We continue our series highlighting companies that work in the local government arena. Frieda Edgette, founder of Novos Consulting, works to create sustainable change from the inside out.
Background Check – Frieda Edgette
Novos Consulting is led by Frieda K. Edgette (LinkedIn and Twitter), an international executive coach and organizational strategist with a political consulting background. Frieda has facilitated the development and implementation of more than 100 cross sector change initiatives throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Believing in everyone’s responsibility to give back, Frieda sits on several boards. She is Chair of the East Bay Women’s Political Caucus (formerly the National Women’s Political Caucus – Alameda North). She volunteers with the International Visitor Leadership Program, the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange that builds mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations through dedicated short-term visits.
Background Check – Novos Consulting
Novos Consulting is an organizational strategy and coaching consultancy operating at the nexus of politics and innovation. We work with civic-minded leaders, teams and organizations through strategic transitions using powerful communications and authentic engagement strategies. Our approach blends organizational and social psychology with proven strategies from authentic leadership, political intelligence, management effectiveness, community organizing, communications, coaching, and wellness.
Novos serves a diverse, cross section of civic-minded clients: for-profits, non-profits, innovators, makers, impact entrepreneurs, government agencies and individual change leaders. We meet our clients at all stages of development to craft visions, leverage assets, and develop and implement action plans for sustained performance and well-being.
Lightning Round
Top Three Travel Destinations
Oman, Portugal and the Appalachian Mountains
Apple Watch: Good or Bad.
Honestly, I am one of five people still using a Blackberry, and am not really following the AppleWatch. I admit it. With that, whatever floats your boat, roll with it.
If you had to run for elected office, what would you run for…..
Local = Mayor
State = Secretary of State
Federal = U.S. Secretary of State (appointed versus elected, I know…)
Fastest You’ve Finished a Crossword Puzzle
Do you mean correctly? Us Weekly: 5 minutes. NYT: errrrr, still waiting…
House of Cards or Parks and Rec: Which is better?
Love this question! I actually ask my civic clients the same one – adding West Wing, Scandal and Veep into the mix. House of Cards wins for the psychological nerd in me. Parks and Rec wins for the earnest portrayal of local governance.
What are you afraid of?
Civic apathy
Q & A
Give us three interesting facts about Novos Consulting that we wouldn’t know from reading the website.
We work with all aspects of the political ecosystem, giving us a deep understanding of its complexities, intricacies and dynamics. Our system perspective is especially valuable for the facilitative, collaborative work we do: bringing often competing stakeholders around the same table and surfacing patterns of commonality, from which we co-create a shared vision and commit to an implementable action plan.
One of our mantras is “master the internal to maximize the external”. We create sustainable change from the inside out.
We love games.
Describe a few situations when our local governments could benefit from working with Novos Consulting.
Executive Coaching – Gov Leadership Style
Looking to further develop your skills, create greater work/life balance, transition into a new role, develop a strengths-based management approach, plan for the future or [insert YOUR goals here]? Coaching is a nonjudgmental, highly confidential and solutions-focused thought partnership that helps emerging, appointed and elected government leaders and teams function at peak levels.
Facing burnout, Novos worked with one government leader who wanted to reconnect with his passion for public service. Caught in the ‘whirlwind’ of public life, he was becoming increasingly reactive and his productivity was suffering. The coaching relationship gave him the structure and space to honestly explore and own his specific values, experiences, strengths, triggers, needs and priorities. He reclaimed passion. We developed strategies for effective time management, making his schedule work with him not against him. We proactively planned what was needed when times get tough. These outcomes made him a more effective manager, cultivated a communicative culture and invigorated his team. In short: he got his mojo back and then some.
Systems and Culture Change
How is it facilitating government changes – be they service delivery efficiencies, technology adoption or culture? Novos (literally meaning ‘change’) works with local governments to assess, develop and implement plans to sustain necessary changes.
Novos is increasingly working with government departments to sync and streamline systems for increased efficiency and consistency. Within health, social and transportation services, in particular, we are seeing agencies tasked with coordinating 5+ departments, liaising between state and federal governments, and delivering dozens of programs. Their goal is to connect communities to the right respective service effectively – and it just isn’t happening as desired. Working collaboratively with government leadership teams, our change process comes in five phases: (1) kick-off meeting and internal team management, (2) preliminary assessment (e.g., people, policies, operations, communication systems, media, culture, etc.), (3) stakeholder engagement, (4) change plan development and (5) implementation (inclusive of ongoing evaluation and sustainability planning).
Trainings, Workshops + Retreats
Leadership. Management effectiveness. High performing teams. Communicative cultures. Structural integration. Leading change. Design thinking. Decision making. Time management + We work with elected boards, inter and intra-departmental managers and organizations to create collaborative and communicative cultures through team building and issue/situation-specific trainings, workshops and retreats.
We are doing a series of retreats with an elected board that has a shared governance structure. Going through leadership transition and policy expansion, we first worked with each member of the board to understand their individual needs, perceptions, goals and ideas for what a healthy, successful relationship looks like, from which the retreat’s focus emerged. Using interactive exercises that create transparency and equanimity – like mind-mapping, visual design, role play, honest dialogue and visualizations – one outcome is a co-created leadership engagement agreement anchored by foundational trust, united vision, communication, roles and responsibilities, and measurable results.
Wellness and Mindfulness
How do you manage stress and remain sound amid the complexities of government life? We do one-on-one mindfulness coaching and training with government leaders and their teams. Novos works with several government leader organizations – such as Young Elected Officials Network and Women in Government – leading workshops with a strong mindfulness component. These sessions equip leaders with ‘in the moment’ 16 second to 5 minute exercises that have significant and immediate benefits, such as reducing stress, improving decision making, increasing creativity, sharpening strategic focus and connecting across divides. Novos is also piloting a new mindfulness training program designed specifically for government leaders this summer. You can access a teaser of sample exercises and their impacts here.
In your honest opinion, what’s your perception of local government? Where do we succeed? Failures?
Local government is often misunderstood. The national narrative can overshadow the great work being done locally. Local has impact on people’s day to day quality of life: water, roads and other infrastructure, land use, public safety, education, etc. Local is often where visions are implemented. Local is where new approaches to service delivery can be trialed and scaled. Local is where significant policy changes originate and proliferate, especially those relating to public health and economic reform. Local is where constituents and civic systems really connect on a regular basis through town halls, council meetings, park clean-ups, etc. Policy leadership, livability and two-way engagement are where local is succeeding.
A challenge is departments not “talking” with one another resulting in inconsistent messages and processes for the public. Not new though referenced often, is the business permitting process. The absence of a centralized checklist between departmental requirements, and varying expiration and payment dates cause confusion – and frustration is close behind. Several governments still also require business owners go down to City Hall, lacking an online portal, and/or are only paper-based. The good news is this is changing.
We are hosting our annual conference in October. Give us three suggestions for speakers or topics:
5 Foundations for Effective Government Leadership (yours truly)
Interdepartmental Collaboration: Case Study – Creating San Francisco’s First Business Portal, Jane Gong, Mayors Office of Technology
Creating Entrepreneurial Culture in Government: Jennifer Anastasoff, Founding CEO and Co-Founder of Fuse Corps, Member of the U.S.G.S.
ELGL is leading the #13Percent initiative. In your opinion, why aren’t more women in leadership roles in government? What solutions do you see?
When it comes to challenges like the stagnant #13Percent of women in government leadership positions, executive coaching pioneer Tim Galleway describes it best: there is an outer and inner game. The outer game is structures, policies and systems beyond our immediate control. The inner game is driven by the voice in our heads that directs thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Galleway presents a simple equation to help us change situations that are not working for us: “Potential minus interference is equal to our performance.”
Potential is pretty straight forward: gender parity, 100% women government leaders, healthy pipeline, etc.
Per the outer game, one interference is systemically low visibility. We know that role modeling and coordinated encouragement elevate women’s leadership. City administrators and managers, who then make departmental hires in some municipalities, are largely appointed by mayors and local legislative bodies. When we look at the percentage of women mayors, only 17.5% are women, according to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and less than 30% of local electeds are women. This is not to say that male mayors and policy-makers never appoint women. Many do. For example, several of San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee’s appointees are women, including the city administrator. The point is that more visible women in elected leadership help increase the issue’s visibility. Working from where we are today, reframing the dialogue and engaging our male allies for help, an approach ELGL’s #13Percent initiative is championing, is key. After all, diversity in leadership benefits us all, resulting in more fleshed out policies and systems.
For the inner game, interferences take the form of self doubt, limiting beliefs and demeaning statements; in other words the “ifs” and “buts” that interrupt us without offering a pathway toward generative action. Women repeatedly undervalue their competencies, what journalists Katty Kay and Claire Shipman named the “confidence gap” in the 2015 issue of The Atlantic. Research shows that both competence and confidence are required to achieve full potential. This may mean we don’t apply for that job unless we feel we meet 100% of the criteria, self selecting out.
So, where do we go from here? A solution to arresting interference is through consistent and repeated engagement both externally and internally.
Get honest. We need to acknowledge that there is a problem.
Balance data. We need to deepen our understanding. Kim Sandoval’s “Push/Pull” study series is doing just this by engaging government employees for their experiences. Additionally, we do this by identifying and engaging cities with high and low percentages of women government leaders. What is working? What is not working? Where are successes? What are lessons learned? How do governments with high women leadership ratios recruit and retain talent? What are the decision making structures, etc.?
Next, we take what we learned and create an actionable plan. We make sure the plan includes a strong communication component with diverse channels, since different people receive information in different ways. We recommend building a champions bureau of women and men allies to speak and organize on #13PercentInitiative’s behalf. We foster new partnerships beyond the usual women’s organizations.
Put the plan into action.
Reflect and iterate. We evaluate what we accomplished and what strategies are effective and not so effective. How many stakeholders engaged, media pieces run, workshops held, MPA/MPP cohorts presented to, Tweets retweeted, government leaders pledging to help, support circles of women government employees run, etc.? What are the perceived and measurable impacts? Acknowledge success. Celebrate. Then, keep going.
Tell us about Courage to Run. What was the reason for starting it? What have you accomplished?
I started Courage to Run because there was a need for safe, creative and supportive spaces for diverse women leaders to care for and, thus, better themselves. Running is a powerful metaphor because it, and leadership, take a lot of courage. Both are deeply empowering and challenging. The difference is quite often defined by our state of mind. How do we distinguish the two? By taking time. From past personal experience and watching those of my colleagues and friends, that vital “me” time is often the first casualty of high performers – whether it be quiet reflection, exercise, sharing honestly, breaking bread with fellows or indulging in a good story. In turn, Courage to Run’s guiding principle is that we all benefit from time for new innovations to emerge, space for them to take shape, and support to act on and to sustain.
As busy people, what better way to meet the need than by blending them all together? Courage to Runs include exercise (yoga/walk/run), community coaching, skills development, inspirational executive women speakers, authentic networking, knowledge sharing and brunch (very important) – all before noon. Our goal is for participants to leave happy, healthy, inspired and committed to taking action toward a personal/professional pursuit.
In terms of impact, it is amazing to watch the “AHA” moments that surface during the yoga and skills development exercises through guided inquiry. CEOs and founders come intending to unpack a strategic business decision and leave with clarity around romantic relationships. Younger women gain the courage to apply for that dream job (and get it) or ask for a raise. As a cross-sector initiative, executives at some of the largest tech companies like Google and Yahoo!, school board members, architects, healthcare professionals and moms re-entering the workforce share experiences and realize that, despite [insert type of] difference, actions are universal. Being women with a deep commitment to public service trumps difference. With in excess of a dozen events and a growing online community, we have already positively affected the lives of more than 400 women in the San Francisco Bay Area and are now scaling in Sacramento. Please do connect if interested in learning more about starting a Courage to Run in your community.
Name the three career accomplishments that you are most proud of:
Successfully working to develop, pass and/or implement more than 100 workplace health laws in more than 26 states that improve the physical and economic health of communities throughout America. This work gave me a strong appreciation for local governance, cultivated a love for the civic engagement process, and instilled an appreciation for our nation’s diversity, complexity and beauty.
Helping people and systems committed to public service thrive is deeply fulfilling for me – every time. There is nothing quite like helping government leaders reconnect with their energizing visions, strengthen their management skills and successfully lead their organizations through major structural and cultural changes.
Writing “Leading for Political Effectiveness: accounts of the political leader’s experience”. Starting with the goal to understand how political leaders perceive their experience, I interviewed elected political leaders within the Greater San Francisco Bay Area from diverse backgrounds and juxtaposed emergent data with political leadership effectiveness and authenticity theory and practice, resulting in five foundations for leading for political effectiveness. The document is designed as a practical guide for civic leaders, both aspiring to seasoned, seeking to further develop themselves and their skills. In addition to the white paper, I translated the research into a suite of self assessments, coaching methodologies, training programs and very practical exercises.
“Innovation” is an overused word in government. What do you consider innovative? Please provide examples.
Applying design thinking in civic environments is innovative and very effective. Design thinking identifies internal tension points and solves problems in a transparent, collaborative and dynamic way. The process teaches participants to deepen understanding through empathetic, active listening. It expands perspective through non-judgmental inquiry. It enables participants to problem solve through visual representation and feedback. And, finally, it ideates with silly prototype building using arts and crafts. Former Oakland Deputy City Attorney Kiran Jain used design thinking to streamline the city’s special permitting process, bringing together employees from multiple departments to participate in design lab to specifically address special permitting misalignment. After only two 90 minute workshops, the team co-created a defined process to improve the system, establish consistent communication avenues and is now taking steps to implement.
Supplemental Reading
Why Not Take a Year Off to Work in Government?
5 Tips to Boost Confidence (So You Feel Just as Competent As You Really Are)
Team – Novos Consulting
Thought Leadership
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