Craig’s Corner May 2022
The New Era of Leadership and the Power of Relationships
It’s hard for me to believe that we are over one-third of the way through 2022! I hope your budget season is going well; for many of us, our elected officials have already adopted a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, while others of us will still be working into June to get this annual task completed. Wherever you are in the process, I hope you are finding time to refresh and recharge – this season can be one of the most stressful times of the year for you and your staffs.
Speaking of refreshing, recharging, and reconnecting, how would you like to spend a few days at the beach, spending time with your friends and colleagues focusing on building relationships and discussing shared values? I hope you are planning to join us June 8-10 at the Sheraton Oceanfront Hotel in Virginia Beach for our VLGMA Summer Conference. The theme for the summer conference is “Welcome Back: The New Era of Leadership and the Power of Relationships;” conference co-chairs Eric Pollitt and Joseph Quesenberry have assembled a great agenda, with sessions on embracing generational differences, recasting work culture in an age of transformation, dealing with inflation in the local government bid environment, and much, much more. We’ll also have lots of time for networking and just hanging out with our colleagues, which is where I always learn something new to take back home!
As I’ve mentioned in several of my newsletter columns this year, during my term as president I have tried to help our organization focus on the next generation of leadership in our profession. Many of us will be retiring from our organizations in the next 5-10 years, and it is critical that we provide support for our members who are in the early stages of their local government careers so they will be ready to assume these opportunities as they occur. As co-chairs of the summer conference, Joseph and Eric are two excellent examples of young managers who are looking to become more actively involved in our organization. I encourage each of us to identify young leaders in our localities and encourage them to become involved in VLGMA.
It’s not too late to submit a colleague (or yourself) as a nominee for a VLGMA officer or executive committee member for 2022-2023. We are actively seeking members who would be interested in serving as Secretary of VLGMA for the upcoming year; this position is part of the leadership track for our organization, and will allow the successful candidate to move into increasing roles of leadership, culminating in the role of President. Members of the executive committee are also actively involved in the operations and direction of our organization, and meet several times during the year to review the issues of VLGMA. If you are interested in these opportunities, or know another member who is, please let Past President Cindy Mester, Janet Areson, or me know!
Our organization continues to grow – please join me in welcoming this new member to VLGMA: Anthony McDowell, Deputy County Manager for Public Safety, County of Henrico.
I look forward to seeing you at the beach in a couple of weeks! Thank you for your support of our organization –
All the best,
Craig