What does leadership in public finance mean to you?

GFOA asked the membership for their insights on leadership in public finance. Here are some of the responses we received.

Relentlessly exploring and unequivocally taking ownership of the roles, responsibilities, and choices available to the organization. Wholeheartedly embracing, completely understanding, and selflessly nurturing the chosen path. Being, building, and bringing resources to the organization for sound growth and continuing health.

LEE HUFFSTUTLER

Finance Director, City of Temple Terrace, Florida

As finance director of a local government entity, I am often considered the gatekeeper of the public organization. Although very important, a gatekeeper does not necessarily equate with leadership. An effective leader will exhibit by example those qualities that inspire others to follow the example. A few of the leadership traits for a finance director are motivation to accomplish financial goals, inspiration for others to examine how we do things, creativity to show new ways to accomplish the mission with fewer resources, determination and resoluteness to assure good stewardship and accountability, and a personality that brings sunshine to any issue rather than doom and gloom.

CARRIE H. NEAL

Finance Director, Richland County, South Carolina

Leadership in public finance means making the tough decisions and providing vision to our organizations. Many times the public finance officer is the person who is the bearer of bad news, but he or she can also be the individual who moves the organization forward through challenging his or her entity to achieve more. The public finance officer is in a unique position to be a leader due to an organization-wide perspective, providing support and bridging parties throughout the governmental entity to better serve the communities in which we live.

ROBERT SCOTT

Director of Finance, City of Brookfield, Wisconsin

Leadership in public finance means knowing that you're not helping anyone if you only tell people what they want to hear. Leadership is being a realist, neither overly optimistic nor overly pessimistic. Leadership is saying what you believe is true even if it's not the popular thing to say.

ROSIE VELA

Director of Finance, City of Richardson, Texas

Leadership in public finance is visioning into the future with the ability to change the organization's financial direction to meet the vision, and the creativity to accomplish it.

JAMES TERRY

Executive Director of Finance and Accounting Services, North East

Independent School District, San Antonio, Texas

Leadership in public finance is the final line of defense for integrity and trust for use of the public dollar, not only in regard to the legal right to incur an expenditure but a moral obligation to point out issues of equity and impact on future generations for long-term commitments.

CAROLYN C. SMALL

Director of Finance & Administration, METROPLAN ORLANDO

Leadership for a finance officer is one who works with management to understand the vision; assists with a financially sound plan to achieve goals; communicates with staff regarding plans and accounting requirements; understands, respects, and empowers employees to do their jobs; and motivates employees to provide accurate reporting. In addition, a finance officer must be honest, credible, and dependable. Finally, a finance officer must accept the responsibility to provide accurate information to keep a government in sound financial condition.

DIANE REICHARD

Deputy Finance Director; City of Leesburg, Florida

Leadership in public finance means helping my staff and fellow government finance officers be the best at their profession; being exceptional stewards of public funds; and acting with the highest integrity to ensure the public's trust. We lead our organizations by paying close attention to changing economic trends and financial techniques, and preparing strategic financial forecasts related to service programs, projects, processes, and organizational decisions. We educate citizens, staff, press, and elected officials and provide professional financial advice to achieve organizational objectives, while helping to manage long-term financial stability.

CRAIG CLIFFORD

CFO, City of Scottsdale, Arizona

Leadership in public finance is the ability to incorporate the financial needs and resources of the government entity into a realistic and dynamic plan that promotes the well-being of the community it serves. It requires that public financial leaders provide accurate, timely, and objective information and that they possess an understanding of the environment to which the information applies. Public finance leaders must make recommendations concerning the financial future of the community and have the courage and the determination to stand by their analysis regardless of the political consequences.

EILEEN BRADLEY

Assistant Director of Finance, Township of Lower Merion, Pennsylvania

Leaders get things done through others. Today's effective leaders understand that learning from success is a far better approach than learning from failure. That's why they coach their teams to "do it right" the first time. Just as important, coaching for success allows team members to feel more engaged and confident that they can get results.

Effective leaders inspire loyalty and trust. Trust is hard to build but easy to tear down, so effective leaders are always aware of the trust implications of their actions. Trust requires integrity. Do what's right, not just what will get you ahead. Nothing kills trust faster than demonstrating a lack of integrity.

The public sector is characterized by horizontal organizational structures--a director for every department. Effective leaders are able to get things done through people who work outside their reporting hierarchy and, in some cases, even "outrank" them. You can't force anyone to do anything; they have to want to do it. The leader who builds working relationships and generates commitment and engagement to ideas and actions will dramatically increase opportunities for success.

JEFFREY C. PARDEE

Finance Director; City of Adrian, Michigan

A leader in public finance understands that the mission of the profession is to serve the public by upholding government accountability. The leader constantly searches for innovative means to marshal all potential resources within the profession to accomplish this mission. In so doing, the leader always anticipates emerging trends and issues and rallies resources to steer these trends and issues toward strengthening government accountability.

HOWARD H. NEWENS

Yolo County Auditor Controller, California

Leadership means doing what must be done, overcoming the obstacles, persisting, staying on course. It means motivating and guiding people to achieve goals for your government, being that spark of motivation and enthusiasm, even during dark times. Leadership is the fine art of using limited resources to accomplish unlimited tasks, and to insist on succeeding, no matter what.

DIANE B.ALLISON

Chief Accountant, Judicial Expense Fund, Orleans Parish Civil

District Court, Louisiana

Leadership in public finance means guiding the organization to the best of your ability at all times based on your experiences, education, and successes and disappointments, then passing on those career experiences by mentoring, teaching, and guiding your staff and others just entering the profession.

GLENN S. KLOCKO

Comptroller, City of Bristol, Connecticut

Leadership in public finance means the proven ability to communicate financial information to decision makers in a consistent and transparent manner. It means translating technical numbers and formats into understandable information from which elected officials, management, investors, and the public can make informed decisions that may require education of a diverse audience. The leader must have and maintain reasonable controls and systems to match this awesome responsibility.

LARRY R. BEARDSLEY

Clifton Gunderson LLP, Greenwood Village, Colorado

A clear and strong vision of public fiscal responsibility with the chutzpah both to stand firm in his/her principles against political pressures and, nonetheless, to have the talent, wisdom, and creativity to include those pressures in policy decision making.

Merrill S. King

Finance Director, City of Minnetonka, Minnesota

Successful leadership in public finance requires the merger of knowledge and experiences from the past with current policies and practices to ensure that tomorrow's finances are stronger than today's. This fundamental principle must not only be learned and applied, but must also be shared with the next generation of public finance officers.

CHRISTOPHER K. MILLER

Finance Director, City of Roseville, Minnesota

As a member of the Virginia GFOA for six years and now as past president, I have had the privilege of being part of two strategic planning sessions. The VGFOA's initial mission in 1967 was to provide a resource for government accountants. In 1999, the VGFOA's first strategic plan focused on how to provide its members the education, fellowship, and professional development to make us skilled in our existing financial management profession. Now just five years later, in 2004, the VGFOA's mission is to "be the premier organization in developing leaders with financial and management expertise through education, fellowship, and professional development to foster excellence in government." The evolution from an accounting skills mindset to skilled financial managers, and now to leaders is evidence of the vested role and impact we envision our members to have in how they are viewed in their organizations by elected officials, citizens, and other leaders.

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