ASSISTANTS AND DEPUTIES
How Do You Know When You’re Ready to be an ACAO? I’ve learned that it’s not about knowing when you’re ready, it’s about being prepared when the opportunity presents itself. BY KRISTEN GORHAM I have known for a long time that one day I
IT’S NOT ABOUT PICKING A PATH, BUT ABOUT FIGURING OUT HOW TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD.
wanted to be a city manager. However, city management is not always a linear path. City/County management as a profession can be complex. Roles and titles can vary by organization, by region, and by state. The specific skills required to be successful in one community may not translate to another, and there are a variety of avenues and career paths that will give you the experiences needed to be successful. I have wondered how early career professionals get their foot in the door. I have tried to understand what combination of experiences, knowledge, skills, and abilities are necessary to do the job. I have asked myself, “Am I stuck in this role? How can I advance?” I kept trying to decide what path to take to get to my goal. But the truth is, it’s not about picking a path, but about figuring out how to keep moving forward. We have all heard of analysis paralysis—the anxiety of trying to predict the next move and proactively set yourself up for success can often result in an inability to take advantage of opportunities when presented. When I was completing my MPA, a graduate of the program was speaking to current students at an event. She told us that her success was because she always said “yes” to opportunity, even if she was not sure she was ready.
KRISTEN GORHAM is assistant city manager of Chamblee, Georgia.
44 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2022
That advice has resonated with me throughout my career and has guided many of the decisions I’ve made about job opportunities, experiences, and skills that I wanted to obtain. Prior to becoming an ACAO, I served in the finance department in a large organization. It was a good position that gave me the opportunity to hone my technical skills. However, I felt that I needed more diverse experiences, so I took a position in another municipality as a management analyst. It was a newly created position that reported directly to the city manager. While at the time I was unsure how the position would allow me to grow, I knew that it possessed an opportunity to learn as much about the city’s operations as possible. The management analyst position required that I serve as central support staff for multiple departments, giving me the ability to understand the nuances, challenges, and opportunities in each area, and provide strategy and direction on behalf of the city manager. The time spent understanding and navigating each department through several initiatives, projects, and process improvement facilitation resulted in a fundamental understanding of how each department functioned, and how they could innovate, progress, and grow with the organization. At one point, I was asked what I would do to
