Municipal Leadership Institute Simulates Challenges, Hones Skills: November 6, 2008
[High Resolution Photo] Athens, Ga. – Twenty-eight local government leaders from across the state met at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education in Athens for the Robert E. Knox Jr. Municipal Leadership Institute (MLI) October 22–25. The seminar, a partnership between the Vinson Institute and the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), brings together mayors and council members for intensive training aimed at enhancing and sharpening leadership skills.
Featured in the event were special remarks on the first day from Robert E. Knox Jr., the MLI’s namesake and mayor of Thomson, Georgia, from 1978–2008. He addressed the group about the importance, as a leader, of being open to the perspectives and needs of fellow council members, constituents, and adversaries.
Norma Tucker, first-term council member from LaGrange, appreciated the small group size and the opportunity to network with leaders from neighboring areas. “It was a wonderful chance to get together to meet and discuss the issues that we all face as local leaders,” she said.
Training included a variety of activities, including SIMSOC, an interactive simulation exercise that confronts participants with the daily problems of governing and ultimately demonstrates the necessity of communication and collaboration in achieving good governance.
MLI organizer and Vinson Institute faculty member Gordon Maner was pleased to see the impact of the SIMSOC activity on participants. “It is always amazing to see people’s reactions in the simulation environment,” said Maner. “Eventually, they learn to work effectively with parts of their communities that were previously unfamiliar to them.”
Due to its popularity and limited group size, the MLI now meets two times each year. The next event will take place in Valdosta, Georgia, April 1–4, 2009. Registration information will be available at the GMA’s Mayors’ Day Conference in Atlanta, January 24–26.
Writer: Courtney Yarbrough
