Lead & Manage
The first core competency set forth by NASPAA is the ability to lead and manage in public governance. In to master this competency, one must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities relevant to leading and managing in public governance.
Leadership Reflection
I was lucky enough to listen to some of the City of Auburn, Alabama public officials speak to us about their job roles and what leadership means to them. Based on their answers, I wrote a memorandum about my main takeaways which were: to invest in people, keep my attitude in check, to have a vision, and not be afraid to be passionate about my job and public service. When asked to choose a leadership style that I hope to convey, I chose a democratic style. My style of democratic leadership would incorporate my good attitude, as well as eagerness to listen to others in the workplace. All of the leaders we had speak to us stressed how important listening to your people is. Public administration is all about working with and for the people. I truly feel like my democratic style of leadership would be well suited to the workplace in the field of public administration. There are always going to be things I need to work on and skills I can heighten to be a better leader, but learning from others before me is a large asset and skill of it's own as a public servant. Investing in people and having a vision were the two largest takeaways for me and I plan to maintain the attitude of striving for excellence at all time throughout my career and in the workplace.
|
|
Ethics ReflectionAs a future public servant, I believe that I could have the best leadership skills around, but if I’m not leading ethically then it is a waste and I would be doing a disservice to my community and the citizens that I serve. Writing about ethics made me think critically about how I want to be known as a leader and how I will go about making the right decisions to manage in public governance. I followed up the assignment with a decision tree that I can use in any future scenarios to help make ethical decisions, while in a leadership role. I start with asking myself if the decision is legal, and filter down to decide whether to take action, revise, or to postpone the issue all together. By creating this decision tree, I was able to put my process into a legible format that I can carry with me into my future career. In my current role as an economic development and planning specialist, I find myself starting with the decision tree in many decisions.
|
|