Mentoring the next generation of leaders within the APWA Donald C. Stone Center Mabel Tinjacá, Ph.D. Director of Professional Development American Public Works Association Kansas City, Missouri
PWA founder Donald C. Stone believed in education and servant leadership. Everyone who knew him or writes about him mentions his keen focus in these two areas. Mr. Stone expressed the need to promote professionalism within the service professions, to pass experience to the next generation, and to educate and round out knowledge with practice. The next generation of public works leaders will certainly need to be prepared to apply critical and systems thinking to real and unpredictable twenty-first century challenges. APWA honors Mr. Stone’s legacy by developing the next generation of leaders through a rigorous credentialing program that challenges public works professionals to develop a project, take assessments, attend an APWA-approved institute, and work with a mentor. The mentoring process within the Donald C. Stone (DCS) Center is a one-onone relationship that could forever change the careers of supervisors, managers and executives within public works. Imagine you are interested in becoming a team leader or supervisor for the first time. Imagine you are an experienced mid-level manager who was just given the opportunity to lead a cross-functional team for a new sustainability project. Imagine you are an executive who has just taken a job in a city in the tornado belt. Imagine you are a female engineer, wondering how to position yourself for advancement within an engineering consultant firm. 10 APWA Reporter
August 2012
If you are a candidate seeking credentialing within the DCS Center, you will have an opportunity to select a mentor from the top leaders within public works to guide, support and move you as you practice new skills and competencies beyond your current capability and prepare you to be one of the next generation of competent leaders. Wouldn’t it be reassuring to try new skills and concepts, be creative and innovative and not walk through the land mines by yourself?
Mentoring programs are increasing in number and scope Mentoring is not new, but the variety of mentoring programs has grown in number and scope to include small, medium and large corporations and nonprofit organizations. Mentors exist for a multitude of programs: doctoral students (University of Maryland, Baltimore County); to attract, retain and develop leaders (California International City/County Management Association); to pass along best practices internationally (ICMA Uganda); to encourage leaders to coach the next generation of local government professionals (ICMA’s Legacy Leaders Program); to train and support venture capitalists (Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Venture Fellows); to support and encourage engineers and scientists (The Young Employee Success Network); to support law students through cyber-mentoring (Rutgers-Newark Law School Alumni Association).
Raytheon is a company that prides itself in hiring, retaining and developing world-class talent. They do so through mentoring. Sandra Beckett, Raytheon University programs manager, advises new hires, “Make sure that once you come aboard, you obtain a mentor as quickly as possible. It can make a world of difference in your career.” At the DCS Center you select a mentor from a pool of nationally recognized public works leaders who have committed themselves to a service credential. The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) uses mentoring to ensure leadership succession. They use retired and experienced principals to train, advocate and support newlyassigned principals. Principals give back to the profession by supporting newly-assigned or even experienced principals through mentoring. The International Association of National Public Health Institute (IANPHI Advocacy) uses mentoring to develop leadership among its membership. Like DCS, mentors and mentees in the IANPHI program develop a plan of action and set goals and milestones which they use to keep priorities clear in an ongoing, evolving process. There are increasing numbers of articles and how-to books about mentoring. It is catching on as one of the driving human resources processes in succession planning
