Second Edition The Essentials of LEADERSHIP in Government UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS By Darryl Plecas, Colette Squires & Len Garis About the Authors Darryl Plecas, University of the Fraser Valley Darryl Plecas is Professor Emeritus, University of the Fraser Valley. Prior to his retirement he served as the RCMP Senior University Research Chair and Director of the Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research in the university’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. While he continues to teach, research, and write on a range of public safety issues, his most recent focus is on improving the effectiveness of government. A second-term MLA for Abbotsford South, he is Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for British Columbia. Colette Squires, Justice Institute of BC Colette Squires is a Sessional Faculty member at the Justice Institute of BC in the Centre for Conflict Resolution, and an Instructor in Criminology for the Sociology Department at Trinity Western University. A published writer, Colette is also an organizational consultant and mediator working with government and the not-for-profit sector, providing training, conflict resolution services, research and proposal writing, organizational development, program design, and evaluation. In 2016 she was part of the design team for the City of Surrey’s new Public Safety Strategy, and she continues to work with a variety of organizations to foster community well-being, and excellence in organizational strength and leadership. Len Garis, University of the Fraser Valley Th e Fire Chief for the City of Surrey, Len Garis is also Adjunct Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. He also serves as an Associate to the university’s Centre for Social Research, as an Affi liated Research Faculty at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, and as a faculty member of the Institute of Canadian Urban Research Studies at Simon Fraser University. His most current work is focused on addressing public safety challenges through evidence-based decision making and innovation. His most recent book with Darryl Plecas, Paul Maxim, and Mona Davis, Th e Right Decision: Evidence-based Decision Making for Government Professionals, is the recipient of the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators 2016 Professional Development Award and is the third in a series of books on evidence-based decision making. Th is book has been printed on forest-free Sugar Sheet™. Produced with the waste of sugar cane, Sugar Sheet™ reduces deforestation and greenhouse gas. It looks, performs, recycles, and costs the same as traditional paper, all with a low environmental impact. The Essentials of LEADERSHIP in Government UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS By Darryl Plecas Colette Squires Len Garis Copyright © 2018 City of Surrey, Len Garis Second edition. All rights reserved. Th is work may not be reproduced in whole, or in part, by photocopy or by other means, without the permission of the authors. For more information about this book or for permission to reproduce selections of this book, please contact Len Garis, City of Surrey, at [email protected] SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY & CENTRE FOR PUBLIC SAFETY & CRIMINAL JUSTICE CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESEARCH For additional public safety publications, please visit http://cjr.ufv.ca Table of Contents Acknowledgements 6 Foreward 7 Introduction: Why is Good Leadership so Hard to Find? 9 Chapter One: Th e Inner Core of a Good Leader 17 Chapter Two: Th e Essential Behaviours of Good Leaders 25 Chapter Th ree: Th e Aspirations of a Good Leader 39 Chapter Four: Th e Skills of a Good Leader 53 Chapter Five: Th e Information Commitments of a Good Leader 81 Chapter Six: Th e Communication Commitments of a Good Leader 91 Chapter Seven: Th e Sustainability Commitments of a Good Leader 105 Chapter Eight: A Last Look in the Mirror 121 Appendix: Th e 360 Tool 129 References 134 Table of Diagrams Diagram One: Th e BASICS Model 15 Diagram Two: Behaviours Associated with Good Leadership 26 Diagram Th ree: Th e Aspirations of a Good Leader 40 Diagram Four: Th e Iceberg 46 Diagram Five: Th e Skills of a Good Leader 54 Diagram Six: Th e Information Commitments of a Good Leader 83 Diagram Seven: Th e Communication Commitments of a Good Leader 92 Diagram Eight: Th e Sustainability Commitments of a Good Leader 107 Acknowledgements he authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to those who helped bring this book to fruition. In particular we are extremely grateful for the graphic design and editorial expertise provided by Karin Mark, and the professional support provided by Vincent Lalonde, Surrey City Manager and Larry Th omas, Surrey Deputy Fire Chief. TWe also wish to thank University of the Fraser Valley student Sean Plecas, who served as our research assistant. We are especially grateful to those who provided suggestions on earlier draft s of this work, including Liz Squires of Agency Media, Dr. David Squires, Dean of the School of Arts, Media, and Culture at Trinity Western University, and Dr. Paul Maxim, Professor Emeritus, Western University. Finally, we are indebted to the input of those who provided the fi rst reviews of our fi rst edition, including Dr. Victoria Lee, Dr. Terry Anderson, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, and Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti. 6Th e Essentials of Leadership in Government Foreward am sure that if you are reading this, you have sometimes wondered what it takes to truly make a diff erence and be a good leader. Th e Essentials of Leadership in Government— Understanding the Basics is the ‘X’ that marks the spot for being a great map and accurate compass, the perfect companion as you navigate your career in civil service and strive to Imake positive and eff ective change. In your ever-so-precious times of learning, you can use this book as an excellent map to guide you through the “BASICS”, described and explained by the authors in a clear and straightforward manner, to build your leadership skills. What makes this book unique is that it can also be a trusted compass that will help you through the troubled waters of ambiguity and moments of doubt. By using the knowledge described in this book, you will be better equipped to ignore the fog, trust your inner core, and get the job done, the right way. Reading this book you will discover that the authors start with, and keep coming back to, the need for leaders to be guided through their inner core. Th e authors write as though it is the most important characteristic of leadership, and in my humble opinion they are exactly right! Situated in the heart of Metro Vancouver, with its proud and diverse half-million citizens, the City of Surrey is a great place to live and work. Surrey has the particular challenge of being one of the lowest taxed jurisdictions in the region while also delivering a very ambitious agenda. Th is feat is accomplished every day in our civic government by the leadership qualities of individuals who follow their inner core and the BASICS of leadership to contribute to Surrey’s success. Th e City of Surrey is aware that we are not unique in our quest for continuous improvement in leadership at all levels of our civil service. Th e City of Surrey has an Emerging Leaders Program which we are very proud of. Th e Essentials of Leadership in Government—Understanding the Basics is an excellent tool that we will use to form leaders of today and tomorrow. Plecas, Squires and Garis have brought you a concise, easy to read and thought-provoking reference on leadership in government. I trust you will appreciate their focus on the unique characteristics of leadership in a government setting in order to meet the challenge of the public interest. Vincent Lalonde, P.Eng. City Manager, City of Surrey 7 8 Th e Essentials of Leadership in Government Introduction Why is a Good Leader so Hard to Find? Being a leader, even a so-called successful one, is not necessarily anything to be proud of. Being a “good” leader, however, is a much different thing. nyone who has studied leadership knows there is no shortage of information available on what it supposedly means to be a good leader. Discussions on leadership are everywhere. A quick scan of the internet will produce an untold amount of material— some scholarly, some from the business world, and some from a variety of companies Adesigned to help organizations improve their leadership capacity. Professional development courses and degree programs are also available to help people become eff ective leaders. Despite all the resources available on leadership, it seems we are still experiencing a leadership vacuum. Th e concepts of good leadership, it appears, are not getting through. Over many years the authors have asked a variety of people informally to identify fi ve exceptional leaders they have come across: individuals who truly exemplify eff ective and admirable leadership. Most people cannot complete the task. Some struggle to identify a single individual they know, whom they respect as a truly excellent leader. Almost without exception, those individuals considered as possibly good leaders are identifi ed as having one signifi cant defi cit or another. At the same time, the people we questioned did not struggle to come up with examples of truly bad leaders. And they were not very forgiving in their assessments. Th is phenomenon of the bad leader and the horrible boss is so prevalent that it inspired a Stanford professor to write about them. Dr. Robert Sutton’s Th e No Asshole Rule became a New York Times bestseller, and created such a response that he wrote Good Boss, Bad Boss to continue the discussion.