La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat, La Crosse City Planner Jason Gilman, and Onalaska Mayor Joe Chilsen spoke to our Young Professionals group on leadership in 2017. Here’s what we heard them say on their methods and the foundations to their leadership.
Leave a place better than how you found it
Tim Kabat
[on collaboration] I ask, “How is this for the greater good?”
Joe Chilsen
Look to the triple bottom line:
- Social: is it something people can lean on
- Economic: does it provide stability
- Environmental: don’t pollute our nest
Our job is to make lives better. We need a network to make things better.
Joe Chilsen
You have a moral obligation to make people’s lives better.
You have a moral obligation to find the truth.
Joe Chilsen
[on disagreeing with the public] A city’s plan is the public’s.
Jason Gilman
[on how to treat people] “Dancing with the Holy One”: I never know if the person I am interacting with is Jesus.
Joe Chilsen
You can’t be a planner and not care. You need emotional intelligence. You need to know how to turn something positive.
Jason Gilman
Mobilize all resources. Get more engaged in social issues. Seize opportunities with the economy. Leverage. Spend money on concrete items because it makes an impact on the economy.
Tim Kabat
Live by the Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated.
Tim Kabat
I am at my best when someone is at their worst
Joe Chilsen
