if we're

going to successfully implement a change of some type throughout the local government

organization or throughout the community. What's the first thing that we're going to

do as the leader? Say what it is. You have to name it. Like,

what is it we're going towards? Not just, you know, we're changing because, you

know, I want to do it or because they said we have to. But what is the vision

that you're taking people towards and why is it your responsibility? Why are you

excited about it? What is it that is in it for other people as you go on this

journey of change. So that awareness, building that, being intentional about

communication is the first thing a good leader needs to do. Good communication. Yes,

it's sharing that vision. I think that's probably going to help with that buy -in

situation. So as we talked about before, there's a lot of resistance to these types

of changes that are scary because it's uncertain and we don't know how it's going

to turn out in the end. So how do we balance Generating that buy -in among all of

our different stakeholders, our elected officials, our community, our city staff, how

are we going to help them get on board and make sure that we're communicating that

vision? So if you think about that kind of headset in the Ed Car model anyways,

that's the desire piece. Like why do I want to change? And for some, perhaps it is

you have to change because the change is being imposed. And so the leader's job is

to explain why that's important to go in the direction that the elected officials

are taking you as an organization, understand why certain things can happen in a

regulatory environment. That is a piece of the desire. And you have to be on board

supporting, you know, kind of the, the, the role that the elected officials have, I

think in change, it's, that is legitimacy. And so our job as professional managers

is to support the desire and direction of the governing body. Absolutely. All right,

so let's talk about real life examples here. I know you've gone through this

yourself many times as a city manager, as well as helped a lot of different local

government organizations, local government leaders, go through times of change

themselves. So can you share an example of a time that you have led a significant

change initiative in your organization or maybe a time that you've helped another

organization? - Yeah, it's funny to kind of ask about that in retrospect because to

a certain degree, I am the imposed change and I see it made right now, right?

Like, I am the new leader that's been put in place. I've got an organization of

over 100 employees. I've got 13 ,000 members. I've got a 21 member board and I'm

the change. And so, yeah, I need to enroll people. I need to be intentional about

how I communicate. I need to be clear about what my priorities are and I still get

lost sometimes when I go to the restrooms out here at 777. So, I'm still working

on things. But the change initiatives I think when I think about the types of

things that local governments get involved in and our local government leaders need

to be mindful of and again be intentional about you know there's that anytime

there's an election cycle there's the potential to change direction and so we create

certain amounts of stabilities within organizations and communities through planning

processes, whether it's a, you know, kind of what we expect the development of our

community to look like through a comprehensive planning process, or it's what we

expect the strategic direction of our community to be because of the strategic plan

that we have here, the values that we stand firmly on when we do our work. This

is what we look like at our best and here's the mission that we're going to

achieve. So those pieces help create stability and stability can be helpful when

you're changing because it's always a little bit of an ebb and a flow. When a

governing body comes in and changes the direction of an organization, the leader has

to be and take very seriously the responsibility to enroll the organization in the

new direction. And so being clear about providing that opportunity for the governing

body to set the direction and then leading the charge around why the organization

needs to get on board and follow it. So, you know, as a consultant, I've worked

with lots of managers, administrators, governing bodies, kind of helping them through

that time, and then working with leadership teams to be intentional about bringing

them around on the change. But if I think about one of the things, like as a

consultant, and in our assessment practice or whatever, kind of where do I see

organizations really getting hung up with change. I made the joke about, you know,

nobody objects to the new iPhone. Let me tell you what they will object to, a new

financial management system, like a new purchasing module, a new people management

system that comes in and technology changes are really challenging for organizations

because it changes the way you work. It changes the way you do business with your

colleagues. And so, that is one where I think people sometimes underestimate and

underinvest in what the organization needs for that change to be successful. I know

jurisdictions that don't turn on modules that they've paid a lot of money for with

their financial management systems because they haven't done the change management

system that needs to be in place. So, when you have a great idea to put in an

all -new system for your organization, be intentional about the need to bring the

organization along in the change. And that means anybody who has to log in and put

their time in, if it changes how they clock in for work, if it changes how they

record their vacation time, how they purchase things, if anything changes,

you have to be intentional about about bringing things, bringing people along on that

journey. - I once interviewed an organization that was city -wide implementing a new

system they were moving from everything into the Microsoft service,

everything Microsoft and they didn't have that before. And so one of the things that

they had overlooked originally and then implemented in later was a training program.

So that make sure that people actually knew how to use the new technology and the

new systems that they were required to use. And that even takes some time, allowing

time to learn as well as the actual implementation and the installing technology

wise.

Yep, absolutely critical. So when we talk about change management.

One of the things that I think about too is innovation and those things being hand

in hand. We always talk about how we want to be innovative in local government and

how we want to charge forth and do new things and be performance driven and really

bring about the new era and keep up with the new era. We talk a good game but if

we're averse to risk too much then we can miss out on opportunities to be

innovative. So how do you see change management and innovation going hand in hand

and how can we help our organizations become as innovative as we want to be through

change management? Yeah, you know, innovation is not something you do.

It is how you do things. And so it's a how out of what? Are you innovative? How

do you create an environment where people can be innovative, where they can take

risks, which means they can succeed and they can fail? What does it look like to

fail in the public sector? It is so much more high risk. We can't fail. We can't

reverse the position of elected officials without them being called wishy -washy or

waffling, or if they, or you know, you're not listening to the public if you don't

change. I mean, it is a no -win situation sometimes. And so I think it's really

important to just keep that in mind as we're contemplating that element of change.

Right, it's a mindset. It's a mindset, absolutely. So to me, if you've created a

culture that allows an environment for innovation, you get a little bit more

comfortable with trying things on, maybe being successful and not, but the need to

communicate, the need to enroll people doesn't change. And it is risky.

When you're asking people to be innovative, you're suggesting that they might do

something that's not successful. And I think one of the reframings, I'm a person who

reframes things to help me process and understand. But one of the things that really

helped me when I would encounter the mindset that we all, you know, it's become

kind of a saying is like, oh, that's how we've always done it. Like, like we can

just dismiss that type of an attitude. That is a bad attitude. I always believe in

beginning change at a position of respect. And so to me, it's not this dismissive,

oh, they just want to do it how they've always done it. These are people who want

to do things in a way that has worked for them before and so why would they want

to change when it's been working? And so what is that change management desire?

What is the need to innovate if what we're doing is working? And so allowing people

to explore those possibilities, creating that environment, allows folks to get a

little bit more comfortable. And it does begin with this position of, "I respect

what you've done. This is what's worked for you as an organization. How can we do

it even better?" Right. Because a lot of people will say, "Well, if it ain't broke,

then don't fix it." Right. Right. And then other people say, "If it ain't broke,

break it." Right. And then there's also the fear of, "Well, what if I try something

new and it doesn't work And I get fired over it. You know, people could be scared

of those types of things. So the idea of being able to fail safely and you're not

going to lose your job over that, that's huge too. And that's, it's, it's hard to

create a perfectly safe space. This is the public sector and it's the public's

money. And so we have to be mindful of that when we're taking risks. And,

you know, in the private sector, it might be, well, we, we've, we went down this

path, we invested a lot of money and it didn't work and that's okay, now we're

gonna try this, but it was your money. This is y 'all's money, this is the public's

money. So we do have to be good stewards of those resources and be very mindful

about why we're doing things and that kind of just speaks to the importance of

creating successful change by doing all the things that you need to do to be

successful at it. That's such a good point. And when we talk about the public's

money too, then that means we have to meet the public's expectations. And we know

that expectations of our residents have changed over time. Our communities are

changing over time. And if we're not changing along with them, then we're falling

behind. Absolutely. Really important for us to think about that. Now let's talk about

supervisors as well within an organization. So we have a course at ICMA called the

Effective Supervisory Practices Training Course, which is super exciting. I'm going to

be popping into some of those as well coming up here in the spring time. I bought

the new logo for the book, the cover. It's so jazzy. It looks great. It's amazing.

It's amazing. It's actually one of our most popular training courses here at ICMA.

My longest living like as an initiative I mean I don't want to date myself too

much but I remember that from late in the last century as my one of my colleagues

reminded me when I got started in this business but I remember that being the

course that all the supervisors took in the organization I was working in or people

who were aspiring supervisors would take that class so it's a phenomenal course it

is proven itself over time and it is what And it is, what did I say? It's like,

we've been successful at this for a really long time, so we're gonna keep doing it.

- Absolutely, someone told me that this course is about 50 years old or so, which

is incredible to me. And it has continued to evolve. - Yes, exactly. - So we don't,

exactly the same way as 50 years ago, folks, just-- - They probably didn't have

webinars 50 years ago. What do you think? Probably not. - Probably not.

So, when we think about being an effective supervisor, what does change management

mean for that person? Yeah. So, again, you know, lots of little trivial kind of

sayings come into my mind. But they're only trivial when we trivialize them.

And so, when I think about the phrase leadership at any level, this is where it

comes into play. Supervisors, and so those immediate supervisors are the ones who are

leading the people who actually do the things we do in our local governments. And

so effective supervision is critical. If you want innovation, you've got to have

great supervision. If you want to create an environment where people can succeed,

they can take risks and they can fail, then you have to create that environment as

a supervisor. And so we need folks to understand change management and their role in

it. It's not just, well, let me see. Yep, that didn't work. Well, I hope you liked

working here. We're putting you on a pip. Like that just can't be the tone of

accountability in an organization. It can't be the tone of what supervision looks

like. So that enrollment piece that bringing people along along on the change. You

can have a dynamic leader at the top. You can have an amazing leadership team.

Maybe you've even got the best department directors of any jurisdiction across the

country. And if your supervisors can't bring that same intention and energy to the

work, to the change, it's going nowhere. And so absolutely critical that they embrace

change at that level of the organization. To close the loop that you mentioned

earlier, there's communication that needs to be happening. So that energy from the

leadership at the top of the organization, the supervisor also needs to be

communicating with their direct reports. What is that vision? What are we doing?

What are the goals? And how does it impact you as an employee? What does that mean

for your role and what does that mean for the expectations of you because that is

going to really help bring them into it and make them someone who's a part of all

of this who's involved in and Invited to participate and how empowering is it when

your supervisor? Asks you to participate in something and trusts you with information

instead of boxing you out. How amazing Amazing is that. - Sounds like Angelica's

ready to teach the class is what I'm getting, my takeaway from all of this. - Y

'all don't want to hear this class from me. I'm telling you, there are some amazing

people who are way smarter than I am there. But I'll be in there,

taking notes. - Awesome. - Julia, I would love for you to share some of your advice

that you have for others as we wrap up here. What advice do you have for local

government leaders who want to lead effectively through times of change, whatever that

be, if it's the budget, if it's within their organization, if it's technology, if

it's with policies and procedures, what advice do you have for our local government

leaders who are listening right now? So first, I'd say be who you are.

You know, it's this is not a time to be performative. You've got to be yourself.

You also need to communicate and you need to be real. And so it's really important

when we're facing a budget situation and the numbers are red instead of black at

the bottom, that we're upfront about what that looks like for our organization. And

sometimes just saying things like, "I'm worried and I'm not sure," that can go a

long way to helping people understand. It's not that they're keeping information, it's

that we're on a journey together. And so your job is to bring the folks along. You

can't sugarcoat it. You don't want to over -dramatize the potential negative effects.

But you want to be real about where things are going. That's right, folks. You

heard it from Julia. Be real.

Absolutely.

All right. Well, that's all the time that we have today. Unless there's anything

else you would like to add. No, thanks so much. It was great. It reminds me I

need to do a good job of that for ICMA, for the team that I'm leading, for the

board that I'm supporting, and for the members that we're engaged with and our

partners out there. So I'm going to do my best and hold me to it, that we do a

good job of bringing this organization around as I am the imposed change being

placed right here. Well, we are very lucky to have someone who is such a great

leader and an agent of change and positive change in our organization,

leading us into the new future. So I think we're very lucky and thank you so much

for being here today. And thank you for listening and we hope you'll join us next

time.

 

Thanks for listening to ICMA's Voices in Local Government with Joe Superveille and

Angelica Weddell. Subscribe wherever you get your favorite podcasts. For more on

change management and this show, visit icma .org.

 

 

 

Guest Information

Julia Novak, ICMA-CM, CEO and executive director of ICMA

Hosts

Joe Supervielle and Angelica Wedell

 

Topics

Welcome to Voices in Local Government's New Co-host, Angelica Wedell

Introduction and Understanding Change in Local Government

Strategies for Effective Change Management

Fostering Innovation

The Role of Supervisors

Advice for Local Government Leaders

Resources

ICMA Effective Supervisory Practices Training Series

Getting to Know Our New CEO/Executive Director, Julia D. Novak, ICMA-CM