July 26, 2023 • 32 mins
Your host, Greg Ballard, talks with the Former Director of Colorado's Transit and Rail, Amber Blake.
🎙️ Episode 35: "Building Trust and Inspiring Teams: Unveiling the Secrets of Effective Leadership"🚀
In this episode of "The Adaptive Executive," our host, Greg Ballard, sits down with Amber Blake, the founder of Amber Blake Consulting, to delve into the world of leadership in the transportation industry. With her 20 years of experience in leadership and public sector transportation, Amber shares her journey from working in metropolitan planning organizations to directing transit and rail for the state of Colorado.
🔍 Key Insights:
- Learn about the shifting landscape of the transit industry and the growing importance of transit as a mode of transportation.
- Discover the critical role of effective leadership in shaping a thriving organizational culture within the transportation sector.
- Gain valuable insights into building trust, creating a shared vision, and fostering curiosity within your teams.
🌟 Personal Skills for Success:
Amber emphasizes the significance of emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and conscious showing up as crucial personal skills for effective leadership. She encourages individuals to manage their energy rather than time and to discover their unique time management systems.
📚 Recommended Leadership Book:
"The Speed of Trust" by Stephen Covey is a book that Amber highly recommends. It explores the importance of trust in leadership and offers practical insights on building trust within teams and organizations.
Stay connected with Amber Blake on LinkedIn to access more leadership insights and engage with her thought-provoking content!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Greg Ballard (09:10:49):
Hello, and welcome to the adaptive executive. I am your host, Greg Ballard. And with me is a very special guest, Amber Blake from Amber Blake consulting. Amber, welcome today.
Amber (09:10:59):
Good morning, Greg, thank you, it's great to see you.
Greg Ballard (09:11:02):
So first of all, I have to start off. So we've been working together for several months on on a project. And we've had a chance to get to know we were introduced by a mutual friend. And we've just had a great opportunity to do some real work together in a space that we both have passionate about. So I'm really excited to have you here on the show. And for this interview, if you would spend just a couple moments and share with our listeners, a little bit of your career background, and kind of where you know what you've done and where you are today.
Amber (09:11:31):
Absolutely. So I've been in the leadership and transportation focused Arena on the public sector side for about 20 years, I started out with a metropolitan planning organization, which really focused on broader transportation issues, you know, highways, bikes, peds transit, and really looking at the system and how we fit together and then planning for the future. So I have gone through from Seattle, Washington, to Baltimore, Maryland, Montana, and then back to Colorado, where I'm currently located. And throughout my career, I've worked for small organizations, so agencies that are, you know, 300 individuals, all the way up through very large organizations. I was the director
(09:12:21):
of transit and rail for the state of Colorado most recently. And that's a three 4000 person organization. My transit and rail team at CDOT was only 17. I grew that team to 28,during the time that I was there. And that was really exciting because the state of Colorado has a huge focus on growing transit, and the role of transit in our transportation sector. And in the role of visitors tourism, transportation in terms of freight, but transit for moving people as a primary mode of transportation in a state where you have urban settings, and a whole lot of rural area. So growing that team by about 33% was a really interesting experience in terms of building the team, creating a vision, creating
(09:13:21):
a culture, and all the whole while me managing a, you know, half a billion dollar budget, doing construction projects, as well as providing service and administering funds toall of the State Transit agencies in the state of Colorado. Another piece of my background that's kind of interesting was, I was in the municipal arena, I ran a transit agency and then moved up to being the assistant city manager and eventually the interim city manager. For a small town of Durango, Colorado, it's about 16,000 people. And that was unique in the fact that you're looking at a full service organization, we ran an airport, we worked with our chamber of commerce, we had all of the business interests in mind.
(09:14:08):
And our customer base was every citizen and visitor that came to our time. So that's just a little bit of my background. So a little bit varied. Now today, I'm in theconsulting business, focusing on leadership and organizational development.
Greg Ballard (09:14:24):
Yes, and you are fantastic at that I have to say. So before we break away from this transit industry, because this is still fairly new to me, I've kind of like about one year in transit, and you have 20 plus. And we've talked about like, what is the culture of the transit industry? Because there is a pretty unique culture about it. Can you speak to what you've learned and what you've seen and felt working in transit over the last two decades?
Amber (09:14:52):
It's a really great question. So working in transit over the last few decades, I've definitely seen a big shift in the focus on transit. So 20 years ago, when I first started, transit was a mode of transportation, but the conversations were more frequently focused on cars. They were more frequently focused on, you know, depending on the group that you were talking to, there was a lot of conversation. You know, probably about 10 years ago, 15 years ago, where it was like Bike Ped. Okay, we really have to talk about Bike Ped programs. And that was a role that I played, the community hired me to come create their bicycle pedestrian programs and write their multimodal master plan. How
(09:15:35):
do we integrate these modes? And I don't want to say transit was the stepchild. But transit was a mode that was necessary. Like, a lot of times it was maybe not for, like, ifan individual was speaking, transits important, but I'm not gonna write it. It's, it's important, and we need it, but not for me. And we've started and you know, and I'm talking in a in a more rural area where folks really, I mean, if you live 25 miles from your house, and there's no transit service, like you need a car. So it can't be the, we need all the modes of transportation. And there was definitely some stigma there. And it's, oh, well, these people ride transit. Well, now everybody writes transit. And I
(09:16:26):
lived in Europe as a kid. And Europeans have a very different perspective of public transit. So I came at it my own personal cell phone, I'm like, Well, look at this greatasset. And if we can provide it and short head times, and clean buses, and clean trains, and very reliable, safe service, it's not the answer for everyone. But we can make it a viable option for more people. And as you can tell, I'm super excited and passionate about transit. And then also with the aging population, so folks get to a point where they can't drive anymore. And so I think the culture is changing, the conversation is definitely changing here in Colorado, our governor is like, Alright, I want a 400%
(09:17:12):
increase on busing, which is the bus service of the state runs inner city across the state. And we're going to do our headways between Grand Junction and Denver. And we'regoing to take an inner city bus route that could potentially typically would run once or twice a day to our headways. All right now you're really moving people. And there may be an option for folks to go from two cars to one car, or three cars to two cars. And when you get on those buses now, like the buses that we ran and see that are over the road coaches, it reminded me of being on a bus in Europe. Okay, great seats Wi Fi. I mean, so the it's changing. Now, within the industry itself. Transits really, really
(09:17:59):
complex. So it's not just you get on a bus, you drive around in a circle, there's constant communication, you hit traffic, the drivers, who are, you know, you don't havetransit without drivers. Without operators? How can we build cultures that really recognize and respect the drivers and dispatchers as well as the planners always focused on customer experience?
Greg Ballard (09:18:26):
So that's a lead in is a lead into another question I have for you. Because we're shaping out transit and how it's shifted right over the last couple of decades. And now there really is a focus on how do we move more people to more places, you know, at a lower cost. And in really creating more accessibility, and creating an experience that those that typically wouldn't consider using transit to move to transit. Right. So how you get those in. So fundamentally, though, there's a there's a key driver in here, which is the leadership inside of transit. So frame for me what the leadership culture has been like, and obviously, you're going to use a broad stroke, because transit is an
(09:19:06):
industry and some transit locations may have a very different culture, but from your
Amber (09:19:18):
you need to start with that question again, because you froze.
(09:19:39):
What's the question? I can't hear you.
I can't hear you. You can hear me. I can't hear you. Try now. Ah, now I can hear you. Okay, so what's the question?
Greg Ballard (09:20:04):
So given all this background and in transit, right, and this lead this need to or this drive, to bring people into the transit experience by adding Wi Fi more comfortable, clean, reliable experiences. So one of the key factors in making that a reality is going to be the leadership inside of the industry, the transit industry. And so you and I've had a lot of conversation on this. And so I'd love to hear from your perspective, what are you seeing when it comes to the culture of leadership inside of transit, and obviously, it's gonna be a broad stroke because some, some specific systems may have one type of leadership compared to the rest but Overall, I think there is a
(09:20:43):
vibe of transit, of leadership inside of the transit industry. Can you kind of share with our listeners a little bit about what you've seen so far?
Amber (09:20:50):
Absolutely. I think first and foremost, passion. Folks in transit are so passionate about what they do. So, so passion is one piece. But passion can only take you so far. I think overall, we're of course, it's going to be very diverse, like you mentioned. But we do have, like many industries, our executives are either young, and many have been promoted through the ranks. And at times, they haven't been provided the training, necessarily, because the leadership is a skill. And so really looking at the different aspects of leadership and training, creating succession plans, I've seen a number of organizations where they have, or they're focused on implementing succession plans, and
(09:21:47):
building in leadership development. And then I've also worked with and have seen organizations where the resources really aren't there, or the drive, the desire isn't reallythere or the awareness, but that focus on leadership development, organizational development, focus on culture hasn't been first and foremost. And part of that is because resources, a lot of times there's not enough to go around. So their focus is service delivery, which is where it should be because that's what they do, focusing on service delivery, right. So the difference between the two that I've seen and experienced really is when there is that leadership development, when there is that trust when there's a
(09:22:31):
focus on culture. And it's still same goal, safe, reliable service customer is number one. Same goal as the other one, when you have that leadership plan in place, and youimplement it, those organizations arrive, while the others are surviving. Hmm. So I've also seen as we go through, it's hard. Public public service is hard, just like any other industry is hard. We each have our own aspects of it. But if we don't have leaders that are being developed, for me, part of what got me into the world that we're in the consulting world, and training and organizational development world is what's going to happen because the impacts of not having an adept, active leader to help lead to lead
(09:23:30):
their organization and develop new leaders, that void could be significantly detrimental, not only to the customers in transit, but in many other ways as well.
Greg Ballard (09:23:45):
Yeah, so. So let's talk about this. Because obviously, you and I both agree, leadership is a critical component to any organization. And, and, you know, leadership has quality, you know, there's a quality level of leadership, you can have four, you can have ineffective, poor, mediocre, you know, strong and amazing. I mean, there's a sliding scale on the quality of leadership. And so I'd love to kind of pack into your experience on the importance of great leadership. And maybe if you have an example or two of what happens when you went when Leadership isn't as good as it were, it should be. And then maybe compare that to a scenario where leadership the way it
(09:24:24):
should look like?
Amber (09:24:26):
Absolutely. So I'm not going to use any names, too. However, so I'll start out so I had a really interesting experience when I had mentioned earlier that I went from being the assistant city manager, and I was appointed by our city council as interim city manager. So the the manager had resigned for the city. And basically, for those of you that don't know, about local government, there was 100 municipalities and the form of government was the manager runs the organization and the policy is or the City Council is the policy setting board. So different form of government than let's say, like New York City where you have a strong mayor, this form of government is a strong
(09:25:05):
manager. So the the manager resigns, and the council needs to appoint a new city manager and I stepped in as interim. It was during budget season, did the council budgetpresent the presentation of the Council on the budget, and within less than a week on the job? I was sitting in my office and I had a member of our finance team coming to me and asked me a question. And this question was the first domino and it I listened to the question and I said, Alright, I called my husband I said, I'm not coming home for a while. Please take care of the kids. I'll let you know what my eta is. Once I started looking into the question she had asked about a conflict of interest, hey, do you know
(09:25:48):
the previous city manager and signed a conflict of interest form for our finance director? I said, No. Called the old manager. He's like, why? I have no idea what you'retalking about. No, she never asked for any of that. I went through all the old files in case you know, he'd forgotten. He had not. Long story short, we started digging into it and became very apparent that the finance director had been embezzling. So seven days on the job, discovered embezzlement that had been going on for 12 years. Oh, wow. Went through the CBI, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, investigation work with the council, but seven days on the job. And then, you know, went through getting, you know, putting
(09:26:33):
her on administrative leave saying you no longer are employed, the whole nine yards that goes along with that, because the
Greg Ballard (09:26:39):
manager had left you were filling in an interim role for the manager, but
Amber (09:26:42):
I am now in charge. I hope I am. Yeah.
Greg Ballard (09:26:46):
I'm the finance director was still on your team.
Amber (09:26:49):
The finance director was still on my team. Wow. And from there, so that's in October, the pandemic hit in March. So we're taught and I bring this in because it was changed on top of change on top of change? Well, I like to know all the answers to the questions. And I'm a very hands on person with every level of the organization. And, to me, I think that that's important, not telling people what to do. But having those relationships, caring, supporting from the bottom up, not top down. COVID had shut down the city, the whole like that whole snowball. So that was my experience transitioning into a role. And you'd asked about leadership. So this finance director had total control. I
(09:27:48):
mean, there was no empowering of the staff, it was an staff didn't even know how to do the full role of their jobs, because they weren't able to be trained. Because of course,if you're embezzling money, you need to have all of these gates in and the staff was amazing. So what I want to what I want to point out here, is it was because of trust, I have relationships with all of those staff members. It was because of trust in the knowledge that if I say something, she's gonna respond, I'm not going to say, I'm not going to get the Oh, yeah, yeah, we'll deal with that tomorrow. It was because it could you imagine how scary it would be to walk into somebody's office and say, Hey, I think
(09:28:36):
something's funny.
Greg Ballard (09:28:39):
Yeah. And you showed up, so what I'm hearing it like the distinction, right, is you came in interim role you found somebody brought something to you, right? You didn't find? Somebody said, Hey, I'm gonna go in, I'm going to talk to this new person who's an interim. And I'm going to ask a really kind of question like, Hey, did you ever was this ever resolved? And you saw that thread, you found that little thread and you were able to follow it through? And in the meantime, building trust with the, with the staff.
Amber (09:29:12):
Right, exactly. So saw the situation, they couldn't go to her, right, I mean, doing something wrong. And we had also seen some attrition in that department. So previous to the manager, leaving there were some other folks that left the organization that were within there. And so for me, in looking back at it, and like people wanted to say something this didn't know how they didn't know how to, like they didn't know who to go to.
Greg Ballard (09:29:47):
So what strikes me about this and just to kind of case, study this for a second one, you knew management when a manager or leader is putting a lot of controls, and and really, kind of putting a moat around power and authority like that can one that could be a, an insecure manager or an insecure leader, that could be just somebody that's insecure, or it could be somebody that's unethical, like, you know, practicing unethical, illegal things, right. And you never know which one is which but either way, if somebody is very protective of power, and of in controlling information, that's not building trust. Right. And I think you and I would agree that trust is is a key
(09:30:33):
component in any organization if you want to be successful and and really create a strong leadership culture. True Post is kind of foundational. And so I find it reallyintriguing that study that case. You know how, how it worked out there? What might be an alternative, you know, I'm sure you've experienced some, some really strong leaders in your day.
Amber (09:30:58):
I have, I've been really, really fortunate to have some extraordinary leaders that I've worked with and for and mentors as well. So I would also like to just put a plug in for the value of mentorship. Both the mentee and the mentor, as a leadership development, and just personal development piece. So there's my plug for mentorship. I'm working. So an example of a really, really great leader. Because there's so many stories here, but I'm going to go kind of like broad brush, but I think so I had a leader that I worked for, and it was actually early on in my career. And he ended up he was very, very open. And he was a he taught me, right, so he was invested in the organization. And
(09:31:59):
he was invested in his team members. And what he would do is he had this this open door policy, and a lot of times folks was oh, yeah, I have an open door policy. I mean, hisdoor, we had a pocket door between our offices. And he would say it does ask me any question you have, because I want to make sure that you have everything that you need. And he honestly meant it. So we would have these conversations where I would ask a seemingly technical question. And he would take it as an opportunity to go beyond the technical aspect to the why and relate it back to the policy. And then we would not necessarily roleplay out but we would discuss the scenarios and the pro cons of moving forward. And
(09:32:47):
what that did is really helped me train my brain to think both strategically and tactically at the same time. And, you know, some people have this skill more innately thanothers. But I have taken the time to think back of like, where did I hone this, I've always been able to do this in a way where they really hone this skill. And it was, it was him it was working with him on just these basic questions as I and I was very, very curious. And he nurtured that curiosity. And then in addition to that, where that played out in a positive fashion was he actually, it's really unfortunate, but he got sick, like really sick, he ended up with lymphoma. And he ended up in the hospital and having to
(09:33:36):
take this big leave of absence. And because of those conversations, and the way that he led his team, when he got sick, we were able to take on the work and jump in and leadthat section of the organization. So that there was no impact or minimal impact, reduce the negative impacts to the community, but work together. And that team really coalesced. So that we came together and led that department met all of our objectives maintained all the requirements that we had from the feds from where funding us. And so I think that great leader with the clear expectations, the very giving of their time and themselves, and that just that passion for teaching.
Greg Ballard (09:34:29):
You know, it's interesting, I'm looking at these two stories and kind of comparison a little bit. You know, in one hand, you have somebody that controlling information controlling condensing power, really, I'm going to put this into the space, maybe you didn't say this, but you know, maybe not being transparent or authentic. Compared to this last story of this individual who asked me anything, I want you to be able to have everything you need a complete open door relationally and trust wise, and and the difference in outcome when those leaders had to move into different like when getting sick when moving on how the team was able to respond. Yeah, I just think there's
(09:35:08):
just a you know, it's kind of light and dark comparison there on the level of trust and authenticity between those two. So that's fantastic Amber and I and I want to ask you acouple of other questions before we round out our interview today. So I'm curious, what practices have you learned or you have you've kind of incorporated into yourself so that you can stay adaptive and onpoint with leadership. I mean, being a former director of NC dot, I'm sure you had issues coming up on a daily if not weekly basis that had required decision making pivoting, inspiring people all the things that come with a senior leader, that that level, what have you learned? And how have you honed those skills?
Amber (09:35:48):
Absolutely. That's a great question. Um, well, for me, I kind of have four four sort of foundational pillars. One trust is number one, right? And, and trust is complex, and it incorporates like, competence and competence, but, but really the ability to have integrity, to demonstrate integrity, and to relay that with your team so that they have integrity in return like that is that is an expectation. So you have that have that trust, and commitment, curiosity, approaching things with curiosity, just because something happened one way yesterday, doesn't mean it's gonna happen the same way today. It's really being curious and curious about who my team is, and what excites them and
(09:36:37):
what, what are they passionate about, because having that information, helps me to one communicate with them, to connect with them and to inspire them.
Greg Ballard (09:36:48):
So I want to jump on that one, because most people are curious about how to solve a problem. And you just talked about being curious about the people on your team. And that's a there's a distinct difference there. Right? And, and getting to know the people on your team and how they're, how they're designed, what they're motivated by what their life is, like, is so integral into managing them well, and setting them up to succeed.
Amber (09:37:11):
I love that. Absolutely. And that, then it's fun. People are so cool. Um, so yeah, that's, that's a big one, creating a vision, and not creating a vision in a vacuum. But But creating a vision with the team. When I came on, in my in the role at CDOT. My team was like, Okay, what's your vision? What's your vision? What's our vision? And I kept saying, like, I don't know, let's figure it out. What's our vision? And so we did an accident, and we came up with, here's what a vision looks like, here's what our vision is. And this is what it looks like when it's implemented. Because we can have these visions, oh, my vision is for, you know, us to have bus service every corner of this
(09:37:58):
state. But what does that look like? What does it feel like? How does it impact the customer? What is What do you feel like is the team that helped implement this integratedsystem? And so when we do when I do visioning with my team, and what I think is important as a leader is that vision has to connect. And so building it together, and it's so much more robust have so having a vision, having building a vision, building and having trust, being curious, um, to me, commitment goes throughout. So being committed. I'm committed to yourself committed to each other committed to being authentic, and having agreements doing it with integrity and love.
Greg Ballard (09:38:46):
I'm a big stickler on the word agreements, I am huge on agreements. If we can eliminate expectations in the work world, and just replace that with agreements, I think we would have a much better work environment. Absolutely. So the four pillars trust, curiosity, creating a vision being committed.
Amber (09:39:05):
Absolutely. And then there's the frosting that goes on that cake. Yeah. Fun.
Greg Ballard (09:39:10):
Fun. Fun. That doesn't surprise me, Amber, that does not surprise me at all.
Amber (09:39:18):
Right, we work so I was I was oh, hard. Let's gotta be fun. So we don't burn out. Oh,
Greg Ballard (09:39:25):
yes. I love it. So those are yours. So a quick question from an individual level, right? So we see this from a, I think this is kind of organizational team wide. You know, creating trust, curiosity, vision being committed, what might be if somebody's listening to this today, and they're thinking, well, what are some personal skills I should focus on in order to be adaptive and stay relevant on my team in my organization, and maybe move forward in my career? Would you list a couple of skills that you think are really really in demand today?
Amber (09:40:01):
Absolute emotional intelligence, self awareness. And I think just this skill, of being able to take a step back, and when, when I do when I say take a step back, I literally take a step back and go, Okay, how do I feel? How am I looking at the situation? How am I showing up? And sometimes I feel like really electric inside and I'm like, Well, I am vibrating with a crazy frequency. I don't want to talk to myself right now. And I'll take a couple of deep breaths and that's it's okay like, I Have some grace, it's okay to feel like this, no matter where you do, take a couple deep breaths and say, Alright, how do I want to show up, be very conscious with how I'm showing up both
(09:40:52):
internally and externally. So I think, and that has to do that has to do with, with EQ, so your emotional intelligence, self awareness. Some other skills just. So there's allkinds of time management principles out there for everyone. And it's not a one size fits all. So giving yourself the grace to create your own system.
Greg Ballard (09:41:21):
So a frame around that is instead of trying to manage time manage energy, because your energy and your energy is different than mine, and my strengths, right, what I love to do what I'm passionate about, and what I can do with little effort is very different than you. And that's not right or wrong. But if I tried to take your management system and impose it on me, right, it's no longer the best effective management system. So this is where time management systems, there's no best practice, until you're talking about somebody that has a similar design, and what we call Mo, that you do. Exactly. That's huge.
Amber (09:41:58):
And that's really big, because especially if you're trying to mirror people, that person in my organization is a great leader, I want to be a great leader like them, what do they do? Oh, this is what they're there. This is how they organize their tasks. And this is how they organize their time. Just that awareness of like, Sure, try it on for size, maybe it works. Yeah, it's okay. If it does it. Figure out what works for you
Greg Ballard (09:42:21):
figure it out.
Amber (09:42:22):
So that one, that's a big one and then exercise for me. I mean, maybe it's knitting, maybe it's playing the piano, maybe it's painting, but that creative outlet, your brain needs a break. Your soul needs to be fed. Whatever that is for you that recipe, so I know what my recipe is. Spending time with my kids and my husband and cooking and exercising, going outside. Being outdoors. I don't have that I feel it. And I'm like, a little off kilter.
Greg Ballard (09:43:01):
Alright, so Amber, thank you so much for joining us today. A couple questions before you exit one, what is your favorite leadership book? And if anybody wants to learn more about you, where can they find you?
Amber (09:43:11):
Absolutely. Okay. So my leaders favorite leadership book will change by the week because I like reading. But my favorite leadership book of the day, is the Speed of Trust by Steven Covey of trust. That's a great one. And it's so quick and the audiobook is only like an hour and 15 minutes to write. So we'll go with the Speed of Trust this week. And then I can be found on LinkedIn, Amber, Kyle Blake, please look up my profile.
Greg Ballard (09:43:44):
Well, the show notes. Amber, thank you so much. You
Hello, and welcome to the adaptive executive. I am your host, Greg Ballard. And with me is a very special guest, Amber Blake from Amber Blake consulting. Amber, welcome today.
Amber (09:10:59):
Good morning, Greg, thank you, it's great to see you.
Greg Ballard (09:11:02):
So first of all, I have to start off. So we've been working together for several months on on a project. And we've had a chance to get to know we were introduced by a mutual friend. And we've just had a great opportunity to do some real work together in a space that we both have passionate about. So I'm really excited to have you here on the show. And for this interview, if you would spend just a couple moments and share with our listeners, a little bit of your career background, and kind of where you know what you've done and where you are today.
Amber (09:11:31):
Absolutely. So I've been in the leadership and transportation focused Arena on the public sector side for about 20 years, I started out with a metropolitan planning organization, which really focused on broader transportation issues, you know, highways, bikes, peds transit, and really looking at the system and how we fit together and then planning for the future. So I have gone through from Seattle, Washington, to Baltimore, Maryland, Montana, and then back to Colorado, where I'm currently located. And throughout my career, I've worked for small organizations, so agencies that are, you know, 300 individuals, all the way up through very large organizations. I was the director
(09:12:21):
of transit and rail for the state of Colorado most recently. And that's a three 4000 person organization. My transit and rail team at CDOT was only 17. I grew that team to 28,during the time that I was there. And that was really exciting because the state of Colorado has a huge focus on growing transit, and the role of transit in our transportation sector. And in the role of visitors tourism, transportation in terms of freight, but transit for moving people as a primary mode of transportation in a state where you have urban settings, and a whole lot of rural area. So growing that team by about 33% was a really interesting experience in terms of building the team, creating a vision, creating
(09:13:21):
a culture, and all the whole while me managing a, you know, half a billion dollar budget, doing construction projects, as well as providing service and administering funds toall of the State Transit agencies in the state of Colorado. Another piece of my background that's kind of interesting was, I was in the municipal arena, I ran a transit agency and then moved up to being the assistant city manager and eventually the interim city manager. For a small town of Durango, Colorado, it's about 16,000 people. And that was unique in the fact that you're looking at a full service organization, we ran an airport, we worked with our chamber of commerce, we had all of the business interests in mind.
(09:14:08):
And our customer base was every citizen and visitor that came to our time. So that's just a little bit of my background. So a little bit varied. Now today, I'm in theconsulting business, focusing on leadership and organizational development.
Greg Ballard (09:14:24):
Yes, and you are fantastic at that I have to say. So before we break away from this transit industry, because this is still fairly new to me, I've kind of like about one year in transit, and you have 20 plus. And we've talked about like, what is the culture of the transit industry? Because there is a pretty unique culture about it. Can you speak to what you've learned and what you've seen and felt working in transit over the last two decades?
Amber (09:14:52):
It's a really great question. So working in transit over the last few decades, I've definitely seen a big shift in the focus on transit. So 20 years ago, when I first started, transit was a mode of transportation, but the conversations were more frequently focused on cars. They were more frequently focused on, you know, depending on the group that you were talking to, there was a lot of conversation. You know, probably about 10 years ago, 15 years ago, where it was like Bike Ped. Okay, we really have to talk about Bike Ped programs. And that was a role that I played, the community hired me to come create their bicycle pedestrian programs and write their multimodal master plan. How
(09:15:35):
do we integrate these modes? And I don't want to say transit was the stepchild. But transit was a mode that was necessary. Like, a lot of times it was maybe not for, like, ifan individual was speaking, transits important, but I'm not gonna write it. It's, it's important, and we need it, but not for me. And we've started and you know, and I'm talking in a in a more rural area where folks really, I mean, if you live 25 miles from your house, and there's no transit service, like you need a car. So it can't be the, we need all the modes of transportation. And there was definitely some stigma there. And it's, oh, well, these people ride transit. Well, now everybody writes transit. And I
(09:16:26):
lived in Europe as a kid. And Europeans have a very different perspective of public transit. So I came at it my own personal cell phone, I'm like, Well, look at this greatasset. And if we can provide it and short head times, and clean buses, and clean trains, and very reliable, safe service, it's not the answer for everyone. But we can make it a viable option for more people. And as you can tell, I'm super excited and passionate about transit. And then also with the aging population, so folks get to a point where they can't drive anymore. And so I think the culture is changing, the conversation is definitely changing here in Colorado, our governor is like, Alright, I want a 400%
(09:17:12):
increase on busing, which is the bus service of the state runs inner city across the state. And we're going to do our headways between Grand Junction and Denver. And we'regoing to take an inner city bus route that could potentially typically would run once or twice a day to our headways. All right now you're really moving people. And there may be an option for folks to go from two cars to one car, or three cars to two cars. And when you get on those buses now, like the buses that we ran and see that are over the road coaches, it reminded me of being on a bus in Europe. Okay, great seats Wi Fi. I mean, so the it's changing. Now, within the industry itself. Transits really, really
(09:17:59):
complex. So it's not just you get on a bus, you drive around in a circle, there's constant communication, you hit traffic, the drivers, who are, you know, you don't havetransit without drivers. Without operators? How can we build cultures that really recognize and respect the drivers and dispatchers as well as the planners always focused on customer experience?
Greg Ballard (09:18:26):
So that's a lead in is a lead into another question I have for you. Because we're shaping out transit and how it's shifted right over the last couple of decades. And now there really is a focus on how do we move more people to more places, you know, at a lower cost. And in really creating more accessibility, and creating an experience that those that typically wouldn't consider using transit to move to transit. Right. So how you get those in. So fundamentally, though, there's a there's a key driver in here, which is the leadership inside of transit. So frame for me what the leadership culture has been like, and obviously, you're going to use a broad stroke, because transit is an
(09:19:06):
industry and some transit locations may have a very different culture, but from your
Amber (09:19:18):
you need to start with that question again, because you froze.
(09:19:39):
What's the question? I can't hear you.
I can't hear you. You can hear me. I can't hear you. Try now. Ah, now I can hear you. Okay, so what's the question?
Greg Ballard (09:20:04):
So given all this background and in transit, right, and this lead this need to or this drive, to bring people into the transit experience by adding Wi Fi more comfortable, clean, reliable experiences. So one of the key factors in making that a reality is going to be the leadership inside of the industry, the transit industry. And so you and I've had a lot of conversation on this. And so I'd love to hear from your perspective, what are you seeing when it comes to the culture of leadership inside of transit, and obviously, it's gonna be a broad stroke because some, some specific systems may have one type of leadership compared to the rest but Overall, I think there is a
(09:20:43):
vibe of transit, of leadership inside of the transit industry. Can you kind of share with our listeners a little bit about what you've seen so far?
Amber (09:20:50):
Absolutely. I think first and foremost, passion. Folks in transit are so passionate about what they do. So, so passion is one piece. But passion can only take you so far. I think overall, we're of course, it's going to be very diverse, like you mentioned. But we do have, like many industries, our executives are either young, and many have been promoted through the ranks. And at times, they haven't been provided the training, necessarily, because the leadership is a skill. And so really looking at the different aspects of leadership and training, creating succession plans, I've seen a number of organizations where they have, or they're focused on implementing succession plans, and
(09:21:47):
building in leadership development. And then I've also worked with and have seen organizations where the resources really aren't there, or the drive, the desire isn't reallythere or the awareness, but that focus on leadership development, organizational development, focus on culture hasn't been first and foremost. And part of that is because resources, a lot of times there's not enough to go around. So their focus is service delivery, which is where it should be because that's what they do, focusing on service delivery, right. So the difference between the two that I've seen and experienced really is when there is that leadership development, when there is that trust when there's a
(09:22:31):
focus on culture. And it's still same goal, safe, reliable service customer is number one. Same goal as the other one, when you have that leadership plan in place, and youimplement it, those organizations arrive, while the others are surviving. Hmm. So I've also seen as we go through, it's hard. Public public service is hard, just like any other industry is hard. We each have our own aspects of it. But if we don't have leaders that are being developed, for me, part of what got me into the world that we're in the consulting world, and training and organizational development world is what's going to happen because the impacts of not having an adept, active leader to help lead to lead
(09:23:30):
their organization and develop new leaders, that void could be significantly detrimental, not only to the customers in transit, but in many other ways as well.
Greg Ballard (09:23:45):
Yeah, so. So let's talk about this. Because obviously, you and I both agree, leadership is a critical component to any organization. And, and, you know, leadership has quality, you know, there's a quality level of leadership, you can have four, you can have ineffective, poor, mediocre, you know, strong and amazing. I mean, there's a sliding scale on the quality of leadership. And so I'd love to kind of pack into your experience on the importance of great leadership. And maybe if you have an example or two of what happens when you went when Leadership isn't as good as it were, it should be. And then maybe compare that to a scenario where leadership the way it
(09:24:24):
should look like?
Amber (09:24:26):
Absolutely. So I'm not going to use any names, too. However, so I'll start out so I had a really interesting experience when I had mentioned earlier that I went from being the assistant city manager, and I was appointed by our city council as interim city manager. So the the manager had resigned for the city. And basically, for those of you that don't know, about local government, there was 100 municipalities and the form of government was the manager runs the organization and the policy is or the City Council is the policy setting board. So different form of government than let's say, like New York City where you have a strong mayor, this form of government is a strong
(09:25:05):
manager. So the the manager resigns, and the council needs to appoint a new city manager and I stepped in as interim. It was during budget season, did the council budgetpresent the presentation of the Council on the budget, and within less than a week on the job? I was sitting in my office and I had a member of our finance team coming to me and asked me a question. And this question was the first domino and it I listened to the question and I said, Alright, I called my husband I said, I'm not coming home for a while. Please take care of the kids. I'll let you know what my eta is. Once I started looking into the question she had asked about a conflict of interest, hey, do you know
(09:25:48):
the previous city manager and signed a conflict of interest form for our finance director? I said, No. Called the old manager. He's like, why? I have no idea what you'retalking about. No, she never asked for any of that. I went through all the old files in case you know, he'd forgotten. He had not. Long story short, we started digging into it and became very apparent that the finance director had been embezzling. So seven days on the job, discovered embezzlement that had been going on for 12 years. Oh, wow. Went through the CBI, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, investigation work with the council, but seven days on the job. And then, you know, went through getting, you know, putting
(09:26:33):
her on administrative leave saying you no longer are employed, the whole nine yards that goes along with that, because the
Greg Ballard (09:26:39):
manager had left you were filling in an interim role for the manager, but
Amber (09:26:42):
I am now in charge. I hope I am. Yeah.
Greg Ballard (09:26:46):
I'm the finance director was still on your team.
Amber (09:26:49):
The finance director was still on my team. Wow. And from there, so that's in October, the pandemic hit in March. So we're taught and I bring this in because it was changed on top of change on top of change? Well, I like to know all the answers to the questions. And I'm a very hands on person with every level of the organization. And, to me, I think that that's important, not telling people what to do. But having those relationships, caring, supporting from the bottom up, not top down. COVID had shut down the city, the whole like that whole snowball. So that was my experience transitioning into a role. And you'd asked about leadership. So this finance director had total control. I
(09:27:48):
mean, there was no empowering of the staff, it was an staff didn't even know how to do the full role of their jobs, because they weren't able to be trained. Because of course,if you're embezzling money, you need to have all of these gates in and the staff was amazing. So what I want to what I want to point out here, is it was because of trust, I have relationships with all of those staff members. It was because of trust in the knowledge that if I say something, she's gonna respond, I'm not going to say, I'm not going to get the Oh, yeah, yeah, we'll deal with that tomorrow. It was because it could you imagine how scary it would be to walk into somebody's office and say, Hey, I think
(09:28:36):
something's funny.
Greg Ballard (09:28:39):
Yeah. And you showed up, so what I'm hearing it like the distinction, right, is you came in interim role you found somebody brought something to you, right? You didn't find? Somebody said, Hey, I'm gonna go in, I'm going to talk to this new person who's an interim. And I'm going to ask a really kind of question like, Hey, did you ever was this ever resolved? And you saw that thread, you found that little thread and you were able to follow it through? And in the meantime, building trust with the, with the staff.
Amber (09:29:12):
Right, exactly. So saw the situation, they couldn't go to her, right, I mean, doing something wrong. And we had also seen some attrition in that department. So previous to the manager, leaving there were some other folks that left the organization that were within there. And so for me, in looking back at it, and like people wanted to say something this didn't know how they didn't know how to, like they didn't know who to go to.
Greg Ballard (09:29:47):
So what strikes me about this and just to kind of case, study this for a second one, you knew management when a manager or leader is putting a lot of controls, and and really, kind of putting a moat around power and authority like that can one that could be a, an insecure manager or an insecure leader, that could be just somebody that's insecure, or it could be somebody that's unethical, like, you know, practicing unethical, illegal things, right. And you never know which one is which but either way, if somebody is very protective of power, and of in controlling information, that's not building trust. Right. And I think you and I would agree that trust is is a key
(09:30:33):
component in any organization if you want to be successful and and really create a strong leadership culture. True Post is kind of foundational. And so I find it reallyintriguing that study that case. You know how, how it worked out there? What might be an alternative, you know, I'm sure you've experienced some, some really strong leaders in your day.
Amber (09:30:58):
I have, I've been really, really fortunate to have some extraordinary leaders that I've worked with and for and mentors as well. So I would also like to just put a plug in for the value of mentorship. Both the mentee and the mentor, as a leadership development, and just personal development piece. So there's my plug for mentorship. I'm working. So an example of a really, really great leader. Because there's so many stories here, but I'm going to go kind of like broad brush, but I think so I had a leader that I worked for, and it was actually early on in my career. And he ended up he was very, very open. And he was a he taught me, right, so he was invested in the organization. And
(09:31:59):
he was invested in his team members. And what he would do is he had this this open door policy, and a lot of times folks was oh, yeah, I have an open door policy. I mean, hisdoor, we had a pocket door between our offices. And he would say it does ask me any question you have, because I want to make sure that you have everything that you need. And he honestly meant it. So we would have these conversations where I would ask a seemingly technical question. And he would take it as an opportunity to go beyond the technical aspect to the why and relate it back to the policy. And then we would not necessarily roleplay out but we would discuss the scenarios and the pro cons of moving forward. And
(09:32:47):
what that did is really helped me train my brain to think both strategically and tactically at the same time. And, you know, some people have this skill more innately thanothers. But I have taken the time to think back of like, where did I hone this, I've always been able to do this in a way where they really hone this skill. And it was, it was him it was working with him on just these basic questions as I and I was very, very curious. And he nurtured that curiosity. And then in addition to that, where that played out in a positive fashion was he actually, it's really unfortunate, but he got sick, like really sick, he ended up with lymphoma. And he ended up in the hospital and having to
(09:33:36):
take this big leave of absence. And because of those conversations, and the way that he led his team, when he got sick, we were able to take on the work and jump in and leadthat section of the organization. So that there was no impact or minimal impact, reduce the negative impacts to the community, but work together. And that team really coalesced. So that we came together and led that department met all of our objectives maintained all the requirements that we had from the feds from where funding us. And so I think that great leader with the clear expectations, the very giving of their time and themselves, and that just that passion for teaching.
Greg Ballard (09:34:29):
You know, it's interesting, I'm looking at these two stories and kind of comparison a little bit. You know, in one hand, you have somebody that controlling information controlling condensing power, really, I'm going to put this into the space, maybe you didn't say this, but you know, maybe not being transparent or authentic. Compared to this last story of this individual who asked me anything, I want you to be able to have everything you need a complete open door relationally and trust wise, and and the difference in outcome when those leaders had to move into different like when getting sick when moving on how the team was able to respond. Yeah, I just think there's
(09:35:08):
just a you know, it's kind of light and dark comparison there on the level of trust and authenticity between those two. So that's fantastic Amber and I and I want to ask you acouple of other questions before we round out our interview today. So I'm curious, what practices have you learned or you have you've kind of incorporated into yourself so that you can stay adaptive and onpoint with leadership. I mean, being a former director of NC dot, I'm sure you had issues coming up on a daily if not weekly basis that had required decision making pivoting, inspiring people all the things that come with a senior leader, that that level, what have you learned? And how have you honed those skills?
Amber (09:35:48):
Absolutely. That's a great question. Um, well, for me, I kind of have four four sort of foundational pillars. One trust is number one, right? And, and trust is complex, and it incorporates like, competence and competence, but, but really the ability to have integrity, to demonstrate integrity, and to relay that with your team so that they have integrity in return like that is that is an expectation. So you have that have that trust, and commitment, curiosity, approaching things with curiosity, just because something happened one way yesterday, doesn't mean it's gonna happen the same way today. It's really being curious and curious about who my team is, and what excites them and
(09:36:37):
what, what are they passionate about, because having that information, helps me to one communicate with them, to connect with them and to inspire them.
Greg Ballard (09:36:48):
So I want to jump on that one, because most people are curious about how to solve a problem. And you just talked about being curious about the people on your team. And that's a there's a distinct difference there. Right? And, and getting to know the people on your team and how they're, how they're designed, what they're motivated by what their life is, like, is so integral into managing them well, and setting them up to succeed.
Amber (09:37:11):
I love that. Absolutely. And that, then it's fun. People are so cool. Um, so yeah, that's, that's a big one, creating a vision, and not creating a vision in a vacuum. But But creating a vision with the team. When I came on, in my in the role at CDOT. My team was like, Okay, what's your vision? What's your vision? What's our vision? And I kept saying, like, I don't know, let's figure it out. What's our vision? And so we did an accident, and we came up with, here's what a vision looks like, here's what our vision is. And this is what it looks like when it's implemented. Because we can have these visions, oh, my vision is for, you know, us to have bus service every corner of this
(09:37:58):
state. But what does that look like? What does it feel like? How does it impact the customer? What is What do you feel like is the team that helped implement this integratedsystem? And so when we do when I do visioning with my team, and what I think is important as a leader is that vision has to connect. And so building it together, and it's so much more robust have so having a vision, having building a vision, building and having trust, being curious, um, to me, commitment goes throughout. So being committed. I'm committed to yourself committed to each other committed to being authentic, and having agreements doing it with integrity and love.
Greg Ballard (09:38:46):
I'm a big stickler on the word agreements, I am huge on agreements. If we can eliminate expectations in the work world, and just replace that with agreements, I think we would have a much better work environment. Absolutely. So the four pillars trust, curiosity, creating a vision being committed.
Amber (09:39:05):
Absolutely. And then there's the frosting that goes on that cake. Yeah. Fun.
Greg Ballard (09:39:10):
Fun. Fun. That doesn't surprise me, Amber, that does not surprise me at all.
Amber (09:39:18):
Right, we work so I was I was oh, hard. Let's gotta be fun. So we don't burn out. Oh,
Greg Ballard (09:39:25):
yes. I love it. So those are yours. So a quick question from an individual level, right? So we see this from a, I think this is kind of organizational team wide. You know, creating trust, curiosity, vision being committed, what might be if somebody's listening to this today, and they're thinking, well, what are some personal skills I should focus on in order to be adaptive and stay relevant on my team in my organization, and maybe move forward in my career? Would you list a couple of skills that you think are really really in demand today?
Amber (09:40:01):
Absolute emotional intelligence, self awareness. And I think just this skill, of being able to take a step back, and when, when I do when I say take a step back, I literally take a step back and go, Okay, how do I feel? How am I looking at the situation? How am I showing up? And sometimes I feel like really electric inside and I'm like, Well, I am vibrating with a crazy frequency. I don't want to talk to myself right now. And I'll take a couple of deep breaths and that's it's okay like, I Have some grace, it's okay to feel like this, no matter where you do, take a couple deep breaths and say, Alright, how do I want to show up, be very conscious with how I'm showing up both
(09:40:52):
internally and externally. So I think, and that has to do that has to do with, with EQ, so your emotional intelligence, self awareness. Some other skills just. So there's allkinds of time management principles out there for everyone. And it's not a one size fits all. So giving yourself the grace to create your own system.
Greg Ballard (09:41:21):
So a frame around that is instead of trying to manage time manage energy, because your energy and your energy is different than mine, and my strengths, right, what I love to do what I'm passionate about, and what I can do with little effort is very different than you. And that's not right or wrong. But if I tried to take your management system and impose it on me, right, it's no longer the best effective management system. So this is where time management systems, there's no best practice, until you're talking about somebody that has a similar design, and what we call Mo, that you do. Exactly. That's huge.
Amber (09:41:58):
And that's really big, because especially if you're trying to mirror people, that person in my organization is a great leader, I want to be a great leader like them, what do they do? Oh, this is what they're there. This is how they organize their tasks. And this is how they organize their time. Just that awareness of like, Sure, try it on for size, maybe it works. Yeah, it's okay. If it does it. Figure out what works for you
Greg Ballard (09:42:21):
figure it out.
Amber (09:42:22):
So that one, that's a big one and then exercise for me. I mean, maybe it's knitting, maybe it's playing the piano, maybe it's painting, but that creative outlet, your brain needs a break. Your soul needs to be fed. Whatever that is for you that recipe, so I know what my recipe is. Spending time with my kids and my husband and cooking and exercising, going outside. Being outdoors. I don't have that I feel it. And I'm like, a little off kilter.
Greg Ballard (09:43:01):
Alright, so Amber, thank you so much for joining us today. A couple questions before you exit one, what is your favorite leadership book? And if anybody wants to learn more about you, where can they find you?
Amber (09:43:11):
Absolutely. Okay. So my leaders favorite leadership book will change by the week because I like reading. But my favorite leadership book of the day, is the Speed of Trust by Steven Covey of trust. That's a great one. And it's so quick and the audiobook is only like an hour and 15 minutes to write. So we'll go with the Speed of Trust this week. And then I can be found on LinkedIn, Amber, Kyle Blake, please look up my profile.
Greg Ballard (09:43:44):
Well, the show notes. Amber, thank you so much. You
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