Maintaining Positivity in Tough Times

By Lynn Tipton, Executive Director

Without sounding too much like a Hallmark greeting card, I thought I might close out this calendar year with some encouragement to my favorite public servants – the hardworking city, county and local government managers and members of their respective management teams. You don’t need me to tell you it has been a tough year on a number of fronts. State CFO Alex Sink recently was the speaker at my Kiwanis Club meeting, and there weren’t many hopeful statements in her remarks – but I kept trying to find encouragement in her words.

Earlier this year in this column I talked about the tremendous opportunity all of us have to find innovative solutions during the toughest times – and I still believe it. But, if your energies are waning or you’re feeling discouraged, I want to help bank those coals of enthusiasm for the wonderful work all of you are doing.

The best fires are built with a layered foundation that allows for air to draft through, while keeping the heat centralized and burning evenly (this from the daughter of the former administrator of the National Fire Administration – so we learned how to build fires!). I think it is a fitting metaphor for the situation we’re in across the state: we need fresh air to come through and energize our fires, while keeping the foundational layers in place so that the embers stay hot and heat (our services and programs) can properly emerge. That fresh air can be volunteers, your councils or commissions, your employees, the advice of a friend or colleague, maybe a citizen, or an exciting article you’ve found—there are many sources. Sometimes, it isn’t until the end of the day (or as I’m falling asleep) that I realize how many good ideas I’ve come across in a day – and that I’ve often ignored them or set them aside.  I recently went through a “wish” file I’ve kept of good ideas over the past five years – and most of them are still good ideas! Now, I’ve got to find a way to put them into action.

The hardest aspect of this for those in our field right now is to not run out of fuel – we may not see more fuel sources for a half-year or longer, and that makes it hard to plan for the future. I hope the members of this association will share their ideas with one another – we are our own best resource! And, if it is time to take a few days off so that you can rekindle your own energy source, I hope you’ll do it!  My best wishes to each of you for the holidays and to a year of excellence in 2009.