Baney Completes National Leadership Program

Deschutes County Oregon -- 6/14/2011 --

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, Deschutes County Commissioner Tammy Baney was one of a select group of 19 elected county leaders from across the U.S. to participate in the 8th Annual County Leadership Institute (CLI). CLI is a rigorous program developed by the National Association of Counties (NACo) and the Cambridge Leadership Associates.

The five-day Institute, held June 5-9 in Washington, D.C., challenged the county officials to consider innovative approaches to address key issues facing their home county and residents.

Participants worked with the faculty as a group to develop a sense of direction and vision; a mechanism for innovation and creativity; a resource for invigorating organizational culture; and increased risk taking, improved decision making, team building and effective communication.

CLI curriculum was developed by Marty Linsky, co-founder of Cambridge Leadership Associates and faculty at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in collaboration with Dr. Ellen Schall, Dean, Robert F. Wagner School of public policy at the New York University specifically for NACo.

"These sessions were unlike any I have ever experienced,” Baney said. "The Institute provided a unique opportunity to learn from the experience and insights of experts in leadership development and to work with my colleagues from across the country on specific approaches to address the challenges that all counties share."

"This was not a 'How to handle the office communications or the multitude of emails and phone calls we receive; rather this was a hands on approach to pushing ourselves to take more risk and seek out opportunities to truly lead,'" Baney said.

"The county officials who participate in the institute get information, ideas, and perspectives they can’t get anywhere else," said Larry E. Naake, executive director of NACo. "These county leaders not only discussed the core principles of public service leadership with faculty, they also collaborated intensively with each other to develop new ways to attack real-life issues of importance to the residents of their counties."

For more information, contact Ruth Nybro at (202) 942.4277 or rnybro@naco.org. ##