I'm in the democracy business. By Wally Bobkiewicz, City Manager, Evanston, IL This is what I often tell people when I first meet them. Explaining what a City Manager does takes a few sentances, but saying you are in the democracy business always gets people's attention. Our work as local government managers is sometimes complex, [...]
The Importance of: By Jan Perkins, Senior Partner, Management Partners (former city manager) It can be scary to ask people for genuine feedback, because it requires you to be vulnerable and to open yourself to criticism. You risk learning that a project you poured your heart into was perceived by others as less than successful, [...]
The Gender Gap, Gender Equity & the Chasm Between the Two By Dan Singer, former City Manager for the cities of Ojai, Goleta & Poway, CA I recently had the opportunity to attend the Women in Government Symposium in Kansas City; a half-day workshop on the topic of woman's equality in the workplace and how [...]
By Mary Jacobs, Assistant City Manager - Sierra Vista, AZ Several weeks ago, I invited my daughter Rachel to attend the Women’s Equality Day event at the Fort Huachuca Army installation. The Commanding General invited me to be the keynote speaker and I wanted Rachel to hear me speak about something I’m incredibly passionate about. [...]
Having a strong group of women to work with leads to some great advantages. By Jacolyn "Jackie" Thiel, PE, City Engineer, City of Upper Arlington, OH WTS stands for Women’s Transportation Seminar. Many may find it a strange name, but this was the original name from when the organization was founded in 1977 as [...]
Dr. Frank Benest suggests if you want to improve performance, then you need to improve workplace culture. By Frank Benest, ICMA Liaison for Next Generation Initiatives I’m an administrative services director of a large urban city government, overseeing a department that includes Finance, HR, and IT. Serving in this position for two years, I have [...]
Going from 90 to nothing! By Karen Daly, Hutto, TX Wow! How do you shift from going 90 miles per hour every day to a day where you are at home with no scheduled meetings? While I have been in transition, I’ve had time to think about the lessons I have learned that may come in [...]
Bring on the Female Superheroes! In this passionate, sparkling talk, media studies scholar (and father of a Star Wars-obsessed daughter) Christopher Bell addresses the alarming lack of female superheroes in the toys and products marketed to kids — and what it means for how we teach them about the world. Listen to his TED Talk here. [...]
Happy Labor Day! Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.