Sage Advice From Seasoned Leaders: With a collective 30 years of service, these retired legislative leaders have plenty of wisdom to share.

AuthorWolf, Mark
PositionLEADERSHIP

Perspective comes with time. That's why we asked these former leaders to reflect on what they learned from the years they sat in the driver's seat of their chamber. We wondered what was in their rear-view mirrors now, what they wished they'd seen coming years ago.

How did they approach the job of leader? What influenced them? What would they do differently?

In his book "Good Leaders Learn: Lessons from Lifetimes of Leadership," Gerard Seijts writes that effective leaders learn how to manage the many paradoxes of leadership. "Leaders need to be optimistic and realistic. Confident and humble. Aggressive and patient. Analytical and intuitive." These former leaders learned how to do all of this.

And from them we learn what challenges they faced, how they dealt with difficult members, what mistakes they made and what advice they would give to today's leaders.

Two are Republicans, two are Democrats. During their leadership careers, their majorities ranged from wide to slim, but each said they often reached across the aisle to get things done.

Their stories vary, yet reflect some common insight, themes and lessons learned. We've distilled them into these five pieces of wisdom.

1

BE YOURSELF AND BUILD A GOOD TEAM

Be the person the people elected. Be authentic and humble. Stay true to your values. "Everyone's going to promise you the world," says former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos. "I wanted to be an authentic fiscal conservative and genuine in the actions I took that mattered."

"Don't take yourself too seriously," former Virginia House Speaker William Howell says. He believes the biggest mistake leaders make is holding positions so strongly they appear "a little too dictatorial, making it hard to get the maximum efficiency out of your caucus."

Losing touch with constituents is the worst mistake leaders make, former Vermont Speaker Shapleigh "Shap" Smith says. "I think a lot of people, particularly if they are successful, begin to think the success is theirs alone and forget there were people who helped you."

The leaders agreed that building a great team is essential. Know your strengths and weaknesses and gather people around you who will complete the team.

"It is absolutely essential," Smith says, to build "a leadership team with the skills that complement your strengths and make up for your weaknesses. I had one staff, my chief of staff, who was my eyes and ears, political policy confidant and administrative assistant. You need to...

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