Coping With Nasty By Mike Conduff, ICMA-CM When a management colleague called, our conversation went like this: “Mike, you are going to have to talk me down off the ledge! If the councilmember I told you about speaks like that to a staff member again, it may come to blows!” I could palpably feel the tension and stress in my colleague’s voice across the phone connection. It was clear this was a major issue and that it had become personal. His words remained clipped and forceful as he began to relate how, at just about every council meeting, the newest elected official singles out a staffer to give the third degree. He is an equal opportunity offender in that he passes it around, and he keeps getting worse. His method is to ask involved, often obscure questions and to take copious notes. He then cross examines the staff member, trying to catch the individual in a misstatement or contradiction. When he finds one—and he always seems to find one—he tries to intimidate and humiliate the staff member. My colleague admitted to having tried all of the methods that I had him use in the past. He had met with the councilmember one-on-one and met with the councilmember and the mayor. He had the mayor and another councilmember meet with the elected official too. He had taken him to lunch, and he had called him the day of the meeting, He traveled with him to conferences and to state league meetings.
Assessing the Situation Recognizing that this was incredibly serious for my colleague, I began to ask questions. My first one was “How does he treat you in those less formal environments?” The response was that outside of the council meetings, he was cordial if somewhat reserved, but at the meetings he was an attack dog. My next question was to find out how the rest of the councilmembers react when the inquisitor starts in. The response this time was that they all look like they wish they were somewhere else, but none of them will challenge him in public anymore. He treats them about as badly as he does staff if they cross him. Plus, he has contributed to several of their election campaigns, so they feel like they owe him. My final question was to find out if my colleague thought the official was trying to chase him away from his current management position; however, that didn’t seem to be at the top of his agenda. He also didn’t think it would matter if he left. In fact, that most likely would embolden the official to become even more aggressive. At least right now, my friend could run some interference for staff. Additional Coping Behaviors I knew this was not a simple situation. After contacting my governance colleagues and some former elected officials who I respect and could talk with, I recommended several behavioral approaches: j
Stay calm and recognize it isn’t personal. The inquisitor would be acting this way irrespective of who sits in the manager’s seat.
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