County Executive As Change Agent

I had the pleasure of attending a breakfast event where the keynote speaker was Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.   She has done a remarkable job in her first nine months in office, balancing a budget that was over $300 million in the red and pushing an intransigent County bureaucracy toward greater efficiency and effectiveness.  I asked her “as a leader, what was your strategy for dealing with people who were resistant to change?”  She replied that in a few select cases she had to let individuals go, but in most instances she was able to convince people that her proposed changes were in their best interest.  She got them to recognize that if they delivered better services to their constituents, their own political stock would rise.  Clearly Ms. Preckwinkle understands a basic principle of leadership that my colleague Dr. Mark Brenner often espouses: you can’t push a rope.  Trying to impose change on a workforce simply by declaration or command is unlikely to produce good results.  The best way to motivate people is to demonstrate, clearly and consistently, what’s in it for them.  She has coupled this approach with a performance management system designed to hold people accountable.  Ms. Preckwinkle impressed me as an incredibly thoughtful, talented executive.  I wish her and her team continued success.