Internet Explorer 11 is not supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.
GOV_otis-white

Otis White

Contributor

Otis White is president of Civic Strategies Inc., an Atlanta-based firm that does collaborative and strategic planning for local governments and civic organizations. He also writes frequently about civic leadership and change, in his blog at otiswhite.com and in national publications such as the New York Times. He originated the Urban Notebook feature on Governing.com in 2002, posting daily for five years.

In 2012, White published a multimedia book, "The Great Project: How a Single Civic Project Changed a City," for reading on an iPad. He hosts podcasts about civic leadership and is helping to create an annual event called the Civic Exchange to explore urban successes and how they come about. You can learn more about him at the Civic Strategies website.

Fiorello La Guardia, New York's legendary mayor, ran every aspect of the city from his desk. That's nothing to emulate.
Courage provides the strength to say and do the right things. It's also what separates the best of us from the crowd.
It's not enough to come up with a good idea. You need figure out how to build an army of supporters.
How do you handle the insults that come with public life? Techniques can help, but the best leaders draw on something deeper.
Projects that define cities are complex, difficult undertakings. We need a template for putting these efforts together.
What the best public-sector leaders do doesn't sound very exciting. It helps to be great at chess.
Four questions are all you need. They're simple, but they're not easy.
As a public leader, what you do before a calamity strikes is just as important as what you do once you're in the middle of it.
Turning a governmental organization around requires a combination of partnership and trust. That can't happen as long as everybody is pointing fingers.
Getting the public behind you is critical, but it isn't easy. Nobody did it better than Franklin D. Roosevelt.