Local government elected officials are the face, and often the personality, of a community. It is easy to forget that they are also supervisors and are directly responsible for the results and objectives that their staff are expected to meet. Every single elected official is a boss in some manner. We can easily identify if, and how cowardly leaders supervise.
The following breakdown covers most examples of locally elected officials, the government structure in which they reside, and the staff they direct:
- In a city council/manager form of government (sometimes city aldermen/city administrator), elected officials supervise the city manager/administrator directly. Sometimes that is the responsibility of the mayor alone; more commonly, it’s the entire city council. In this form of government, at least one chief executive city employee- the city manager, or city administrator-reports to the elected officials.
- A Commission form of government is most often found in county government. The commissioners supervise either department heads, or a county manager.
- In a strong mayor form of government, the mayor appoints political operatives, the day-to-day operations staff. Often, these people were loyal to him/her during the campaign. The mayor can hire and fire his appointments at will. Every city does this a little differently, however, the mayor has one, or more, people he has appointed and who report to him. The Mayoral appointees typically speak for the Mayor and on his/her behalf, so in this form, the Mayor and his appointed staff are usually viewed as one and the same.
- School boards are pretty standard across the country. Voters elect a school board, which in turn hires and supervises the School Superintendent. That person manages the day-to-day operations of the school system.
How to tell…
As we see, except in very unique situations, everyone that you-John Q. Citizen- has elected, is a supervisor of someone. How well do cowardly leaders supervise? DO they supervise? Do they lead, or do they procrastinate and delegate their responsibilities to others? Have they set standards? Are the employee(s) they supervise required to meet minimum job requirements? Are these employees required to attain yearly goals and objectives? In other words, do they have annual performance reviews like the rest of us?
It all depends on the elected leadership.
How Cowardly Leaders Supervise:
- The cowardly leader is never wrong (a reoccurring theme). If a decision proves unpopular, they didn’t receive correct information from staff. If a decision turns out to be unsuccessful, they blame staff.
- The cowardly leader is indifferent. Rather than blaming staff, they simply don’t hold staff accountable. Mistakes were made, poor decisions were implemented, budget shortfalls happened, poor management (or no management) occurred. Cowardly leaders gloss over or even ignore these transgressions. The School Board Superintendent, City Manager, County Manager, City Administrator, or city/county department heads are the day to day executives that manage the governmental entity. Cowardly leaders hesitate, or refuse, to set standards for the people they supervise.
- The cowardly leader supervises out of fear. This is a corollary to #2. He, or she, operates with the following overriding priority: Do not upset the very employee(s) they supervise! Either they are afraid of losing the employee, or, the employee has important and powerful allies. Either way, the elected official ignores this most fundamental aspect of their job.
- The cowardly leader expects the chief executive to “read her mind.” Staff should move forward, whether or not there are goals, objectives, a strategic plan, vision, or just basic direction. The staff member is held accountable for something that happened. The staff member is held accountable for something that didn’t happen. In a cowardly leadership environment, the blame is laid at the feet of senior staff, whether or not there was any direction given.
- The cowardly leader knows best. This may be the most frustrating of all- the elected official who runs on a platform of open government, transparency, and listening to the people. After the swearing in, a transformation occurs and they become omniscient (I was elected, the people chose me, therefore I know). Existing employees. Prior employees. Those who worked in other governmental agencies. All are discounted.
In summary
Not every cowardly leader will exhibit all or even the majority of these traits, of course. It would be almost impossible to possess more than a few of these traits and ever be elected.
Courageous, powerful leaders are easy to identify. They set standards, create a strategic plan and vision, and hold staff accountable. A cowardly leader does everything but.
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Feel free to share below if you have seen any of these cowardly leadership tendencies.
