Former Mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, and former Mayor of Seattle, Jenny Durkan, joined Barbara McQuade for a policy talk at the Ford School about Governing in times of crisis and the challenges they faced governing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. Lightfoot and Durkan highlighted themes of resilience in the face of adversity throughout the discussion.
Jenny Durkan noted the importance of effective communication during unprecedented times and her approach to leading Seattle through the uncertainty of the pandemic. "I think you can never communicate enough, and you always think you're communicating all the time. And it's surprising how little of it penetrates. And in today's world, there is such a tsunami wave of information coming at people from so many panels, from their phone, from the TV, from their friends, and to be able to pierce through that." Lightfoot followed in this sentiment stating, "You gather the best information, the smartest minds, and then at the end of the day, you wear the jacket. You got to have confidence in yourself to be able to make decisions. And then in a crisis in particular, you've got to be able to articulate to people why. Why are you doing this versus that, how are you doing it? And be incredibly transparent about what you know, but about what you don't know." They discussed challenges they faced when they didn't always have all the answers, and ways they communicated that with the public.
The two also touched on the current politically polarized climate in which we live, and the difficulties this can cause when trying to lead and work with others. Durkan noted, "Just because you disagree with someone, they don't become an enemy. And we've got to get back to a place where we can have actual discourse and not just demonize and make people the enemy. Because people will choose not to serve and then it becomes self-selective on who will serve. And it may not be the best people we want serving us." Lightfoot added pieces from her experience in the position asserting that, "Just by virtue of the fact that you're now the person in the position of power, there's a dedicated group of folks on the right and the left that are not going to like you because they're wired to hate all authority."
Lightfoot and Durkan shared powerful insights into their strategies for leadership and urged others to get active in public service spaces. "I'm a big believer, and you've got to lead by example. You can't wag your finger at private industry or the community, if you're not willing to step up and lead yourself," said Lightfoot.
You can see the discussion here.
