10 Habits of Highly Successful Colorado City … Habits of Highly Successful Colorado City Managers 1 . City Manager issues What do City ... You much have a great deal of spare time

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….


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


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


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


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


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…


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


Story of a Park

Parks and Recreation

Rocky Mountain High

Trash cans…


Challenges of a City Overall challenges:

Bad economic times

Stock market hurts tax base

Distrust of government

What else??


Challenges of a City

As a city manager, how do we identify priorities, assume responsibilities, and take action?


• 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


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


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


So we identified some of the main problems…

Success Today!

Let’s work on solutions to be successful


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!


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


#1 Separate the important from the urgent


Note: To move forward to do great things you have to stop doing things that don’t matter


#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


Caveat: Stay out of your own way. And other people’s too.

Law of Diminishing Marginal Returns


#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.


Numbers don’t lie.

Not understanding finances can get you into trouble.

Caveat: Lawyers are your friends, too


#4 Comptroller/Controllers are your friends

• Work to understand the finances


Help people find their true passion. It may not be with you.


#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


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


#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


Old cowboy once said “Sometimes you gotta go along to get along.”


#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.


Debra Fine’s book, The Fine Art of Small Talk


#8 Become an expert at time management

- Techniques to reduce interruptions

- Ideas for refocusing


Friends of the Libraries

What are other organizations that can help you succeed?


#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


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


#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


Your people want to hear and see you

Feel the love


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.


Scooby Doo response


Bonus #2: Don’t let anyone, including me, tell you how to do your job.

Be confident.

Mistakes will happen.


These are NOT good ideas!!!

Note: Intended for humor only.


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?


Carefully crafted with polite non-commitment


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?



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 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)

Documents

10 Habits of Highly Successful Colorado City … Habits of Highly Successful Colorado City Managers 1 . City Manager issues What do City ... You much have a great deal of spare time