Building relationships key to identifying, retaining emerging municipal leaders

By KATE COIL

TT&C Assistant Editor

As nearly half of the government workforce nationwide is expected to retire within the next four years, many municipalities are facing the task of identifying the right employees to take over leadership roles.  

Dr. Brenda White Wright co-founded the East Tennessee State University's Emerging Leaders Academy and has a doctorate from the university in educational leadership. During the Tennessee Municipal League’s annual Conference and Expo in Kingsport, Wright gave a workshop providing insight into how to identify, grow, and retain emerging leaders.  

Wright recalled the importance of being identified as an emerging leader herself in 1983 when a community leader she admired recommended her for the inaugural class of Leadership Kingsport.  

“He didn’t ask me if I would like to be involved or would I like to have more information about it,” she said. “He said, ‘we’re having it, and you’re going to be in it.’ To which I replied, ‘yes, sir.’ Then, he told me the first meeting was next Friday at the chamber of commerce and that he was going to come, pick me up, and take me himself because he wanted to make sure things went well for me. Be the kind of leader who not only opens doors of opportunities for others but will walk with them through them.”  

SERVANT LEADERSHIP 

Wright said working in public service and government requires a specific leadership style: servant leadership.  

“Leadership is not for everybody, and servant leadership is definitely not for everyone. People are called to be servant leaders,” Wright said. “Servant leadership is about ‘we’ and never about ‘me.’ If you are not about making a difference in the lives of other people – making their lives better – servant leadership is not for you.” 

Public service needs servant leadership rather than ego-motivated leadership.  

“To be a servant leader, you have to know what is best for people and what they need,” Wright said. “You won’t know that if you don’t know them. You cannot build relationships with people you don’t know. Servant leaders are about making life better for people, helping people to have forward progress and improving the quality of the lives of the people they serve. When you are a servant leader, you all there to serve all the people and to make a difference in the lives of people who don’t have the power you do to help them progress and not regress.”  

One of the best ways to build these relationships is through sharing stories that develop relatability.  

“The power of storytelling is that we can use it to build relationships with people,” Wright said. “Storytelling is a powerful tool you can use to get to know people so you can relate to them. Through stories – no matter your racial, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, or generational background – you can relate through stories, particularly when you talk about families and where you live. One of the best ways we attract and retain emerging leaders is through those stories.” 

Wright emphasized servant leadership is demonstrated, not just talked about.  

“Young people are watching us,” Wright said. “They are looking at you when you don’t know that they are looking. They are watching to see if you are walking the walk, or are you just talking the talk. Emerging leaders are looking for role models – not perfect people – but role models who will speak truth, say the struggle is real, but come to the table because we want to hear from them.” 

EMERGING LEADERS 

Before one can identify an emerging leader, Wright said one must first build relationships with those around them.  

“Always be willing to hear a different perspective, other people’s stories,” she said. “As you are sharing these perspectives, listen to them through a filter of respect. If you respectfully listen to other people’s perspectives then you can get to understanding even though their experience may be totally different than yours. Only then can you move to nurturing one another and growing together. There has to be ongoing communication. If you do those things, you get to trust. Trust is the foundation of every great relationship.” 

Wright said she finds there are three keys to empowering emerging leaders:  

• Give them a voice. Ask for input before making decisions. 
• Delegate meaningful decision-making power. 
• Encourage open doors and open dialogues. 

Rather than throwing employees into sink-or-swim scenarios, Wright said good leaders provide mentorship.  

“They also want to be mentored,” Wright said. “They need our support. Don’t just throw them in there and expect them to figure it out. They need – and want – the support of long-term, experienced leaders.”  

Wright said having clearly outlined leadership development programs, highlighting core organizational values, establishing public visibility and organizational relationships, and promoting leadership success stories are all valuable tools to growing future leaders within any organization.  

Additionally, Wright said it cannot be assumed that only young employees are emerging leaders.  

“We also have to familiarize ourselves with our new multigenerational workforce,” she said. “When we talk about emerging leaders, we aren’t always talking about someone in their 20s or 30s. There are people in their 40s, 50s, or 60s who still have a lot to offer. I am in my 70s, and I’m still out here trying to serve and help.” 

RETAINING LEADERSHIP 

For many organizations that struggle to keep younger employees, Wright said she has noticed a common issue.  

“Young people want to know that they can continue to grow in their lives, in their positions, and wherever they are,” she said. “People in my generation, we often felt lucky to just have a job and didn’t think about how far we were going to go with it. A lot of us retired from that same job. A lot of young people do not stay in jobs as some of us did, and the No. 1 reason they leave jobs is because they want to leave the leadership in those jobs. They don’t leave jobs; they leave bad leaders.” 

In her work, Wright said the biggest reason she sees why people turn down leadership opportunities is fear. She said she often breaks fear down into an acronym meaning “false expectations appearing real.”  

“Fear, I believe, is what often stops people from stepping up, either because they think they’re not worthy or qualified, or because they were told all their lives they didn’t measure up,” she said. 

To counteract this, organizations must provide experienced mentors who are willing to build relationships with and support the growth, development, and idenfication of  emerging leaders. Wright said one way to retain emerging leadership is to pair members of different generations together for two-way mentorship programs.  

“I learn literally as much from the young people I work with as they do from me,” she said. “These kids have very real lived experiences that I cannot relate to. There are generational differences right in the populations you serve. You need to know about these different populations because they all have different lived experiences and all bring something different to the table. Younger people know a lot of stuff us older people don’t know because of the way they grew up.” 

Ultimately, Wright said growing and retaining leaders requires allowing them to get their hands dirty and make mistakes.  

“Empowerment is the cornerstone of high-value engagement and long-term employee retention,” Wright said. “They want to be heard. They don’t just want to hear what the decision was but be part of the decision. That is what empowerment is about: showing them that value. They need not just a seat at the table but a voice at the table, a voice that you listen to. You get better at making decisions by making decisions and learning from mistakes when you make them.”