Table of Contents

Introduction

1. The City Management Profession: More than a Job
Janice Baker

2. Aspirational Incrementalism: Developing a Vision
Bruce Macgregor and David Szwarc

3. Building Support for Strategic Planning and Priorities
Chris MacPherson

4. Using Your First 100 Days Strategically
Patrick Moyle and Hassaan Basit

5. The Challenge of Leading Up: Strategic Alignment with Council
Jeff Fielding and Kate Graham

6. Council/Staff Relations: Forward Motion or Spinning Wheels?
Tammy Crowder

7. The Most Important Relationship in Local Government: Mayor and City Manager
Bill Given

8. City Manager and Mayor: Independent or Partners?
Carl Zehr

9. What Does Diversity-Inclusion Look Like in Action?
Shirley Hoy

10. Diversity from Bottom to Top: The City Manager and Workforce Diversity
Sheila Bassi-Kellett

11. Indigenous and Municipal Relationships: The Art of Collaboration
Ann Mitchell

12. The Gift of Clarity and the Freedom to Innovate
Robert Earl

13. Rowers, Coasters, and Drillers: How Team-Building Can Improve Your Crew
John Leeburn

14. Five Strategies for Successful Municipal Intergovernmental Relations
John E. Fleming

15. Leading Beyond: Building Relationships for Intergovernmental Collaboration
Gail Stephens and Zack Taylor

16. Resilience in a Crisis: Towards an "Antifragile" Organization – The Case of Gatineau
Marie-Hélène Lajoie and Pierre Prévost

17. Managing during a Crisis: Lessons from Fort McMurray
Jamie Doyle and Don Lidstone

18. Building Partnerships: Hard Work, Patience, Commitment, Adaptation, and Opportunities
Jag Sharma

19. Nurturing the Community’s Soul Source
Linda Rapp

20. Community Development: Navigating the Rocky Shoals of Community Change
Robert Buchan

21. From Dreams of Being a Rock-and-Roll Drummer to City Manager
David Calder

22. A City Manager’s Career Journey
John Burke

23. Mentoring: Building the Next Generation of Municipal Professionals
Tony Haddad, Gerard Lewis, and Jim Pine

24. The Canadian City Manager
Michael Fenn, Gordon McIntosh, and David Siegel

List of Contributors

About the Author

Michael Fenn has been an Ontario Deputy Minister, municipal CAO of Hamilton Region and Burlington in Ontario, and founding CEO of Toronto-area transportation and health authorities.

Gordon McIntosh is adjunct faculty at the University of Victoria, a sessional instructor in the School of Business at the University of British Columbia, and a sessional instructor in the School of Leadership at Royal Roads University.

David Siegel is a professor emeritus of political science at Brock University.

Reviews

“The Role of Canadian City Managers offers an insider’s look into a little-known (or clearly understood) profession for the average person, and anyone interested in the functioning of Canadian municipal governance, or political science in general would find particularly insightful.”
*The British Columbia Review*