I am the leader of a political group on a town council. We are the majority group, by a margin of one, which makes me the leader of the council. One of our number is the Mayor and therefore the chairman of the Council.
Initially he stood against me for the leadership of the group and when he failed to get elected by the group, he then put himself forward for nomination as mayor and was duly elected as such. I should add that his wife and daughter are also members of the group.
He is clearly resentful about not being made the group leader and is using his position as mayor to disrupt the cohesion of the group under my leadership. He is withholding information and excluding councillors from civic functions and events. He is also carrying out trivial acts to annoy and upset the opposition, which leads to endless political niggle that upsets my group. Attempts to address this issue with him are stonewalled.
This problem is probably akin to having a disruptive member of a board, who is supported by two other people whose loyalties are conflicted.
What should one do about this?
The Team Doc Says…
I would rarely call a political council a team. There are too many competing priorities with each of these people. And sadly one of those issues is typically ego. Way too many politicians have forgotten that they are in place to serve the public — and end up serving themselves.
It sounds to me like you and the Mayor need to have a heart to heart. Obviously you are both passionate about your town and you probably have some common interests and goals.
Rather than assuming he is doing things to undermine your leadership, call him on it. But first do it in private.
And, as with any conflict, you want to make sure and keep emotion out of the conversation (I know that’s really hard) and just deal with observable behaviors.
It would probably be a good idea for your council to hire a facilitator to help you develop some joint goals and objectives that are focused on your town and its people. That would go a long way to helping you and the Mayor become more collaborative and less competitive.
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