Leading Through Conflict
Anyone with local government experience knows that small town politics can get messy sometimes. People are deeply passionate about their communities, so when they think their government leaders are screwing up, they get vocal about it. In my 12 years as a small-town councillor (8 years as mayor), I witnessed three types of conflict:
- Type 1: Street-level conflict – a wave of citizen disapproval/anger that sweeps over a community triggered by either an unpopular decision and/or leadership style/approach.
- Type 2: Leadership-level conflict – local leaders who disrespect their Council colleges and/or administrative staff resulting in unprofessional and unproductive workplace dynamics.
- Type 3: Combo conflict – where disgruntled councillors leverage community-level disapproval/anger to support their own political ambitions. This is the worst!
While I enjoyed positive community support throughout much of my eight years as a small-town mayor, it was not all smooth sailing. There were Type 3 Combo conflicts that erupted from time to time threatening our positive momentum. Councillors who fanned the flames of community discontent through negative personal attacks on myself, other councillors and our administrative staff.
I know from personal experience that it is extremely difficult to behave properly when you are being attacked in a personal way. And I know I screwed up sometimes. I despise bullying, so I got a little too feisty and reacted a little too aggressively from time-to-time. This fishbowl tale touches on my experience and offers suggestions for mayors/potential mayors to consider when they are faced with leading through Type 3 Combo conflict.
My Type 3 Combo conflict experience …
Most people have little awareness of what municipal government is all about. They don’t know what their local government can and can’t do. As a result, the mayor gets credit for things s/he does not deserve and gets blamed for things that s/he has no control over. When Council selects a course of action, for better or worse, the mayor becomes the face of that decision.
In my town – Centre Wellington – our Type 3 Combo conflict was all about growth …
First a little context … Centre Wellington is a fabulous place to live and raise a family! We have two thriving urban centres (Fergus and Elora), beautiful natural features, lots of parks and trails, sports fields and arenas, a brand-new hospital, and attractive residential neighbourhoods. It is no wonder that people want to relocate here.
The downside is many of our long-term residents think we are growing too fast and losing that “small town feel”. This has been the #1 issue for the past 15 years. And I get it completely. Sometimes I feel the same way! I also know that it is impossible to “just say no” to growth. As a municipality, we are legally required to permit development projects that comply with our official plan and other requirements. If we “just say no”, these projects will just end up at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and we will be forced to abide by their ruling. And we’ll rack up a big legal bill (at the taxpayers’ expense) in the process!
Where the nasty Type 3 Combo conflict reared its ugly head was when a couple councillors got busy stirring up negative community sentiment against me, other councillors and our town’s planning staff because we did not “just say no”. From inflammatory councillor diatribes at council meetings, to enraged citizen delegations, to nasty social media posts, to a barrage of calls and emails to me and our staff, a small group of very loud, disgruntled people were causing a lot of problems.
I don’t think it is possible to really appreciate how tough it is to lead through Type 3 Combo conflict unless you’ve lived it. How hard it is to make smart, thoughtful decisions when you know people are poised and ready to criticize every move you make and ridicule every word you say. To constantly be faced with disappointment, disapproval, and/or anger from your council colleagues and community residents. To consistently state the truth when you know full well that it is not what people want to hear. But that is called leadership.
Lesson Learned
Leading through conflict is not easy, and I know I screwed up from time to time. Thinking back to my eight years as a small-town mayor, here are a few suggestions that I wished someone would have told me:
Be Confident. Not because you are “all that and a bag of chips”. But because you have legitimacy. As a mayor, only you have been elected by the people to lead a team to take actions and make decisions on behalf of your community. No one else has this authority. So go ahead and lead. Unapologetically.
Embrace Not Being Adored. Because not everyone will like you. You might as well accept this fact early on in your term of office. Work hard to do things that make sense and just let the pieces fall where they fall. This is very easy to say … but very hard to do! Be resilient.
Make that Personal Connection. Always. Even with people who don’t really like you or people you don’t care for that much. See them as fellow humans first. This doesn’t require you to agree with them, but it may provide you with some insight into their perspective. (In my quest to “get things done”, I can honestly say I messed up here on numerous occasions.)
Breathe. You need to avoid knee-jerk reactions. Before you act, before you send that email, before you pick up the phone, before you make any decisions, take time to breathe and reflect. Things are rarely as urgent as they seem in the moment. Quiet the noise around you.
If you practice these four things, Type 3 Combo conflict will not magically disappear, but it will make you resilient to lead your team in achieving positive results for your community.