Roxann
APA Florida celebrates equity, diversity, and inclusiveness and believe we can accomplish more through a genuine and authentic partnership with others and promote a commitment to excellence in service to Florida’s communities. We strive to make our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion integral to our organizational structure, policies, practice, committees, staff, sponsors, goals, and vision. We want to engage people of all backgrounds and experiences and seek to foster a culture of respect, openness, learning, integrity, honesty and a sense of fun.
becoming your happiest,
understanding why
think and act the way you do.”
Do you enjoy solving citizen/client problems?
• Consider public participation work or in the role of client interface.
Do you love crunching numbers and/or writing reports?
• Consider research positions.
Are you gifted a public speaking?
• Consider an outreach position for your organization.
Learn from your trials and mistakes!
where you want to be in five, ten, twenty years
Find that target and write it down!
• Find a mentor whom you fully respect
Talk with that person about what they see in you, and how they would advise you to reach that goal.
• Find an accountability partner or partners
I meet every other Friday with peers over lunch. We call it Success Talk. We hold each other accountable and list our target achievements for the next two weeks.
• Develop a career plan you are excited about
Short (get that promotion or certificate) and long term (owning your own business)
Identify opportunities that excite you
Develop your gifts
Invest in yourself
stay relevant
I will be an owner of my own business. In five years I will be financially sound with $X.00 in savings to be financially secure for two years of start-up. I will develop professional relationships by joining relevant regional organizations. I will seek a current small business owner to mentor me.
A short term goal is that I will be a better public speaker. I am going to invest in myself, and within the next year I will attend a seminar to improve my skills. By the end of the month I will contact the local Toastmasters group to inquire about attending the next meeting.
Within five years I will be a Project Manager at my company. I am going to improve my leadership skills by working with my mentor, reading three books on leadership within the next year, and attend a seminar/workshop on leadership within two years.
Steven R. Cover, AICP Claudia Ray Melissa E. Zornitta, FAICP
Moderator: Jennifer Fierman, AICP
• Start your career in a small public planning office where you’ll do everything, not just one aspect of planning.
• In your first 5-10 years, learn as much as you can about all aspects of the job. This may mean bouncing around a little jobwise.
• Be a problem solver, not a problem identifier.
• Use common sense in all of your decision making.
• Take on tough, challenging assignments where you can shine, not simple easy ones that anybody can do.
• Work in a private sector office so you can learn how engineers, architects, land planners and developers think and what their priorities are. (This is tremendously helpful in negotiating in your future as a public planning director).
• Always keep yourself marketable in both the public and private sectors
• Don’t always apply for jobs that you are 100% qualified for. You probably won’t learn anything new, and your career could stall
• When advancing in your career, don’t chase the money! Choose what is the next best step in the advancement of your career
• Always leave a job on a positive note. It will eventually benefit you as you advance in your career.
• You have to find ways to stand out in a crowd. Take the initiative, identify problems and try to solve them. Do things without being asked.
• Seek out opportunities to have your work showcased – conference presentations, newsletter articles, website and social media
• Get involved in APA or another professional organization. Volunteer positions provide a tremendous opportunity to hone skills
• Many also have mentoring programs
• Self advocating is not easy; in your network, identify those who are champions who will advocate for you
• Communication and other soft skills need continual work
• Take the initiative to learn about management skills you didn’t learn about in school
• Celebrate even small accomplishments
Moderator:
Elmore, AICP
Find Your Why
are
Identify the simplest step
The thing you can do
Be Intentional
down one day but not the next
Manage the Internal Voice
The stories we tell ourselves
there are other
what you’ve
life
are successful
you can
Success in Management is:
❑ Building a Team to get the job done!
❑ Taking skills from every job and applying them to the next job.
❑ Taking failures from every job and avoiding them in the next job.
❑ Staying current in the field so you are always relevant.
❑ Making your workplace the one you wished you had when….
❑ Always give credit to your Team because they got the job done!
Female Leaders: Heather M. Urwiller, AICP, CFM / Susan Swift, AICP
Private Sector Leaders: Brad Cornelius, AICP, CFM, CPM / George M. Kramer, AICP
Thriving as “the Only One”: Alexis Crespo, AICP
Finding Mid-Career Mentors: Tina M. Ekblad, MPA, AICP/ Allara Mills Gutcher, AICP
Resumes, Bios, and LinkedIn for Leaders: Alissa Barber Torres, FAICP / Amy Elmore, AICP
