First Person: Tips for the Council

***image1***It appears, from several recent news accounts detailing havoc and destruction wrought by certain Santa Fe elected officials due to excessive micromanagement, that some remedial management training is in order.

So, in order to assist our mayor and those councilors who seem to have forgotten their proper roles, vis-Ã -vis city staff, I have prepared a handy guide, which can be cut out and carried with them, to serve as an appropriate refresher and reminder. This guide should be consulted at Santa Fe meetings of the governing body, as well as committee meetings and before interacting with staff at all levels.


CITY OF SANTA FE MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES

FOR MAYOR AND COUNCILORS
   MACROMANAGEMENT           vs.        MICROMANAGEMENT                 

Good

Legal
                      
Benefits many Santa Feans
           
Facilitates broad visions and missions  
    
Creates high morale and team spirit 
     
Rewards cooperation and collaboration 
     
Driven by altruism  
            
Delivers quality city services for all  
   
Allows for a strong, independent city manager 
 

Empowers staff to solve problems
      
Results in city high-performance levels  
    
Enables healthy compromise on policy votes

  
Welcomes broad public input and debate     

Focuses on the future
              
Promotes long range planning
          
Bad

Illegal (see City Code)

Benefits a chosen few Santa Feans

Facilitates petty personal agendas

Creates dysfunction and divisiveness
 
Rewards backstabbing and tattling

Driven by narcissism

Delivers special favors to select few

Allows for a weak, puppet-like city manager

Terrorizes staff into immobility

Results in city gridlock

Enables trading policy votes for staff changes

Welcomes narrow input by political backers

Focuses on the present moment

Gives instant gratification at future expense




If further guidance is needed, I recommend consulting
another source of management wisdom:
“What you do not wish upon yourself, extend not to others.�
â€"Analects of Confucius, Chapter 15, Verse 23, c. 500 B.C.E.

Letters to the Editor

Mail letters to PO Box 4910 Santa Fe, NM 87502 or email them to editor[at]sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

We also welcome you to follow SFR on social media (on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and comment there. You can also email specific staff members from our contact page.