Hail to the Chiefs (and other senior leaders)

I've never made any plans about my career. Everything has happened quite by accident. I went to law school because I needed health insurance. Seriously. I was accepted to both law school and grad school, and I was very sick with what we now know is Crohn's. I had to stay in school to stay on my parents' health insurance, so law school it was. 

I responded to a classified ad in the newspaper, and the Mayor of Norfolk, Virginia hired me as his Executive Assistant for my first grown up job after law school. I randomly moved to Michigan 13 years ago because my then-boyfriend was from there. I ditched the guy, stayed in Michigan, met my husband, built a life, and have had a pretty great career ever since. I didn't grow up thinking I'd work in local government. Answering that classified ad solidified my fate, and I've worked in or with communities ever since. 

Two years ago I had a professional turning point, and I wasn't sure what my next steps would be. While the change was inevitable, the timing was a surprise. I took a few months off and had the best reset of my adult life, a gift for which I am very grateful. When my friend Andy asked me if I'd be his Chief of Staff should he win his mayoral race, I jumped at the chance. When we worked together for four years we'd joke that he'd run for mayor and I'd be his COS. He handily won his mayoral race and there we were - living it. 

I've been honest about struggling with work/life balance over the last nine months, and I fear that honesty has been mistaken for several things: 1) that I am unhappy in my job or 2) that I can't handle it. Neither could further from the truth. My candor is merely an attempt to relate to others. This job is hard. Balance is hard. But I wouldn't change a thing.

This week I have the extraordinary pleasure of attending the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative in New York City with one of my colleagues. The Mayor was here a few weeks ago, and this program is phenomenal. We've had an intense week of learning and relationship building with 78 other senior leaders from across the world - other Chiefs of Staff, City Managers, Innovation Directors, and the list goes on. It has been a remarkable process. 

Um yes that's Mike Bloomberg. 

Our class of ballers

We're kind of a big deal. 

Intense learning (I'm second row on the left in the fab Boden dress)

It has led me to think a lot about how I got here in my career and the rocky and unplanned road to it. Patti Harris, the CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies, spoke to us yesterday and said she never had a career plan; it all just came together. She was the first and only female Deputy Mayor of New York City (a statistic I find shocking), and when she joined Bloomberg's mayoral administration her children were ages 2 and 4. I want to be her when I grow up. 

This week has been inspiring in so many ways, and I feel re-energized and ready to innovate in Lansing. I also loved meeting other senior leaders, many of whom was dealing with the same challenges I am: the busy schedule, the work/life balance (or lack thereof), the difficulty of governing, how to engage the community, and the list goes on. It doesn't hurt that we're going through this experience in the best city in the country. 

First time I've ever walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It's awesome. 

It's also been an important time to, as my brilliant colleague says, "self-regulate". I've exercised. I've slept. The program discourages cell phone use, so I've only checked my phone during short breaks and in the evening. I've spent a lot of quality time with people who get me and what I'm trying to accomplish as a municipal leader. This, my friends, feeds my soul. I am so grateful to the BH2 team for including Lansing in this opportunity.