High-Performance Council Assessment

Practice participative leadership: Your council is not personality driven, the mayor or reeve draws on all members of the council – not just those he/she knows best or who speak the loudest.

Shared responsibility: There is full engagement of all councillors – not just those with a specific expertise, a loud “voice” or position in the “family?” No councillors carry more of the burden than others.

Aligned with purpose: Your council acts in the best interest of the municipality – individual councillors do not act in their own self-interest.

High levels of communication: There is open, transparent, full disclosure, no confidentiality breaches or undeclared conflicts of interest, and everyone has access to the same information. Your staff team knows what the council’s reporting expectations are.

Focused on the tasks of the council and the results of the municipality: Your council is focused on the strategic governance work of the council, respects the council/staff line, and readily moves beyond the task to results.

Oriented toward the future: Your council makes strategic decisions by integrating lessons learned from historical facts, present realities, and reasoned projections.

Use of diverse and creative talents: There is a deep respect for the background, skills, experience and attributes of all councillors and staff team along with a communal desire for innovation.

Rapid response to municipal needs: Your council is highly attentive to policy, risk oversight, best practice, and performance measures so they are able to respond rapidly when called on.

Healthy risk appetite: Your council has a risk appetite suitable for the municipality and the environment it is in—it decides on opportunities in a calculated and measured way, while at the same time acting with courage, wisdom, and common sense.

Comfortable with dissent: Your council maintains solidarity while being comfortable with dissenting voices, challenging assumptions and building consensus.