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Highly Effective Councils By Carl Neu ffective leadership results from adhering to a set of fundamental principles. This article outlines 10 habits of highly effective city councils. Think and act strategically. A council's primary responsibility is determining and achieving citi- zens' desires. Council and administrative teams must help shape the future of the community by expanding their mental horizons to identify and meet the chal- lenges to be addressed through decisive leadership. Understand and demonstrate team- work. Councils are a collection of diverse individuals who come together as one entity. O~ily when operating as one, can they exercise authority and fulfill their purpose. This is the classic definition of a team. Some fundamen- tals of teamwork include a sense of purpose; clearly defined roles and rela- tionships that unite individual talents and capacities; a commmnent to team success; and, a climate of trust, open- ness, integrity, consistency, and mutual respect. Mastery of small group decision- making. Most councils are classic small groups composed of less than a dozen people. Small groups demonstrate cer- tain skills and behaviors that link their members together, as well as processes they follow to make decisions to fulfill the group's purpose. Clearly defined roles and responsibili- ties. Each team member's contribution to and relationship with the team must be defined in terms of role. A role has two dements: .function, what the specific responsibilities of that role are, irrespec- tive of incumbency; and pe(onnance, how one is expected to behave and his or her responsibilities. Councils-- through charter, statute, or ordinance-- have clear definition of function. The performance component must be defined through discussion and mutual definition of the behaviors, duties, and interactions expected of the mayor and councilmembers in conducting their duties and interactions. Establish and abide by council-staff partnership. Policy-mak_ing and imple- mentation are not distinct functions. They are a continuum of thought, transforming abstractions (visions, policies, goals, plans) into outcomes (results, programs, buildings, streets, deliverable services). Council and staff share this continuum as partners, ensuring each other's success. Systematic evaluation of policy implementation. Councils frequently assume council action equates to policy and program implementation. The next time the council hears about the policy is when a problem or crisis arises. Highly effective councils expect pea-iodic feed- back on policy results and possible amendments. This feedback can be provided through progress reports, newsletters, and policy reviews. Allocate time and energy appropri- ately. Councils operate in four arenas to achieve overall peak performance, including goal setting (retreats); explo- ration and analysis (study sessions); disposition/legislation (regular public meetings); and community (interactions with constituencies and other agencies). Effective councils have at least one goal-setting retreat annually. They also have two study sessions monthly, usu- ally in the weeks between regularly- scheduled public hearings. Here, they confer with staff and other experts about significant items under consider- ation requiring eventual action. Many councils short-change this arena, push- ing the opportunity for learning into the formal public hearing, which is not designed for facilitating in-depth analy- sis of complex issues. The arena of disposition/legislation is designed to get to a vote, not to analyze complex issues. The fourth arena of cmmnunity is rapidly transforming the council's role and how it spends its me. Communi- ties today depend upon sophisticated alliances and partnerships among pubhc and private groups and multiple govern- ment agencies to deal with complex, multi-jurisdictional issues. Have clear rules and procedures. Literature on conducting effective and productive meetings specifies the need for and adherence to clearly-defined rules and procedures. Many councils drift from these rules and procedures in pursuit of informality and collegiality. Rules and procedures don't preclude citizen input, courtesy, or sensitivity to public concerns and viewpoints. They respect all these elements and the neces- sity to conduct business in an orderly, disciplined, and productive manner. Get valid assessment of public's concerns and evaluation of council's peoeormance. Elections are not valid, objective assessments of the public's feeling about the quality of a council's peffornaance as a governing body and whether it is addressing issues effec- tively. Highly effective councils seek feedback through a number of market research tools such as focus groups, sur- veys, and questionnaires. This feedback should be ongoing and included in the annual goal-setting retreat. Continuous learning and development. Leaders read, attend workshops, and constantly seek information and insight. Highly effective councils are made up of members who know they don't know it all. Assess your council's performance and decide where gains can be made. ~- Carl Neu, Jr. is executive vice president and general manager qf NEU & Company, pro- riding resources and sewices for govemment. Telephone: (303) 986-8487. Mr. Neu will be a presenter at the upcoming LMC Newly Elected Officials and Leadership Conferences (see pages 26 and 28for details or visit the LMC web site: www.lmnc.org). 34 MINNESOTA CITIES DECEMBER. 2000