Are you an Emerging Leader? Mary Powers Public Information Specialist Pierce County Public Works and Utilities Tacoma, Washington
aybe you see a management position in your future. Maybe you’re already a manager or supervisor and want to learn more about leadership. If you have worked in the field of public works for seven years or less and demonstrated an interest in advancing your career within the profession, you might want to think about applying for the APWA Emerging Leaders Academy (ELA) in fall 2012. Here’s a glimpse of the current ELA participants, known as ELA V (5), and what they learned at their retreat in October. They are the fifth class to go through the year-long program. ELA was founded by Ann Daniels, APWA Director of Credentialing.
This year’s retreat was hosted by Sue Hann, ELA Program Coordinator and City Manager of Palm Bay, Florida. Deana Donohue from ELA II also taught several sessions and is one of many mentors available to guide the participants in this year’s class.
ELA retreat 2011 Part of the academy requirements is that participants complete homework assignments and discuss them on monthly one-hour conference calls. Another requirement is that they attend a three-and-a-half-day retreat at APWA headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Though they arrived as 16 strangers from 11 different states, they already had at least two things in common. First, they wanted to learn more
about leadership in public works. Second, they applied and were accepted into the year-long program that spans from September 2011 to August 2012. Though all of the participants are in the public works profession, their workplace structures vary. Some are from municipalities, city and county government, private industry, and others work as consultants. Some of them are already managers and supervisors, and others aspire to move up in their organization. You don’t have to already be in a supervisory position to apply for the ELA. “You are always in a position to lead no matter where you are on the org chart,” said Hann. Homa Mojtabai, Administrative Analyst from Santa Monica, California, said she was grateful to be included in this year’s class. “It’s rare to have the chance to pick the brains of experienced city managers and administrators. The ELA gave me the opportunity to get feedback and invaluable perspective from accomplished and caring professionals throughout public works.”
There’s always an agenda…
From back left to right: Brian Coopman, Tony Fitzer, Jeff Baxter, Ryan Gallagher, Nathan Hladky, Todd Marti, Tyler Smith, William Simon, Deanna Donohue (mentor and retreat host), Sue Hann (program leader). Middle (left to right): Greer Hill, Erin Jones, Homa Mojtabai, Morgan Wazlaw, Mary Powers, Michael Campbell. Front: Ryan Welsing, Matt Spencer. 14 APWA Reporter
January 2012
The retreat involved an intense agenda. The team learned how to deal directly with conflict, making the transition from manager to leader, and practiced on-camera interviews in their “Mastering the Media” session. They discussed ethics in depth using the case study of Robert Moses.
