ICMA’s 101st annual conference wrapped up with the Celebration of Service and feature presentation. Outgoing President James Bennett, city manager, Biddeford, Maine, presided over the final plenary event, which kicked off with a video presentation by the 2016 ICMA Conference Host Committee followed by a program of ICMA member recognition.

Celebration of Service: Recognizing Professional Achievement

In addition to the 2015 ICMA Annual Award recipients, Bennett invited attendees to recognize the 30-year, 40-year, 45-year, and 50-year (John Applegate and James Crosby) service award recipients. The program also recognized Patrick Callahan and Rickey Childers as Distinguished Service recipients and retired ICMA-RC President and CEO Joan McCallen as an Honorary Award recipient.

Following recognition of ICMA’s Legacy Leaders, ICMA Conference Planning Committee co-chairs, and the 2015 ICMA Host Committee co-Chairs, Bennett introduced the new members of the ICMA Executive Board and accepted a plaque commemorating his year of service as ICMA president.

Installation of Pat Martel as 2015-16 ICMA President

Councilmember Michael P. Guingona, who had been on the Daly City, California, council when Pat Martel first joined the municipality as assistant city manager in 1995, praised her as a “leader among leaders.” He described how former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown had hired Pat to work for him as the city’s first woman general manager, and how she has been the first woman to serve in every position she has held.

“She will lead the ICMA Executive Board with grace, determination, and dignity,” Guingona said. “If you know Pat, you know that she never does anything halfway. If she’s in; she’s all in.”

2015-16 ICMA President Patricia Martel

Following her introduction by Guingona, Martel delivered a set of inspirational closing session remarks. She described how, when she initially joined the profession, she “didn’t see women, particularly women of color,” and how, as the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants, she felt “entrusted with the responsibility of paying it forward to others.” She thanked her council, family, and partner for helping her achieve the position of ICMA president.

Martel also committed herself, with the help of members and staff, to furthering or completing work in three areas of importance to ICMA: (1) the strategic planning process, which would set the future direction of the association; (2) the executive director recruitment process, through which the board would identify a qualified replacement for current Executive Director Bob O’Neill; (3) and implementation of the recommendations of the ICMA Task Forces on Women and Inclusion in the Profession.

Martel talked about how her collection of colorful glasses was not just as an expression of her personality but a representation of the colorful lenses through which she views the world. “We have a tremendous opportunity to deal with some significant issues that ICMA has raised and examined over the past year,” she said, which would impact who will lead the organization into the future.

Martel described herself as one of the “13 percent” [of women CAOs within the profession], and said that she would prefer to see the buttons worn by many annual conference attendees read “#50 percent” rather than "#13 percent." She renewed her commitment to working with all members to gain a better understanding of what is needed to advance diversity and inclusion and cited the “creation of social equity” as high on the list of things that the association and the profession must do.

“Our emerging leaders must see those that they would like to be, or they will never embrace the profession,” Martel added, noting that these efforts would require a different set of leadership skills than those that ICMA members normally employ. She added that “building great leaders is what ICMA is all about,” and that “leadership is something that requires not just skills but vision.”

Martel challenged the audience to “think about the future of the association” and then do what one city manager had done for her by first encouraging the emerging leaders on their staffs to become a part of ICMA and then to serve as an inspirational mentor to them.

Martel closed her remarks by quoting an old Chinese Proverb: “To prosper for a year, grow wheat. To prosper for 10 years, grow trees. To prosper for 100 years, grow people.”

The Second City: Yes, And

Outgoing President Bennett then introduced the morning’s featured presenter Kelly Leonard, executive vice president of The Second City and co-author of the new book Lessons from The Second City: Yes, And. Leonard described how the concept of “Yes, And” is at the core of The Second City DNA. He told the audience that they should never say no to an idea, since no is a creativity killer. The power of no doesn’t just shut down an idea, according to Leonard, but it also shuts down people. Conversely, saying “Yes, And” creates a positive and creative environment. While managers don't need to act on bad ideas, once those bad ideas are put out there, they could inspire new ideas and ultimately make saying no to bad ideas a lot more palatable.

The Second City troupe illustrated how improvisation could be used to reverse “No, But” thinking and improve team creativity and collaboration. In one example, attendees were asked to cluster into groups of three, and to identify those three people as either A, B, or C.  Person A was tasked with pitching a new idea around ICMA’s location for its next conference, while Persons B and C were tasked with always saying no. Then the Bs were tasked with pitching idea for an end-of-conference party, while the As and Cs were tasked with saying “Yes, And,” and so on.

The Second City presentation illustrated the seven elements of improv, as discussed in the Yes, And book which Leonard co-wrote with former Second City CEO Tom Yorton. Using games such as “Following the Follower,” for example, gives everyone in a group the opportunity to be a leader. Leonard reminded the audience that leadership does not thrive in a hierarchy but instead thrives in an environment that encourages creativity and allows everyone to enjoy the success.

Leonard also described the concept of intention versus action, and how we tend to evaluate ourselves by our intentions while evaluating others by their actions. “Together we can build beautiful things,” he added, so when you come to a meeting or brainstorming session, “Bring a brick, not a cathedral” and understand that failure is not a shortcoming.