Interview: Director of Intergovernmental Relations

One of the assignments for my internship is to interview one of my supervisors OR profile a person who has a career that you aspire to. I chose my supervisor Leah Hubbard, the Director of Intergovernmental Relations at the Town of Gilbert. As you can see from her picture above she is out of this world!

As a municipal lobbyists, Leah works with elected officials, special-interest groups, and local organizations to influence policy and legislation to enhance interest  imperative to the citizens of Gilbert. Her goal is to "work with legislator and communicate to them the needs and proprieties of our town." She does this by building positive and productive relationships which requires the ability to be a proactive listener and work with diverse groups of people and opinions.

When I asked her how she chose her career, she said, "I didn't. It chose me". Leah grew up in Arizona, but attended University of Texas for her Bachelors of Arts in Government and Politics and her Master's in Public Affairs. She worked on several election campaigns in Texas, but returned to Arizona to reside with her family. She credits networking, volunteer work, and hard word to her current position at the Town of Gilbert. After she moved back finding a job in her area was extremely hard to find, but she volunteered and networked to a lobbyist position at an Arizona firm and later after building positive relationships with various legislators and local municipal employees, she was encouraged to apply for the Director position at the Town of Gilbert.

As prospective director in my field, I was interested in qualities that make a good manager. Leah is all about team work, so I wasn't surprised when she said that building a good team was imperative to running a tight, well oiled ship. She mentioned  most organizations don't train people to take their place, and she finds this to be crucial to healthy organizational leadership. She said she should be "replaceable", meaning that if something should happen to her and she had to leave then her team would immediately step up and replace her role without hesitation. A good leader trains the next generation of leaders to take their place. The Office of Intergovernmental Relations hold weekly team meetings, I find them to be extremely helpful when everyone has so many things going on at once. The meetings bring everyone together, to see what we are all doing, and offer any help or advice on areas we are struggling on. We always have "daily affirmations" where we recognize a team member for their outstanding performance. I notice this helps ease any tension between members (if there is any), bring everyone together in a supportive team environment, and build positive relationships amongst the team.

One of the interesting leadership qualities Leah exhibits is the ability to be authentic. One of the first things she told me when I arrived here, was "My door is always open", and it is. She is available to answer any question I might have or even ask me questions to stimulate a conversation or encourage critical thinking. During our team meetings, Leah is the first one to ask everyone about their weekend and life events. Sometimes we talk only about work related issues, so it's easy to forget we have lives outside of work. Leah is the first one to recognize the individual behind the desk and it is one of the qualities that I feel builds loyalty and respect to the organization and her leadership ability.

I could go on and on about the many things I have learned from Leah both directly and indirectly during my internship. Here are a few things I've learned from Leah about leadership and good work ethnics:

• Networking
• Volunteer Work (build relationships and work experience)
• Never be afraid to ask
• See various sides to all stories
• Don't pretend to know everything
• Be authentic
• Build a support team
• Grow a thick skin
• Three P's (Patience, Persistence, and Politeness)