Leadership Academy

Local governments are experiencing retirements and staff reductions.  This decreases institutional knowledge and increases everyone’s workload.  This also heightens the need for governments to identify future leaders. The CLG Leadership Academy was designed to address those needs.  In addition to providing an educational opportunity to current and future organizational leaders, the Leadership Academy will provide a chance to build relationships between employees of neighboring governments who may not otherwise have a chance to interact. 

The Leadership Academy consists of 6 classes– one every month.  All Leadership Academy classes are taught by a mix of local government practitioners and subject matter specialists.  Classes are designed to focus on practical applicable skills, such as effective communications, leadership styles, human resources and finance. 

The Leadership Academy by the numbers:

• 230:      Leadership Academy graduates working across the region.

• 130:       Leadership Academy’s local government professional instructors have over 130 years of combined experience.

• 23          Governments who have sent at least 4 of their employees through the Leadership Academy

• 5:            Number of Leadership Academy graduates who now hold City Manager or Township Administrator positions.

• 53:          The number of Center for Local Government or Miami Valley Risk Management Association member governments who have employed a Leadership Academy graduate

• 2019:   The Leadership Academy won the Ohio City/County Management Association 2019 Intergovernmental Cooperation Award.

Who should participate in the Leadership Academy?

The Leadership Academy is designed for any employee of a CLG or MVRMA member community who wants to improve their leadership or management skills. This could include lower or middle managers, or non-managers who wish to enhance their skill set to move into a leadership position. The Academy is also open to people who currently hold senior management positions (including that of Chief Administrative Officer).

What are the benefits of participating in the Leadership Academy?

  • Leadership Academy participants will learn leadership and management techniques from a mix of practicing local government professionals, instructors from local universities, and other subject matter experts.
  • Participants will have a choice of one of two one-day courses taught by Xavier University, alongside other local government and business professionals.
  • Participants will have an opportunity to meet and build relationships with people on a similar career track from neighboring jurisdictions. This may help spur future intergovernmental collaboration.
  • Our 205 Leadership Academy graduates can often be found today sharing information or working together on projects together on behalf of their communities. You will get to meet some of these alumni to discuss how to best leverage your Leadership Academy experience.  In fact, Leadership Academy alumni teach both our Budgeting / Finance class and our Economic Development and Land Use class.

 CLG Leadership Academy Informational Brochure

What classes will I take?

LOCAL GOVERNMENT 101

An introduction to the CLG Leadership Academy, this class provides an overview on local governments,  and it’s various structures and roles.  This class will also cover the role of the Administrator, elected officials, and other government officials.  The main question this class answers:  What do you know about local government in the tri-state area? 

XAVIER UNIVERITY LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

Leadership Academy participants have the option of selecting one of two Xavier University Public Sector Leadership Institute course offerings:

  • Effective Decision Making:

    In this one-day pro-
    gram, participants will explore various ways and methods to make decisions as both an individual
    and as a leader. Then, the program will focus on how to build a culture of effective decision-making
    within an organization. Real-world examples and interactive activities will guide discussions and
    showcase examples of great and not-so-great decision-making skills.

           -OR-

  • Creative Problem Solving:

    You will walk away from this session with increased confi-
    dence to generate creative ideas, techniques to recognize/replace unproductive thinking patterns,
    and a methodology to foster creative potential and innovation. Participants are encouraged to think
    about real-life organizational problems and bring these situations to the program to discuss and
    brainstorm together. By walking through these problems together, participants will learn the steps
    to creatively solve problems.

COMMUNICATING IN THE WORKPLACE AND IN PUBLIC

You will learn about conflict resolution in the workplace, listening for understanding, and public speaking skills. This will include a number of interactive activities in order to hone your skills on these topics. 

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

You will cover interviewing, performance, evaluation, employee discipline, and other practical human resources issues that apply at the department head level in a local government.  Participants will have the opportunity to practice interviewing and performance evaluation techniques during this class.

BUDGETING AND FINANCIAL PRINCIPLES

This class covers the basics of fund accounting, revenue and debt.  The class also addresses budget policy, including topics such as the budget process, capital and operating funds, restricted funds, enterprise funds, and the general fund.  This is all done with an eye on helping employees know what to consider to make a good budget recommendation. 

LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

See how economic development and land use affect all of the aspects of government operations.  This class will also teach you about the different players and tools in the economic development and land use arena.  You will also hear from representatives of the regional economic development organizations that help us compete with our peer cities.  

Recent Leadership Academy Graduates