Seasons of Leadership

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— Ecclesiastes 3:1

Ecclesiastes tells us that there are seasons in life. Life is a bookshelf with bookends of birth and death. The volumes between are those we choose to write and in many instances, those which we allow life to author for us. The seasons of life go far beyond the major events in our existence. They impact our families, our dreams and goals, and are played out in every area of our lives, including our careers. Our challenge as leaders is how we recognize the seasons and how the choices we make as life carries us from one season to the next.

What do the seasons of life hold for a leader? Great lessons in leadership can be gleaned by the study of the experiences and reactions occurring in the transition from one season to the next in the lives of leaders. Every leader assumes leadership in a season and relinquishes leadership in another. It is often easy to know when the time arises for us as leaders to assume the role – it may come in the form of an opportunity presented or an obvious void which must be filled. An arising season of relinquishment is often more opaque and even clouded with turmoil, confusion and strong emotions. It is in the shadowy land of changing seasons that great questions of leadership are asked and deep truths of leadership are forged in the hearts of those who choose to lead.

Let us examine some of these questions and truths.

The rise to leadership can sought or bestowed. Leadership which is sought usually comes in the form of the would-be leader seeking rank or position as a means to hopefully utilize their passion and skills for the betterment of the organization and those which work there. Unfortunately, it can also come when a would-be leader seeks rank or position for self-benefit, but an examination of motives for positions of leadership is a topic for another discussion article. The would-be leader seeking rank or position does so with skill, confidence and passion. They view themselves as equipped and prepared for the challenges which face them. They hold a vision for a better future. They have chosen to lead and believe they have a calling to do so.

The leader whose leadership is bestowed upon them may not view themselves as leaders. They may be a follower who, due to unforeseen circumstances, must lead. They may never have chosen to lead, nor ever considered themselves as having “leadership skills and abilities,” yet they find themselves in leadership roles. This may occur as an evolutionary process with the leader slowly entering the leadership role, or it may occur as it does often in times of crisis, as an “instantaneous happening” in which the follower becomes a leader from the necessity of the circumstances. These “emergent leaders” rise suddenly and assume a leadership role in the midst of a crisis, serving and leading through the storm never assuming that they were heirs to the leadership role. They serve through fear and lack of confidence in times of great need. Perhaps this is why often they become better leaders, as they are born from humility and self-doubt – yet choose to lead in the midst of trials.

The ebb of leadership may generate fear and anxiety, as it foretells a season of change. Like with the fading of summer into fall, our concerns about the harshness of the coming winter begin to echo in our thoughts. Transitioning out of one leadership role in which you are comfortable and confident may divot your comfort and confidence with questions of doubt. Change generates change in followers as well as those who lead. Human life is a saga of constant unfolding change. As leaders, we must accept that change is inevitable. Change incites anxiety in all caught in its grip, but no growth is possible without change.

The question then becomes how do we prepare for a new leadership season? My experience has given me the following truths in my search for the answer to this question:

To everything there is a season. As recorded in Ecclesiastes Chapter 3, there is a time for everything and as such our lives will continually be filled with the need to transition from one event to another. We must know and embrace these truths in our lives as leaders. Our growth as leaders should reflect our ability to effectively navigate through the stormy waters of change. Our ability must include knowing when we should step out of the captain’s chair and onto the dock or on to the deck of another ship. We must use the promise of changing seasons to prepare ourselves when that time comes for us to accept that we must change our leadership role.
Sensing the change of seasons. Seasons sometimes change abruptly and sometimes gradually. Seasons of leadership likewise end by a sudden termination from a position for a thousand reasons out of the control of the leader. They may also change in a gradual process controlled by the leader’s choice. While we cannot change the decisions of others who may choose to end our leadership within an organization, we can control a chosen exit for ourselves.

Sensing the time to hand the reins to another is an intuitive process which comes with time and perhaps even experiences where the choice to leave was not ours. Key elements of this process which I have gleaned from life experiences in being chosen to leave or choosing to leave, include the following:

o Organizational Evolution. As organizations change, leadership must evolve with the change – sometimes the “evolved organization” no longer fits with the values and vision of the leader. When the “evolved organization” demands leadership behaviors which run counter to a leader's beliefs and values, the leader will feel out of place. The term to describe these feelings is cognitive dissonance – a theory first proposed by psychologist Leon Festinger. Festinger holds that humans have an inner need to ensure their beliefs and behaviors are consistent, and when these become contradictory, disharmony results. Value based leaders, when forced to work in organizations which hold values contrary to their own leadership style, will experience disharmony and this disharmony is a sign that the leadership season has changed.
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Leaders may anticipate this change by learning to sense the values of others – specifically those choosing to move the organization in a different direction. This happens in the private and public sector but unfortunately, perhaps more often in the public sector which is subject to the constantly evolving desires of elected officials who respond re-actively to a very fickle electorate.

o Fatigue. Spiritual, emotional and physical fatigue which cannot be overcome are clear signs of the ebbing of the leadership season. One of my mentors always insisted on taking 2 -3 week holidays away and disconnected from the office and leadership roles. He referred to this recreational time away as his time for “re-creation.” This was more than a time of rest and relaxation, but a time of assessment and reflection which resulted in either a revitalization of the passion for leadership within the organization, or re-purposing of life’s direction. Often criticized for lengthy holidays, I always found him to be more creative, passionate, focused and driven when he returned. He held firmly to the belief that lesser time of vacation was insufficient to arrest the fatigue of leadership. I clearly remember the last holiday he took before leaving his position as a city manager. He spent three weeks in South America with his wife and after returning he began developing his exit strategy. My mentor’s leadership experience spanned over forty years in public sector executive leadership positions. His transition out of leadership spanned 26 months…during which he aptly and professionally handed the baton to those he trained. His departure from leadership, like his assent to leadership, was filled with dignity, respect and grace.

In these instances we must learn to sense our ability to lead effectively, until we can no longer. This is accomplished in part by learning to evaluate our effectiveness through self and peer evaluation. Once learned, this becomes an instinctive process. We begin to instinctively feel the natural cycle of our leadership strengthening or waning.

o Passion. I was recently criticized for using the word passion to describe a commitment to lead. I found this odd, as passion simply means having a strong feeling or belief in something. To me, the word passion is synonymous to commitment.

A leader's passion to lead an organization is an apt barometer of the seasons of change. Waning passion can be a strong indicator for a departure from leadership. Leaders may also experience an increasing passion for another challenge prompting them to change leadership roles. Committed servant leaders who constantly seek to be self aware sense the slightest changes in their levels of passion for their role within an organization and use this to gauge a timeline and strategy for gracious departure, leaving the leadership in the capable hands of another.

One of our greatest responsibilities as leaders is to know when and how to leave. Leaders do not simply “hang-on” until retirement. We must always lead - even through our exit.

Leading through the seasons of change, requires commitment to value based leadership. We must own the reality that leadership is not about us, but about lifting others to a better place. If we hold this truth as our focus the choices we make through the seasons of change may not be easier, but they will be the best for everyone including the leader.

Leadership Challenges for Mayors in Council – Manager Forms of City Governments

After several decades of public service you become aware of pitfalls which can negatively impact the service of elected officials. My leadership experience has been in Council – Manager Forms of government. Having served in numerous cities with this form of government, I have had ample opportunity to study the journeys of newly elected mayors as they struggle to find their way and define their roles.

Mayors in many Council – Manager Forms of government have limited direct power. Mayors preside over the meetings, serve as the spokesperson for the council, may add items to the agenda, and have certain powers in cases of emergencies; their powers are, however, limited in that they can only vote in the case of a tie and typically do not count in the establishment of a quorum.

City Management: It’s not about today.

A constant tension exists between the past, present, and future in the life of a city manager. A manager is confronted with expectations along this timeline from citizens, council members, business leaders, and him/herself.

Those wishing to maintain the status quo will always look to the “good old days” and remind the manager that the city must maintain or in some instances return to the “way things were years ago.” These citizens usually are focused on a tradition, event, or manner in which commerce was conducted in the past. They hold these memories as important and seek to have these and the social interactions they served to create continue. Unfortunately, a manager cannot turn back time nor prevent changes which time creates, and attempts to recreate never seem to fulfill expectations of those seeking the way things were in the “good old days.”

Seasons of Leadership

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— Ecclesiastes 3:1

The High Calling of City Council Service

Service as a city council member is distinctive in many ways from other service as an elected official. Council members serve the electorate in the community in which they live, work, and raise their families. Oftentimes the families of those elected to city councils have lived in these cities for generations. In a word, council members are typically “woven” into the fabric of the communities where they have chosen to serve. They may feel called to serve because of strong familial, emotional, and economic ties to their cities; or simply a sense of purpose and duty to make their communities better. The calling they feel to aspire to these leadership positions is noble and quite strong, as it is a calling to what often seems a “thankless” form of public service.

SWOT Analysis of City Council Leadership Roles and Functions

SWOT analysis is a commonly used planning/management tool. It provides organizations a means to analyze their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Each of these operational areas contribute to the organization's overall health and potential for growth.

Communities are complex organizations. Community planners often use a SWOT analysis in the development of community master plans. Leadership is always one area of analysis in the development of a SWOT for a city. Leadership, particularly elected leadership may be the most crucial determinant in the health, growth, and prosperity of a community. While this is true for all communities this is particularly critical for small communities. In understanding the roles and functions of municipal elected officials it may be helpful to view them through the SWOT lens. This paper is an attempt to examine elected leadership through this analysis methodology.

Community Leadership Reimagined

The turbulence we are witnessing in our nation’s cities is a symptom of something beyond systemic racism, lack of social or economic justice, or political division. In my opinion it is a symptom of a self-centered and isolated existence which has crippled social development for thousands of years. Positive social change begins with our ability as leaders to think, feel, listen, speak and act with the understanding that it is not about us – it is about the generations which will follow. The decisions we face as leaders must be framed in the context of the future lives of others’ children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren, not simply the lives of those we serve today.