Newly-elected Mayor Jason Cole recently completed a Local Government Leadership Program (LGLP) in Knoxville. The program is designed to help local government officials enhance their leadership knowledge and skills so they can fulfill their leadership roles more effectively.
While at the program, Mayor Cole joined other elected and senior-level government officials from municipal and county governments in the state to explore ideas and strategies that could improve how citizens in Tennessee receive government services. Leaders examined (1) themselves, their organizations and policy making processes, (2) the challenges of leadership in a public sector environment and (3) the role of leaders in todayâs communities.
âLean Practices was by far my favorite topic as it is directly tied to process improvement,â says Mayor Cole. âIt focuses on finding waste in any process and building a new process that eliminates that waste. Having worked with 6 Sigma it was great to see another dynamic of these types of processes.â
Also while in the program, participants took a CPI 260 Assessment and underwent training that would better help identify their strengths and weaknesses. This would, in turn, allow everyone to better develop the tools in their own personal toolboxes.
Invitations to the program are very selective, where invitees are only selected out of a pool of applicants nominated by their peers, LGLP alumni, and staff of the Institute for Public Service.
