The Attributes of Good Local Government Leadership

The Business View – July 2018 / From the Publisher
Bill Sisson, President & CEO, Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce

Coming off the Mobile Area Chamber’s annual State of the City and County Luncheon, I feel more inspired than ever about Mobile’s continued growth and our community’s bright future.

Hearing from County Commission President Connie Hudson and Mayor Sandy Stimpson reiterated to me just how fortunate we are to have good, honest leadership at the local level – in our mayor’s office, the city council and our county commission. This should never be taken for granted.

As a Chamber executive, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some outstanding leaders throughout my career. And I’ve examined the traits of elected local government officials that lead to excellent leadership.

Good leaders know how to listen. Our local government leaders listen well. That simple but profound leadership quality gives people the courtesy they deserve.

I’ve observed over the years that many would-be opponents can be made happy, or at least not as angry, if they feel they have been heard and a fair listening process was in place.

Good leaders are nice to people, regardless of ranking or social status. I think this is more important in local government than any other setting. In the political world, effective governmental officials readily get their views adopted and tend to get the public on their side. Our local city and county leaders are quite good at this – and they are some of the most genuine people I have ever known.

Good leaders take stands. Our local leaders stand for important things in government, such as comprehensive planning, building better quality of life in the community and high-quality development. As the lead agency for economic development in our community, I can tell you that nothing wins new business more than having governmental leaders with principle-driven vision and focus.

Good leaders acknowledge problems and work to move forward. Of course, all communities have issues and challenges but, as we always have in Mobile, we can work together to deal with problems that crop up along the way.

We are blessed with excellent governmental leaders here in Mobile. Now let’s all do our part by rolling up our sleeves and working together with them to make Mobile an even better community in the future.

Click here to read The Business View – July 2018

Additional information is on the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce’s website at www.mobilechamber.com, on Facebook at @MobileChamber and Twitter at @MobileChamber.