Welcome to the first Mayor’s Update of 2021. I am honored to serve as your newly elected Mayor and welcome our newest trustee, Dana White. You will notice some change in this communication: I will be sending out the weekly message on Tuesdays rather than Mondays. The format of the message has been refreshed for the New Year and new administration. I plan to use this platform to inform the public about various community events, legislation and spotlight our dozen or so Boards and Commissions that are made up of community volunteers who help inform the Mayor and Board of Trustees on issues that range from the arts to the environment, zoning, planning, historical perspective, to name just a few. We also have ad hoc Boards and Committees, appointed by the Mayor, on initiatives which involve the Comprehensive Plan, Police re-imagining, and the DPW Site development by the waterfront.
In this first issue, I would also like to share some of my thoughts with you regarding my leadership style.
Finding common ground. The ripple of empathetic leadership that spread across governments and organizations last year needs to become a tidal wave this year. My mantra for the New Year is to be relentless in providing an opportunity for others. The manipulators, bullies, and screamers are out. They need to be replaced with a radically human approach to leadership and a set of leadership resolutions for 2021.
Here are my reflections for the upcoming year:
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Purpose. At some point, we need to stop trying to make sense of 2020. Instead, we need to create a sense of purpose for 2021—an overarching “why” that will take us out of the wilderness and into a new light. Why do people live here? What choices are they making for expanding their roots and building their future with others? Purpose always precedes the first step.
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Empathy. Given all that people have gone through, empathy rules the day. It’s all about meeting others where they are, to understand their experience. We used to say, “How are you?”; now it’s “How are you feeling?” But that’s not all. The more empathetic we are, the more we broaden our view. We see beyond our own perspective—through the lens of others.
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Empower. 2020 tripped the circuit breakers; 2021 is the big reset. Change must bubble up from within this community, not merely cascade down—because, in the next two years, we’ll see more change than we’ve seen in the last ten. To paint tomorrow, people throughout our community must be encouraged to think about solutions that work widely, beyond their own personal goals.
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Collective Genius. I played lots of team sports in high school; that’s how I got scholarships to some of the best colleges. What I learned then still holds true today: teams always produce greater results than any one individual. When teams are inclusive, and differences are not just tolerated but celebrated, they become more creative and innovative—and collective genius is born. That’s how the best teams win–purpose, grit, innovation, hard work, and inclusion of differences.
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Shepherd. We also need to make sure we don’t lose anyone along the way. Change is hard and anti-intuitive. Think shepherd: occasionally in front, sometimes beside, but mostly behind.
