Well, the budget study sessions were scheduled to be three meetings with a forth scheduled if necessary. In the end it took five meetings, and the final two were both over six hours. All the sessions have taught me a lot, and it seems fitting that my internship nears its end with these meetings. I will keep my comments brief, and as this is a public forum will also keep them relatively general. I doubt many of you follow Peoria politics, so this may seem random... but if anyone does know the city's politics you'll probably not have trouble reading between the lines of what I say. Also, some of the things I learned may same pretty basic but I think seeing things in action is so much more important than thinking about or reading something.
First, if you don't have something worth saying it might be a good time to keep quiet. This is something several council members should keep in mind, and one in particular. When this person would speak I couldn't help but think of a scene from Anchorman...
If you don't remember, or haven't seen the movie Champ tells Ron how much he misses him and goes a little to far until it just becomes creepy. I'm not saying a council member in Peoria is that creepy, but they should know when it's time to sit out a few plays.
Next, the first rule of politics... count the votes. The council has really shifted in recent months, and things have definitely changed. Certain things staff thought would skate through and be happy parts turned into real trouble. My point of this is that in a volatile environment you can't take anything for granted.
Third, prepare as much as possible and be ready to admit when you don't know something. I think this is self-explanatory.
Finally, patience. So many times in school I heard about political savvy. Knowing what to say and when to say it. I heard about following the council, even when you knew a better way. I heard about being the best manager you can in difficult situations and working in times of low morale. These things are so much more real than they have ever been. I'll just say the last few weeks has been a great time to be an intern and learn in Peoria.
On another note, I've almost posted all my internship related posts so look for a few more personal posts coming in the next few days, one more career post, and just a couple more internship posts to wrap up this semester.
Admitting that you don't know something is surprisingly hard for some people. I find that a lot in my job- no one is willing to say "gee, I don't know the answer to your question but I will look into it and get back to you"...I think you have an insight that many people don't have. I think it is perfectly ok to admit you're not all-knowing.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Awesome Anchorman clip!