The Quiet Power of Mentorship

Some thoughts on mentorship, municipal life, and the people who answer the phone

Municipal work is hard, even if it doesn’t always look that way from the outside. Decisions are public. Relationships matter. Governance lines have to be respected every single day. And when things go wrong, there’s usually very little room for error and not much time to recover. For many people, it can feel like there’s no pause button.

After spending a good part of my career in the municipal sector, one thing has become very clear to me. Leadership doesn’t develop in isolation. It develops in conversation. Most often, it develops in moments that aren’t planned or formal. More often than not, it starts with someone answering the phone and saying, “You’re not alone in this.”

Every workplace has its own eccentricities. For some people, they’re manageable and become part of the rhythm of the work. For others, they slowly build and start to feel heavy. Senior staff often find themselves navigating complex council dynamics, staffing challenges, and high‑risk financial decisions, sometimes without much space to pause or reflect. Some project confidence. Others pull back and grow quieter. And sometimes people decide it’s time to step away, taking their institutional memory, professional experience, and hard‑won skills with them. Over time, these moments add up and make it harder for a municipality to keep its footing.

On the flip side, I’ve seen just how powerful it is when someone has a trusted person to talk things through when times get tough.

I live with one of those people.

Over the years, Craig has unofficially mentored hundreds of people across Atlantic Canada’s municipal sector. CAOs, managers, administrators, and councillors from very small communities to large cities call him. Sometimes they’re looking for advice. Sometimes they just need to vent. Sometimes they want reassurance that what they’re dealing with is normal. He listens. He shares his lived experience from decades in the municipal world. He helps people make sense of what’s in front of them and find a path forward.

I know these conversations make a real difference. A difficult situation feels more manageable when there’s space to talk it out. Confidence builds slowly, one conversation at a time. That’s the quiet power of mentorship.

I’ve also seen this same kind of support show up in a more intentional and structured way through Strategic Steps.

Ian and the team at Strategic Steps stay connected with CAOs through regular check‑ins, conversations, collaboration, and workshops. This isn’t a one‑off conversation or something that only happens at the start of a council term. It’s steady, people‑first support that helps leaders stay aligned, build resilience, and strengthen governance over time, recognizing that leadership doesn’t suddenly get easier once you’re in the CAO role.

What I appreciate about both examples is how similar they are at their core. Whether it’s an informal phone call or something more structured, mentorship comes down to listening, sharing lived experience, and giving people space to pause long enough to make better decisions.

From a municipal perspective, this isn’t just professional development. It’s risk management. Leadership transitions are expensive and disruptive when they aren’t planned for. Mentorship helps reduce that risk by supporting knowledge transfer and building confidence before a crisis hits.

If you’re a CAO, senior leader, councillor, or someone supporting people who carry a lot of responsibility, this is an invitation to think about where support shows up in your organization. Who answers the phone when things get hard? And what it looks like when that support is left to chance?

If you'd like to learn more or have thoughts to share on this topic, you can reach me at gail@strategicsteps.ca.