LEADERSHIP

The sheriff and the outlaw

Sometimes senior leaders in local government are the sheriffs and sometimes the outlaws, and the trick is to know when to be which, says Blair Mcpherson.

You have to lay down the law at times. Your job is to insist on a no smoke and mirrors budget proposal, enforce the corporate approach despite its unpopularity, and insist on a partnerships approach even where shared priorities don't always match up perfectly. 

Sometimes your ask for forgiveness rather than permission approach gets you in trouble. Your use of those funds in a slightly unorthodox way. When you articulate the vision more clearly than cabinet wanted. Your habit of failing to clear a media statement with the communications team.

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