The Role of Canadian City Managers
In Their Own Words
Published on 18. May 2023
Book
Hardback
376 pages
978-1-4875-4886-5 (ISBN)
Description
Local government has rapidly become both more important and more complex and the quality of municipal management is becoming more significant every day as local governments deal with a vast array of organizational and community challenges.
The Role of Canadian City Managers brings together experienced city managers and municipal chief administrative officers (CAOs) across Canada to analyse the daily issues that they face. Each chapter deals with a particular issue or challenge, such as council/staff relations, collaborative initiatives, and crisis readiness. The book contributes to the literature on local government and public administration by providing insights from the "real time" lived experiences of city managers, spoken in their own words. The book also speculates about the contemporary leadership role of the city manager and the future of the city management profession.
The Role of Canadian City Managers is a useful resource for scholars and students of local government and public administration, as well as public servants who work with or aspire to leadership roles within local government.
The Role of Canadian City Managers brings together experienced city managers and municipal chief administrative officers (CAOs) across Canada to analyse the daily issues that they face. Each chapter deals with a particular issue or challenge, such as council/staff relations, collaborative initiatives, and crisis readiness. The book contributes to the literature on local government and public administration by providing insights from the "real time" lived experiences of city managers, spoken in their own words. The book also speculates about the contemporary leadership role of the city manager and the future of the city management profession.
The Role of Canadian City Managers is a useful resource for scholars and students of local government and public administration, as well as public servants who work with or aspire to leadership roles within local government.
Reviews / Votes
"The Role of Canadian City Managers offers an insider's look into a little-known (or clearly understood) profession for the average person, and anyone interested in the functioning of Canadian municipal governance, or political science in general would find particularly insightful." -- Ryan Mitchell * <em>The British Columbia Review</em> *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
8 b&w figures, 2 b&w tables
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
721 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4875-4886-5 (9781487548865)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Michael Fenn has been an Ontario Deputy Minister, municipal CAO of Hamilton Region and Burlington in Ontario, and founding CEO of Toronto-area transportation and health authorities.
Gordon McIntosh is adjunct faculty at the University of Victoria, a sessional instructor in the School of Business at the University of British Columbia, and a sessional instructor in the School of Leadership at Royal Roads University.
David Siegel is a professor emeritus of political science at Brock University.
Gordon McIntosh is adjunct faculty at the University of Victoria, a sessional instructor in the School of Business at the University of British Columbia, and a sessional instructor in the School of Leadership at Royal Roads University.
David Siegel is a professor emeritus of political science at Brock University.
Content
Introduction
1. The City Management Profession: More than a Job
Janice Baker
2. Aspirational Incrementalism: Developing a Vision
Bruce Macgregor and David Szwarc
3. Building Support for Strategic Planning and Priorities
Chris MacPherson
4. Using Your First 100 Days Strategically
Patrick Moyle and Hassaan Basit
5. The Challenge of Leading Up: Strategic Alignment with Council
Jeff Fielding and Kate Graham
6. Council/Staff Relations: Forward Motion or Spinning Wheels?
Tammy Crowder
7. The Most Important Relationship in Local Government: Mayor and City Manager
Bill Given
8. City Manager and Mayor: Independent or Partners?
Carl Zehr
9. What Does Diversity-Inclusion Look Like in Action?
Shirley Hoy
10. Diversity from Bottom to Top: The City Manager and Workforce Diversity
Sheila Bassi-Kellett
11. Indigenous and Municipal Relationships: The Art of Collaboration
Ann Mitchell
12. The Gift of Clarity and the Freedom to Innovate
Robert Earl
13. Rowers, Coasters, and Drillers: How Team-Building Can Improve Your Crew
John Leeburn
14. Five Strategies for Successful Municipal Intergovernmental Relations
John E. Fleming
15. Leading Beyond: Building Relationships for Intergovernmental Collaboration
Gail Stephens and Zack Taylor
16. Resilience in a Crisis: Towards an "Antifragile" Organization - The Case of Gatineau
Marie-Helene Lajoie and Pierre Prevost
17. Managing during a Crisis: Lessons from Fort McMurray
Jamie Doyle and Don Lidstone
18. Building Partnerships: Hard Work, Patience, Commitment, Adaptation, and Opportunities
Jag Sharma
19. Nurturing the Community's Soul Source
Linda Rapp
20. Community Development: Navigating the Rocky Shoals of Community Change
Robert Buchan
21. From Dreams of Being a Rock-and-Roll Drummer to City Manager
David Calder
22. A City Manager's Career Journey
John Burke
23. Mentoring: Building the Next Generation of Municipal Professionals
Tony Haddad, Gerard Lewis, and Jim Pine
24. The Canadian City Manager
Michael Fenn, Gordon McIntosh, and David Siegel
List of Contributors
1. The City Management Profession: More than a Job
Janice Baker
2. Aspirational Incrementalism: Developing a Vision
Bruce Macgregor and David Szwarc
3. Building Support for Strategic Planning and Priorities
Chris MacPherson
4. Using Your First 100 Days Strategically
Patrick Moyle and Hassaan Basit
5. The Challenge of Leading Up: Strategic Alignment with Council
Jeff Fielding and Kate Graham
6. Council/Staff Relations: Forward Motion or Spinning Wheels?
Tammy Crowder
7. The Most Important Relationship in Local Government: Mayor and City Manager
Bill Given
8. City Manager and Mayor: Independent or Partners?
Carl Zehr
9. What Does Diversity-Inclusion Look Like in Action?
Shirley Hoy
10. Diversity from Bottom to Top: The City Manager and Workforce Diversity
Sheila Bassi-Kellett
11. Indigenous and Municipal Relationships: The Art of Collaboration
Ann Mitchell
12. The Gift of Clarity and the Freedom to Innovate
Robert Earl
13. Rowers, Coasters, and Drillers: How Team-Building Can Improve Your Crew
John Leeburn
14. Five Strategies for Successful Municipal Intergovernmental Relations
John E. Fleming
15. Leading Beyond: Building Relationships for Intergovernmental Collaboration
Gail Stephens and Zack Taylor
16. Resilience in a Crisis: Towards an "Antifragile" Organization - The Case of Gatineau
Marie-Helene Lajoie and Pierre Prevost
17. Managing during a Crisis: Lessons from Fort McMurray
Jamie Doyle and Don Lidstone
18. Building Partnerships: Hard Work, Patience, Commitment, Adaptation, and Opportunities
Jag Sharma
19. Nurturing the Community's Soul Source
Linda Rapp
20. Community Development: Navigating the Rocky Shoals of Community Change
Robert Buchan
21. From Dreams of Being a Rock-and-Roll Drummer to City Manager
David Calder
22. A City Manager's Career Journey
John Burke
23. Mentoring: Building the Next Generation of Municipal Professionals
Tony Haddad, Gerard Lewis, and Jim Pine
24. The Canadian City Manager
Michael Fenn, Gordon McIntosh, and David Siegel
List of Contributors