My Leadership Style

Throughout this campaign I’ve been working with the wonderful Stephanie Pollock who has been an amazing support and leadership coach throughout this campaign. Her role has been to help me dig into my values and honour those throughout. Her ask to me has always been:

What do you want to be true at the end this?

I have spent years working on my leadership skills, this isn’t a thing that ever stops in my mind. From non-fiction books to workshops, I am all about making room to evolve and adopt new ways of showing up, and releasing those that aren’t serving me or the people I’m working with.

​So, what do I want to be true about the campaign:

• That I’ve been honest with people about my vision while meeting their concerns.
• That I’ve been transparent about who is supporting me (financially disclosing donors from early on) and what being endorsed by a PAC (political action committee) means.
• That I have campaigned like I will lead, generous communication, showing up for community, and embracing new ways of doing things.
• That I have experimented with new ways of campaigning including raising funds through selling merchandise, popping up where people are at, talking with candidates from across the city but also having the flexibility to let them go if they weren’t working.
• That I have supported communities and organizations through volunteerism, sharing their events and messages, and by contributing to fundraising events.
• That I have listened to and sought out voices of voters who wouldn’t normally be engaged.
• That I know I’ve shown up for the three campaign values of conversation, collaboration, and community.

Stand Out Campaign Moments

• Organizing Conversations Among Candidates. Four online sessions between candidates from across the city. There were requests for more opportunities but time only permitted so many. The format however was made available for anyone else to use.
• Dog Park Pop Ups. Many times we met people from across the city and got to have discussions about larger issues rather than neighbourhood specific concerns.
• Making new friends who have showed up to volunteer and strengthening my relationships with people I knew from before. I also love the messages from people I haven't yet met who are excited about a positive outlook for Calgary.

My Leadership Strengths

Flexible

I’m not afraid to pivot. If anything, running a campaign has been an exercise in releasing any idea of certainty. We’ve moved fundraisers and events online or shifted our approach to door knocking. The willingness to move forward and not dwell on what could have been is an asset I will bring to council. I know that I will bring forward motions that may not get passed, I have to be able to move on, and quickly, without complaint, and without taking it personally. It may mean going back to the drawing board to try again or abandoning it all together. I’m ready for that.

This isn’t a new skill, it’s one I’ve cultivated through years of experiences as a volunteer, running my own business, and managing volunteers in outdoor climates. Being flexible means being open to new ideas, resilient to shocks, and never losing sight of the the end goals but willing to take new roads to get there.

Innovative

I’m not afraid to try something novel, and if anything, I like to be the person who generates conversations to try and brainstorm new ways of doing. I’ve had more ideas than time to execute throughout this campaign. 

Calgary is facing complex challenges. This isn’t the time for austerity. We need leaders who want to understand the systems and encourage others to think of relevant, forward thinking systems that will help future proof our city. I am willing to champion a degree of risk in trying new solutions. I encourage us to learn from other cities and adapt successful strategies to a Calgary context. I will also encourage us to step up and design processes which others will want to emulate.

Empowering

I believe that the best work comes from people who feel supported and valued. If we are going to talk about attracting top talent to Calgary, that must include those who support running our city. Empowering local businesses is also critical. We do this by reducing barriers to operations and offering them room to innovate as well.

I want to lead through building relationships based on trust. Honesty, listening, and a pay-it-forward mentality will help our communities and our city move forward.

Compassion

Leading with a people first mentality means we are focused on impacts to real lives, not the balance on a spreadsheet when we make our decisions. Calgarians come from numerous backgrounds offering different perspectives, obstacles, and opportunities. We must serve the diverse needs of our citizens be it age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, income, or other demographic factors. We must look to serve our most vulnerable with care and attention. We must look to see who has been excluded from the decision making process and work to fold in more layers of guidance and leadership into our processes.

Areas for Growth

Leadership isn't static. It needs to evolve and grow. It’s a practice that requires reading, listening, and opening my mind to learning from others.

Not asking for help

I know my slogan is #co11aborate. And I mean it. I love bringing people together. Where I can do better is delegating tasks to other people so that I can focus on what I’m best at (bringing people together). Perhaps it’s FOMO, or slight perfectionism, or not wanting to inconvenience others. I am working on this. 

I’m also too good at saying yes. I want to be helpful, I want to see things succeed. I need to make sure I don't over-committ.

I’m quiet.

You’re probably wondering how this could be true, especially if you know me in person. What I mean is that I’m not always great at selling my accomplishments. It’s been the hardest part of the campaign, walking up to strangers and basically bragging about why they should vote for me. Even though I know I’m qualified to do this job, I’m not great at saying that out loud, often.

One thing Steph encouraged me to do was brag (politely) a little more about my accomplishments. So here’s where I let you know a few facts about me, and how I show up as a leader.

I’ve won awards in my last three jobs. At Rainforest. At Beakerhead. Running my own company (Agnes in August). They’ve been awards for ingenuity, inclusion, and the capacity to build community. I was nominated for all these awards, meaning my peers saw my work in action and felt it deserved to be recognized.

I have campaigned like I want to lead, being active in community. Here’s what that looked like in the past six months:

6. The number of community events I’ve volunteered for.
6. The number of community fundraisers I’ve supported through my own funds.
10. The number of food truck events I’ve attended where money has flowed back to the community.
3. The number of times our team has been out picking up garbage or dog poop.

Leadership is a skill you cultivate. I hope that being willing to work on mine you’re willing to vote for someone who will always be striving to do better, learn more, and model an open mindset.

Kourtney

PS. Have a favourite leadership book or podcast you'd like to share with me?