It’s typical, at the beginning of a new year, to establish goals that will give you a clear sense of direction right from the start. Career objectives probably top the resolutions list for most of us.

One of the keys to successfully achieving your goals is to have a partner—someone to whom you can be accountable and can count on for support and affirmation. It is our sincere intention that ICMA be that partner. We do this in many ways—by convening virtual or in-person gatherings of like-minded professionals, by offering ethics advice, by researching and highlighting best practices, and by publishing essential resources to advance the profession.

Later this month, our Research and Publications team will release the fourth edition of The Effective Local Government Manager. The original publication was released in 1983, around the same time I was beginning my career in municipal management. It was recommended to me by a mentor who was a member of the International City/County Management Association.

It quickly became my go-to resource as I progressed in my career, truly becoming a reliable professional development partner. Because the publication covered such a broad range of topics from building the public trust to infrastructure management, I would often reach for it when confronting a new area that I had been assigned to manage or a new issue I previously had not faced.

This new edition of the book—edited by Bob Lee, DPA, ICMA-CM and Michael Abels, DPA, ICMA-CM—builds on prior editions (the second was released in 1993 and the third in 2004). While the book’s title remains The Effective Local Government Manager, it is equally focused on leadership. The entirely new first chapter was co-authored by John Nalbandian, who served as a professor at the University of Kansas School of Public Affairs for several decades, and Bob O’Neill, former executive director at ICMA. Their insights into the leadership and management skills required to succeed in the increasingly complex and volatile environments of the twenty-first century come from interviews with current city, county, and town managers.

I especially appreciated the list of “qualities of leadership in a disruptive environment,” which appears at the end of this first chapter. The list includes courage, a characteristic I have often spoken of as being desperately needed in today’s era of rapid change, partisan politics, and incivility.

While the new edition does a great job of looking at the changing nature of all that is required to deliver services and lead an increasingly specialized staff, Martha Perego, ICMA’s director of membership and ethics, provides a chapter on ethics. She concisely differentiates the role of local government manager from the private sector:

Like the CEO of any organization, the successful manager must be an effective leader with a comprehensive knowledge of the field; the skill and expertise to manage a complex organization; and strong interpersonal skills to work with diverse, disparate stakeholders…. (They must) do all of the above in a way that builds trust and confidence with the public they serve.

The chapter demonstrates how the Code of Ethics serves as the foundation for decision making and gives real-world examples of its application.

Beyond leadership and ethics, the other chapters in the book provide a “how-to” approach across the traditional managerial functions of city and county management, always through the lens of building the public trust.

Many ICMA members contributed to the creation of this book and we are especially grateful to them for their time and thought leadership. Their experiences are what make this resource a true partner in helping everyone from students to seasoned managers achieve their professional development goals.

This fourth edition of The Effective Local Government Manager could not be more timely or more essential and I am excited to build even further on this body of knowledge with a new generation of leaders who will lean on this publication as I did in charting their own course in this rewarding profession.

MARC OTT is CEO/executive director of ICMA, Washington, D.C.