LEADERSHIP

In my role as Mayor I will focus on successful collaboration and on working together for meaningful achievements. I believe in collaboration, authentic connections, and honest leadership. I believe in all of us there is a deep desire for honest communication, to understand and to be understood. We all seek authentic connections, to be known, accepted, and valued. I see the role of mayor as someone who can encourage and facilitate those conversations and connections. I believe we need to shift the culture, from an us against them mentality to an us against the problem. Governments are set up for this type of debate with those in favour and those apposed. It draws a line down the issue where if you don’t agree then you can’t support it. We need to be changing our attitudes and mindset from the council table being a place of debate to it being a place for collaborative problem solving. Focused on finding ways to come to come together and address the issues. We need to normalize conflict. Conflict is how you get to collaboration. The council table needs to be a safe place where you come as you are. Where there is space for you, your ideas and a process in place to allow true collaboration to have those ideas be heard. A place where an opposition is met with the question: What would it take to have you come along, how can this policy/idea/motion be addressed to provide space for your support. There are procedural alternatives to the current Robert’s Rules of Order. We are not required to continue using a system that creates a meeting where true collaboration and acceptance for diverse perspectives is not the focus. As Mayor I will make room for and encourage diverse perspectives and I will create a space that fosters this. It will begin by changing how our meetings are run. I will look to use alternatives to Robert’s Rules of Order such as Deep Democracy or create our own procedural system that works for us and allows us to shift the culture at the council table. You will hear a lot of similar topics being discussed during this election. Surrounding some big issues that our community is facing. Our road networks, development challenges, housing affordability, and our fire service just to name a few. It is important that we talk not only about our ideas but how we can actually achieve them. The mayor’s role, just as it is a councillor’s, is by its very nature based on collaboration. No one person on council can do anything alone. To see results and to move anything forward you'll need at least four other members of council to agree with you. No one can make promises that don’t include working with your colleagues to achieve them. This is not about one person fixing things. This is bigger than I ….. this is we. The focus should not be on whose' idea will win or who’ll get the credit for finding the solution. It's about getting to that solution and making us even better in the process. I believe it’s important to be clear in your own viewpoint while being compassionate to those whose minds and ideas differ from yours. The council table must be a safe place to present different ideas, for respectful debate and for the coming together and collaboration of differing views. The mayor must not only bring the skill of conducting a respectful and effective meeting but also set the tone where councillors and staff feel safe to think outside the box and step out on a limb with their own unique ideas and perspectives. My entire working career has in one way or another been focused on relationships. It’s an area that I am not only passionate about but one which I am also continually seeking ways to improve on. It’s a skill that benefits all aspects of my life and strength that I can confidently say I bring to the role as mayor. I am currently working towards the completion of the Collaborative Conflict Resolution program at the JIBC. The program focuses on becoming a stronger leader by inspiring others, building relationships and approaching conflict in a new way as well as learning to effectively participate in collaborative conflict engagement and resolution. I believe there is tremendous value in always expanding one's relationship skills and that it provides immense value to the role as mayor. As mayor I will create mandatory professional development for council that is focused around communication, team building, self regulation and self awareness. These are not skills that come easily, they take work and practice but they are vital strengths for anyone in their role at the council table and I will be focused on giving my council the tools they need to be successful. The tone is set in the mayors chair. It’s important to ask yourself what you want your government to look like and who has the commitment, the focus and the ability to achieve that when you cast your vote on October 15th. “Whether they stem from business or personal situations, our relationships are what support us, connect us, and allow us to progress in all aspects of our lives.” ― Michelle Tillis Lederman, 11 Laws of Likability