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M A R Y K E L L Y , P h D P R O D U C T I V E L E A D E R S
10 Habits of Highly Successful Colorado City Managers 1
City Manager issues
What do City Managers need worry about?
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Why we love Colorado…
Why are you so committed to Colorado?
Deepest Snow. In 1899 Crested Butte recorded 254 inches of snow near the top of Kebler Pass. That year, snow buried a train near Leadville and left only stove pipes showing above cabins at many mountain towns. Usually, Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs gets the most snow in Colorado.
Trivia
Oh yeah, and there will be people who expect you to dig them out….
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Oldest Hotel. The Peck House in the little town of Empire, near Berthoud Pass, is Colorado's oldest hotel. It was built in 1859 by James Peck. Early guests included President Ulysses S. Grant and other famous people.
Trivia
History
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Highest Town. Leadville is the highest (10,200 feet) incorporated town in Colorado and the entire U.S. It has also had the highest rate of premature babies in the U.S. Researchers concluded that the altitude causes smaller babies.
Trivia
Uniqueness
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Largest Nuggets. The biggest gold nugget in Colorado weighed 135 ounces and was found near Breckenridge in 1887 by miner Tom Broves. The biggest silver nugget weighed 1,840 pounds and was found at an Aspen mine in 1894.
Trivia
Why people come to Colorado - Opportunity
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Largest Elk Antlers. Measuring 52 inches at the widest point, the antlers of an elk killed in 1899 near Crested Butte are still on display at that town's visitor center. In 1961, Boone and Crockett researchers declared it to be the largest elk rack in history.
Trivia
Outdoor possibilities
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Toughest Climate. No crops are grown around the town of Silverton, north of Durango. At 9,318 feet elevation, Silverton's growing season between frosts is only two weeks. San Juan County there is reportedly the only county in the U.S. without a single acre of agricultural land.
Trivia
Thank goodness for the train…
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Worst Drought. About every 40 years, Colorado experiences a drought, according to tree-ring researchers. The worst was in the 1200s. It lasted 25 years and may have driven the Indians from Mesa Verde. During the Dust Bowl on the eastern plains, one cloud of dust on April 4, 1935, gathered itself to 1,000 feet high and 200 miles wide. It traveled at 60 miles an hour, suffocated hundreds of animals and damaged many people's health.
Trivia
Things we cannot control
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Story of a Park
Parks and Recreation
Rocky Mountain High
Trash cans…
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Challenges of a City Overall challenges:
Bad economic times
Stock market hurts tax base
Distrust of government
What else??
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Challenges of a City
As a city manager, how do we identify priorities, assume responsibilities, and take action?
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
• Unemployment (costs cities and states money) 8.7% in CO now
• Providing services − Transportation − Parks
• Disease management − West Nile Virus
• Maintaining roads
• Fire department and police protection − 2 police ofIicers for every 1,000 people
• Funding Libraries
• Building Infrastructure
Note: Economic conditions made all of these worse
Challenges of the Job
Managing people and programs
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
What are the difficulties that city managers and administrators face?
• Don’t have the money to do what we are obliged to do (such as hire police)
• Don’t have resources to do what constituents want us to do
• Don’t have money OR resources to do what we WANT to do to create the greatest cities in the world
Look for opportunities
Balloon Classic named one of the top attractions in North America – this brings in revenue
Support events like this
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Managing Expectations
• What people think we are supposed to do versus what we have the resources to do
• It is hard to perform magic without the wand
First step: Identify problems so you know what to do
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
So we identified some of the main problems…
Success Today!
Let’s work on solutions to be successful
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
If you got just one good idea that would make your job easier, would this hour be a success?
What about two great ideas?
Success Today! Be wildly successful!!!
What does success look like to you?
Love your job every day!
Change the world!
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
The 10 Habits of Highly Successful City Managers
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Doorbell rings versus the report that is due to get funding
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
#1 Separate the important from the urgent
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Note: To move forward to do great things you have to stop doing things that don’t matter
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
#2 Eliminate unnecessary work from workforce
• Ask people what they did today that was a waste of their time
• Question reports that collect data that is never used
• Beware of processes that have become their own outcomes. i.e. Quarterly meetings held because they are on a schedule but there is no agenda.
• Stop doing stupid stuff
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Caveat: Stay out of your own way. And other people’s too.
Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
#3 Get out of your own way
• Hire the best and smartest people you can find, and brainstorm with them to solve problems
• Give them tools they need to lead • Decide. Delegate. Disappear.
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Numbers don’t lie.
Not understanding finances can get you into trouble.
Caveat: Lawyers are your friends, too
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
#4 Comptroller/Controllers are your friends
• Work to understand the finances
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Help people find their true passion. It may not be with you.
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
#5 Get rid of people who don’t share your vision, mission, and passion
- They cost you in the long run
- Get the right people on the bus
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Get as much information as you can and make the best decision you can based on that information
90% now is better than 100% in ten years
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
#6 Don’t be afraid to change your mind
When you get more information and you realize that you are wrong, not changing your mind would be worse
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Old cowboy once said “Sometimes you gotta go along to get along.”
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
#7 Know when to hold’em. Know when to fold ‘em.
You can swim with the tide, float with the tide, or swim against the tide.
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Debra Fine’s book, The Fine Art of Small Talk
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
#8 Become an expert at time management
- Techniques to reduce interruptions
- Ideas for refocusing
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Friends of the Libraries
What are other organizations that can help you succeed?
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
#9 Use your willing collaborators. Ask for help.
• Use the people in this room • Make connections, especially with people
who do something better than you • Use your willing citizens when short on
resources. • Tell us what you need and give us to
opportunity to step up
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
1 million people per week joining LinkedIn
100 million IN users
www.Linkedin.com/in/marykellytalks
Facebook has 600 million users
www.facebook.com/drmarykelly
Friend me - I’m needy
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
#10 Communicate with the public to get what you (and they) want.
Facebook, LinkedIn, Tweet, Websites
• Give people information to take the right action, i.e. DMV..
• Make it easy for people to do the right thing. Example: Recycling…
• Streamline processes
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Your people want to hear and see you
Feel the love
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Bonus: Show up.
• History is about people who show up. Be a presence.
• Contact local associations and Rotaries and make appearances. Get interviewed on TV and radio.
• Expand the communication. Use social media.
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Scooby Doo response
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Bonus #2: Don’t let anyone, including me, tell you how to do your job.
Be confident.
Mistakes will happen.
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
These are NOT good ideas!!!
Note: Intended for humor only.
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
What you MIGHT want to say:
1. That is the dumbest idea I have heard today. And that is saying a lot.
2. Thanks! Now go away. 3. Yes, your 3-inch pothole is the most pressing
problem I have. NOT! Hahahaha! 4. You much have a great deal of spare time. 5. Go home and pay taxes. Or just go home. 6. When you get this job, you can do that your
way, okay?
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Carefully crafted with polite non-commitment
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Mary’s better phrases:
1. Thank you for your input. 2. How helpful. Thanks for the suggestion. 3. I will consider your request in the spirit with
which it is meant. 4. Wow! You have clearly spent a great deal of
time on this tell. Tell me more. 5. We are delighted to take your opinions under
advisement. 6. When you get this job, you can do that your
way, okay?
10 Habits of Highly Effective City Managers
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Reminder: Running a city is like running a business. You have revenue and expenses. There are profits and losses.
Think like a business.
You are building communities
Giveaways! Please take out a business card
Mary C. Kelly copyright 2011 www.ProductiveLeaders.com
Mary Kelly, PhD CEO, Productive Leaders • Speaking, training, strategic
development • Author of 4 books including
“In Case of Emergency, Break Glass!”, “360 Degrees of Leadership”, 15 Ways to Grow Your Business” and “Master Your World”
www.ProductiveLeaders.com [email protected] 443-995-8663 (o/m)