Lessons I’ve Learned in a Dozen Years as Mayor Mike Levsen, Mayor, City of Aberdeen When speaking at leadership seminars and classes I start by saying this: “Avoid doing things that lead you to make mistakes and bad decisions or you won’t last long enough to accomplish what you want to get done.” Sure, I still make some mistakes, but we give ourselves the best chance to get things right if we avoid bad habits that get in the way. These concepts may not all fit your style or personality, but I see the validity of them for me reinforced every day. Here are ten lessons I’ve learned: 1. Don’t take anything personally, even if it is. We all get insulting, ignorant, and profane calls and emails. Who hasn’t heard this: “What the **** is wrong with you idiots?” It would be natural to lash back aggressively, but that just puts the game in their court. Often the caller wants to get into a fight; so, if you don’t take the bait, you
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take charge of the situation. An even-tempered and businesslike response either calms the caller or frustrates their effort to get a reaction. Either way, you win. Also, don’t read self-generated social media comments. It’s a distorted opinion sample that gets in the way of uncluttered thinking. 2. Every day is a new day. Make it a point to start every day without carrying over resentments from yesterday’s events and without trying to impose an emotional penalty based on a previous issue. An effort to recall me from office failed and I’ve never mentioned it to those who wanted to throw me out. That’s not saintly, it’s self-interest. Vindictiveness feels good, but hurts your efforts to get things done going forward. Those people and I quickly moved on to working together. 3. When we hurry up and violate process, it’s usually trouble. In my first months in office, a rush to get landscaping ordinance into place resulted in a commission meeting overflowing with justifiably angry contractors. It taught me
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